This past Monday was a day full of dramatic news for Beaver Nation.
It was announced that OSU’s next home game against Utah on October 20th would be a prime time affair airing on ESPN at 7:30.
This came as no surprise after OSU has been receiving national attention all season due to an impressive 4-0 start for the Beavers.
Seeing quarterback Sean Mannion in sweats later that day at practice wasn’t a sight to cause panic, since Mannion has rested his arm at Monday practices in the past.
So far this year the Beavers have managed to avoid drama on just about every front, which is why when head coach  Mike Riley walked over to address the media bad news was not expected.
It was announced that Mannion would have to undergo knee surgery due to an injury sustained in the Beavs win over WSU that would keep him sidelined for at least 2-4 weeks.
With that announcement all of Beaver Nation let out a collective sigh of agony.
After starting off the season with career high numbers and leading what has been one of the most explosive passing attacks in the nation, this was a sad announcement for a team like OSU that is on the rise.
This meant that  Saturdays starting quarterback against the already impressive BYU Cougars would be red shirt Junior Cody Vaz.
Some fan bases would panic upon the news that their promising starting quarterback would be sidelined.
However upon the announcement came a wave of support from not only Vaz’s teammates, but OSU students and fans as well, including this picture from the OSU student newspaper, The Barometer.
The term “BeaverBelieVAZ” began “trending” on twitter by the end of the afternoon and it seemed that even though fans are saddened by the Mannion news, they all have faith in this talented backup.
Coach Riley said after practice Thursday that it was business as usual even with the injury to Mannion.
“I appreciate the fact that within our group there wasn’t any big drama, and we just kept going and practicing and guys did a good job preparing to get on the plane tomorrow and play on Saturday.”
Riley went on to express his confindence in Vaz in the way he has been performing  not only this week but entire his career at OSU.
“If he plays like he is capable of playing and approaches making his reads like he does, he’ll be fine.”
But for a backup quarterback like Vaz the opportunity to play, even in an unfortunate sitatuion like this one is still exciting.
“I’ m just excited to get back out there, it’s been a while and I’ m excited to get that feeling again of stepping on the field. ”
Vaz, who was 24-5 as a starter for St.Nary’s high school in Stockton California went on to say that he did a lot of extra preparation this week with the news that he will be under center.
“Just knowing this week that I will be the starter really influenced me to watch a lot more film.”
The OSU offense will need to use that preparation going into Saturday’s mathcup against a Cougars defense that is currently ranked #1 in the nation in rush defense, and an aggressive pass rush that has already racked up 20 sacks on the season.
Although, the Cougar defense won’t be the only group stopping the run on Saturday.
So far this season the Beavers are  ranked 4th in the nation in rush defense holding teans  to 67.3 yards a gane.
OSU has also kept their opponents off the scoreboard in the 1st quarter joining only Alabama and Penn State to shut out teams in the first quarter.
The Beavs will need this kind of dominating defense again against a BYU tean that is lead by quarterback Riley Nelson and three running backs that are each averaging over 40 yards a gane.
The BYU offense will have to deal with senior corner back Jordan Poyer, who is coming off a performance against WSU in which he snagged three interceptions and was then named the Walter Camp Foundation’s defensive player of the week.
After the turnaround the Beavs have had this season, by a roster with few changes from last year this OSU team seems up to the challenge of facing and dealing with adversity.
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All of Beaver Nation will be anxiously watching Saturday at 12:30 as OSU takes on BYU on ABC
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