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Best against the worst Bucolic Beavers (5-1) take on the big-city Dawgs (3-3) By: Richard Linde, Updated 15 October 2003  The
last time the teams met in Corvallis, the bucolic Beavers turned coyote ugly,
thrashing the big-city Dawgs 49-24. Back then, the Beavers ranked first in the conference in pass defense; this
year, the Beavers lead the conference in pass efficiency defense, and will take
dead aim at the UW’s most formidable weapon, its passing game. According to what the "predictive" stats say, Gilby will be standing on the sidelines, trying to mask that frustrated, confused look for one more week, while, in the fourth quarter, Reggie and Tank, inopportunely, will do some gratuitous importuning. I can’t stand another week of losing. Damn the stats, I’m picking the Dawgs. J However, Dawg fans, let's face the skinny, lest we make some whacko-whacked out bets with our buddies. Oregon State leads the conference in rushing offense (190.3), total offense (473.2), total defense (308.0), pass defense efficiency (88.2%), third-down conversions (43.6%), and red zone defense (52.9%). Washington leads the conference in pass defense (200.7) and opponent penalties (91.5). Had enough? The team with the best offense and defense (OSU) in the conference is matched against the team with the worst redzone offense and defense (UW). Since the UW leads in conference in opponent penalties and Oregon State is last in incurring penalties, look for the flags to fly the Beavers' way. That shouldn't matter to the bad-boy Beavers; Nevada was nailed 17 times for 149 yards against the Dawgs last week, and still won 28-17. You want more? Individually, OSU has three players who lead the conference in an aggregate of 6 categories: TB Steven Jackson in rushing, in all-purpose yards, and in scoring; QB Derek Anderson in passing average per game and in total offense; and WR James Newson in receiving yards per game. Individually, the UW has two players who lead the conference: Reggie Williams in receptions per game and Tank Johnson in tackles for a loss. In the 20 categories listed in Table 1 below, OSU has an average ranking in the Pac-10 of 4.15, while the UW trails, ranking 5.45 per category. The Beavers lead in 14 of the 20 categories. But history is on Washington's side. The UW leads the series 56-27-4 and has won 24 of the last 26 games. Last year in Seattle, the UW won, 41-29, in a game in which the Huskies intercepted 5 passes, returning two of them for touchdowns. Or is new history being made? In the 2001 game at Corvallis, the Beavers won the time of possession battle, 36:10 to 23:50 and rolled up 494 yards to 273. Playing against an emotionally charged team, Washington quarterback Cody Pickett threw a 73-yard interception return to Dennis Weathersby in the second quarter that turned a seemingly “close game” around. After Steven Jackson's one-yard run, the Huskies were down by 18 points (28-10), in what turned out to be a a fourteen-point swing. Before the interception, Mitch Meeuwsen made a scintillating play on a Pickett pass thrown into the end zone, tipping the ball away from tight end Jerramy Stevens. The Dawgs had worked their way from their own 20 to the Beavers' 14-yard line. Forced to play catch up against the best pass defense in the Pac-10, the rout was on. The Beavers scored 21 answered points in the second quarter. This season, the Beavers rank fourth in the nation in pass defense
efficiency. Prediction: The Udub can't lose 3 weeks in a row; the UW, 32-16 Telecast: Nationally on TBS, 7 PM, PDT
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