The team shifts focus to Stanford and becoming bowl eligible this week

By Cliff Kirkpatrick
Corvallis Gazette-Times

Dwelling on the negative is not how Oregon State football coach Mike Riley goes about reviewing the previous game and preparing for the next one.

After the initial player scolding Sunday while watching the video of Saturday night’s 25-7 Pacific-10 Conference loss to UCLA in the Rose Bowl, it was on to this week’s opponent.

It was obvious how the Bruins won the game. Four turnovers led to 15 easy points and stopped long OSU drives.

“We didn’t execute at all with the penalties and turnovers,” quarterback Matt Moore said. “There were some plays we left out on the field. Anything can happen on a Saturday. We just have to look forward.”

Eight penalties for 70 yards hurt. A blocked field goal and a missed one discouraged the Beavers after they moved the ball long distances.

They let UCLA hang around too long, and when the Beavers went for the kill on a fourth-and-1 in the third quarter and failed, the game got away.

“The game itself is not a mystery,” Riley said on Sunday night. “We didn’t take advantage of opportunities and we turned the ball over.”

Why that happened is still the unknown. After the game many of the players said they weren’t emotionally in the game. And Riley didn’t dispute that then, or Sunday.

The Beavers say they didn’t overlook UCLA, but didn’t have the passion that carried them to victory the four previous games.

“You only have one game a week and it sure is a waste not to play it,” Riley said. “From my vantage point I have to give UCLA credit. And we hurt ourselves.”

The bright spot was OSU’s defense. It wasn’t at the same level as during the four-game winning streak, but it kept the team in the game early.

UCLA just took advantage of short fields from four fumbles and giving up the ball at midfield on downs.

“We played a ton of good defense in that game,” Riley said. “We gave up a couple plays, but that happens time to time. There were a ton of good individual plays and group stuff. I don’t know if we got better, but there was a lot of good defense.”

The Beavers weren’t in a panic after the game because of how the defense played and they believe the offensive and special teams problems can be fixed.

The goal of coming back strong at Stanford this Saturday started moments after the game and carried into Sunday’s workout.

“We had a pretty productive day, and everybody is really disappointed not playing to win that game,” Riley said. “After the start of (Sunday), the rest of the day was upbeat and about getting onto the next opportunity. We can’t dwell on it too long. We have to use it to motivate us for this week.”

Riley still won’t talk about his team needing one more win to become bowl eligible. The Beavers realize they should have accomplished it Saturday, but have three more chances.

He has his team looking at this game only. The Civil War isn’t in his mind, yet.

“There is no different message,” Riley said. “We have to get back to the total focus to winning a game and the details to win the game.“

OSU came out of the UCLA contest relatively healthy. Running back Yvenson Bernard hurt his ankle again, but it was nothing that will keep him out of Saturday’s game, Riley said.

Center Kyle DeVan aggravated a knee injury, but not badly. Offensive guard Jeremy Perry bruised a knee to go with his foot sprain, but won’t miss practice.