So far this season for OSU none of their five wins have been handed to them. Having already played 3 ranked teams and only two games at home, the Beavers have earned their undefeated record up to this point.
That was why when the news of Sean Mannion’s knee injury surfaced the matchup against BYU carried even more weight than it did before.
Entering the game the Cougars were #1 in rush defense and playing in Provo is always a challenge for any squad, especially one with a first time starting quarterback.
However it was clear from the start of the game that Cody Vaz may have been the backup, but he was ready to play
Vaz went 5-5 passing on the Beavs first drive that was capped off by an 11 yard touchdown throw to Markus Wheaton.
After that impressive drive Beaver Nation could already see that Vaz had been waiting for his shot and he wasn’t going to waste it.
Vaz went 20-32 for 332 yards and 3 touchdowns on the day which earned him not only the Pac-12 Offensive player of the week, but he also won the Capital One Impact Performance of the week as voted on by fans.
The receiving duo of Markus Wheaton and Brandin Cooks was able to come up big once again as they are still in the top 10 nationally in yards per game. Cooks is currently 2nd in the nation with 131.8 and Wheaton is 10th at 112.8 ypg.
The Beavs impressive 42-24 win pushed them to #8 in the BCS standings going into this week’s matchup against the physical Utah Utes.
This season Utah has proved that their defense is a force that is not to be taken lightly.
The Utes are currently 3rd in the Pac-12 in overall defense only allowing 350.7 yards per game and they also lead the nation with 13 forced fumbles, 3 of which were returned for TD’s.
Senior defensive tackle Star Lotulelei has been at the helm of Utah’s aggressive pass rush, which has allowed him to rack up 17 tackles on the year, with 6 being for a loss.
OSU running back Storm Woods talked after practice Thursday about how big of an impact Lotulelei can be for not only the defense, but the Utes offense as well.
“He makes plays, he’s very big and very smart, I mean if the hole is there hit it, but we’re going to try and stay away from him and double team him a lot. If you watch the film against USC he basically gave the offense 14 points.”
The Utah offense will be hoping for the defense to put them in good scoring situations with true freshman Travis Wilson quarterback under center.
However Wilson proved last week against UCLA that he can perform well, putting up 220 yards on 22-32 passing.
The Beavs will most likely remember running back John Wilson when they see him on Saturday based on his 205 yards rushing last season against OSU’s defense.
This is something that OSU players and coaches, including Mike Riley haven’t forgotten.
“They’re a good football team, they’re very physical, and all we have to do is look at last year’s film to know what being physical means to them.”
Although the word physical has been used to describe this year’s run defense for OSU as well, which is only allowing 70 ypg, this puts them 4th in the nation and 1st in the Pac-12.
The star of this defense so far has been senior cornerback Jordan Poyer.
With 5 interceptions already this season, including a game clinching pick six against BYU last week, Poyer is leading the nation in INT’s per game.
These past few games lead to a national shout out for Poyer, who had his picture on the front page of ESPN.com this past Monday morning.
After practice Poyer talked about Vaz’s performance and the overwhelming support this season from OSU fans.
AC) How was it seeing Vaz perform the way he did last Saturday?
JP) He did what the team expected him to do, he’s a great quarterback. I came to school with him and I’ve been seeing him throw the ball for 4 years. He’s also a great leader off the field too, so seeing him do that didn’t surprise me.
AC) What was it like coming back to Corvallis and having all those fans greet you and seeing all those students that camped out Sunday night in the rain?
JP) It was a good experience. There’s a lot of support around here right now and we just want to keep rolling and keep winning games.
AC) After last season how has it been to be on a defense that is getting national recognition?
JP) We always expected that we were better than we were, this season we expected even more out of us, we got a lot of experience back, so it doesn’t surprise us, but obviously there is a lot of work to be done and we’re going to keep getting better.
AC) Are you guys excited about this week’s game under the lights?
JP) Under the lights is always awesome, I just feed off that. It’s a great experience especially at Reser, so I’m ready.
One person, who will also be ready as well, is Sean Mannion who was seen taking snaps all week and even rolling out in the pocket at Thursday’s practice.
Cody Vaz will be the starter, but as Riley said Mannion will be the backup.
“Looks like he will be able to be a backup player, but I don’t let anyone dress down that can’t play in the game”
This week will be the start of a nice homecoming for the Beavs, who will now play their next 5 out of 7 games at home.
Blacked out Reser will surely be rocking as OSU takes on Utah this Saturday, October 20th at 7:30 on ESPN2.
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