The Associated Press

CINCINNATI — Although Oregon State has never played in Cincinnati — the Beavers hardly ever get near the East Coast — they’ve already got quite a following around town.

A lot of folks wear orange-striped jerseys of Bengals receivers Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh, teammates at Oregon State in 2000, when the Beavers were Pacific-10 Conference co-champions.

Both are expected to visit their former team before tonight’s game at the University of Cincinnati.

The Beavers could use the support. OSU (1-0) is going to have to get acclimated quickly to very unfamiliar conditions.

The forecast calls for temperatures in the 90s, something the Beavers don’t experience much on the West Coast. They’ll also have to adjust their body clocks to the Eastern Time Zone, a place Oregon State has visited only twice since 1987.

Then there’s Cincinnati’s spread offense, which had its way in a 59-3 victory over Southeast Missouri State last Thursday night.

It could be a long trip home if the Beavers don’t handle those adjustments well.

There’s an opportunity for Cincinnati to put itself on the college football map.

In their opener under new coach Brian Kelly, the Bearcats (1-0) rolled to their most lopsided victory in 30 years.

Cincinnati piled up 615 yards, third-most in school history, out of a no-huddle offense that didn’t let up.

They’re eager to see how it works against a defense that features eight returning senior starters.

“It’s a big deal,” slot receiver Dominick Goodman said. “We can let everybody in the nation know about us and how good of a team we are.

“It’s more exposure for us, more recognition.”

Both teams have a few things to figure out before the kickoff.

Oregon State alternated its sophomore quarterbacks in an opening 24-7 victory over Utah. Sean Canfield, more of a pocket passer, went 8-of-19 for 87 yards and a touchdown. Lyle Moevao, more of a runner, was 3-of-9 for 32 yards.

Canfield is expected to start on Thursday, hoping he improves on his sub-.500 completion rate.

“It was decent,” Canfield said of the opener. “There was some good and some bad. It was a little shaky at times; the first quarter kind of got off to a slow start. The defense played outstanding and kept us in the game early. The offensive line did a tremendous job. I only got touched a couple of times. Overall, it was OK.”

The Beavers might have their top receiver back on Thursday. Riley said it’s conceivable that Sammie Stroughter could play in Cincinnati.

Stroughter took a leave of absence for personal reasons this fall, saying he was grieving the deaths of two family members and a Beavers assistant. He returned to practice before the opener and was on the sidelines for the game against Utah, wearing his jersey but no pads.

Stroughter caught 79 passes for 1,293 yards last season. He scored eight touchdowns, three on punt returns.

Cincinnati will get one of its best players back on Thursday. Defensive tackle Terrill Byrd was suspended for the opener for skipping class. Byrd was a first-team All-Big East selection last season.

The Bearcats have two overriding questions.

Freshman kicker Jake Rogers missed two extra points and a field goal attempt in the opener, prompting Kelly to suggest afterward that he’ll be kicking for the soccer team if he has another bad game.

“He’s got to perform,” Kelly said this week. “He’s had a great week. I really believe he’s going to bounce back from a difficult week. I would not be surprised to see him do quite well Thursday night.”

The other question is how many fans will show up to see it. The Bearcats drew an average of only 21,166 fans last season, and had 20,223 for the opener — roughly 15,000 below capacity.

A victory over Oregon State might start to change that.

“This is our first big test,” Craig said.