Playing Pac-10 foe Stanford first has Beavers focused

Excitement has been brewing for the Oregon State football team and what it could make out of this season.

The first look at what could happen can finally be seen in tonight’s opener.

Will OSU take another step up the national pecking order, or must a step down be made before future progress occurs?

The Beavers begin the season with a Pacific-10 Conference road game at Stanford. Questions if coach Mike Riley can get his team off to a fast start will begin to be answered here.

A loss puts the Beavers behind in the conference race, and Week 2 is much tougher to get back on track with a nonconference trip to Penn State.

“We have to find out about this team in a positive vein,” Riley said. “We have to win the game and see where we’ll go from there.”

The team has a mantra of knocking down the gates to begin the season. Starting fast is the team’s goal with coaches and players talking about it since training camp opened at the beginning of the month.

Even though the Beavers have won the first game of the season four of the last five years, they are considered slow starters. It stems from Game 2 breakdowns, having lost four of five Week 2 games during the same time.

“We have to come out of the gates firing,” offensive guard Adam Speer said. “We can’t come out slow. Riley told us we’re going to knock down the gates.”

Facing the Cardinal makes for easy first-game preparation.

Beside Stanford being a more competitive team than many of the bigger programs like to schedule early in the year, the Pac-10 rivalry makes both sides take notice.

“Having Stanford with a Pac-10 game, it really helps us do that,” defensive end Victor Butler said of being ready for the season. “The last couple years we’ve had a first-half season slump and finished great. We want to end that. We want to be like race horses, and go hard out of the gate.”

Quarterback Lyle Moevao takes it upon himself to be the source for a fast start. Part of the problem in the past has been the play of the quarterbacks.

It takes time for OSU to break in a new one. He needs to recognize defenses and see what his offense is doing, and then make quick decisions.

Since Moevao is in his third season with the Beavers and second being prepped for games, the offense should run better. He performed with the confidence of a veteran in the spring and during training camp. It comes from the team winning the four games he started last season.

“I think it all depends on the quarterback,” Moevao said. “If the quarterback is nervous or comes out flat, obviously the offense doesn’t react. Body language is everything to what happens on the field. That’s what it’s all about. Everybody is looking at the quarterback, so it’s a big deal how people see you.”

There are several areas to watch during this game beyond the quarterback, and they have been addressed during the last month. How each develops will determine the start.

• Right offense tackle is manned by walk-on redshirt freshman Mike Remmers.

• There’s a sophomore starting center in Alex Linnenkohl.

• Redshirt freshman Ryan McCants and true freshman Jacquizz Rodgers will split time in the backfield.

• Starting safety Al Afalava is out due to a one-game team suspension, so less experienced players will see action.

• The starting defensive front seven is new, but there’s some experience.

• New punter Johnny Hekker and place-kicker Justin Kahut take over.

With all that ahead Butler promises the team will be faster than last year, have an aggressive approach and is eager to play.

“I think we’re physically, and mentally, ready,” Butler said. “This is a more focused team at this point than in the past. Getting off to a fast start is something we have to prove to ourselves that we can start out fast and win ball games.”