Goals for the Oregon State football team this Saturday in the season opener are to win and play efficiently.

However, linebacker Keith Pankey gets a little more explicit. He wants all those things, and for the Beavers to beat Portland State big.

There's no animosity from him toward the Vikings, he's just looking at the big picture.

"Execution and the amount of guys who get to play are important," Pankey said. "It would really be nice to get the young guys in there as soon as possible. They can get as many reps as they can. It comes down to we have to shut them down.

"A good outing for us is to dominate the run game, the pass game and everything in-between. We want to get the young guys in the game soon."

The Beavers are favored this weekend. They face a lower division team from the former Division I-AA, now the Football Championship Subdivision.

Neither of the two previous meetings was close, 51-14 in 1983 and 41-14 in 2005. The first game was back when the Beavers were one of the worst major programs in the nation.

"They are not in the same division, but we still respect everybody," quarterback Sean Canfield said. "Our mentality is it's just another team and we have to do what we have to do."

What the Beavers need to do is play without bonehead mistakes, coach Mike Riley said. He doesn't want offside and procedural penalties, but does expect good clock management and substitutions to run smoothly.

If they accomplish these little things, the rest will take care of itself.

"Dumb teams don't win," Riley said. "We have to build to be a smart, aware, efficient, tough football team."

In the way is a team on the rise with third-year coach Jerry Glanville. He's savvy-minded with extensive NFL and college experience.

One of Glanville's first big statements with the Vikings was a challenge to Oregon and Oregon State to play his team on a regular basis. It's a win-win for him.

Playing them is a good experience to face better programs, which helps prepare the Vikings for the Big Sky Conference. If they win, it could springboard them into a successful season.

A loss by the Beavers could throw the team into disarray. Each win is vital in reaching the minimum six to become bowl eligible.

Starting fast and winning the early games is another must for OSU. The second half of the season is loaded with three difficult road games at Southern California, California and Oregon.

"I sure don't like this thing at all," Riley said of the scenario. "They will be ready to go. I know what the expectations are for a game like this. So I think we can't buy into any of that. We have to play a good game or you could be Michigan against Appalachian State."

Riley's reference is to the Appalachian State upset of Michigan in 2007 that shocked the sports world.

Michigan overlooked its opponent, and became a teaching point for coaches for the rest of time. Riley plans to remind his players of that again this week.

"I'm sure it's a tendency to do that with what they hear the game should be, but we'll fight that as hard as we can," Riley said.

Being that this is the first game of the season, it's not hard to get the players focused. They are tired of practicing against each other.

The defense is eager to hit someone full speed, and the offense wants to see what it can do against players who don't know the plays.

"You can expect a whole lot of hard work, a whole lot of hustle and a whole lot of making plays," Pankey said. "We are going to do what we know how to, and we are going to do them as fast as we can do them. Everything else will shake down from there."