Gazette-Times Reporter

Much of the hand-wringing before the season came over the offensive line.

As it turns out, the line has been the source of the offensive success for the Oregon State football team. Three games into the season and the Beavers have allowed only four quarterback sacks in 131 pass attempts, and nearly every run play goes for positive yards.

Even with all the injuries and other issues that kept starters out of the lineup, offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh has assembled a quality starting group. And when a backup was needed, there wasn't a massive drop.

"That group is better than some might have thought," coach Mike Riley said. "They are working hard and are coached well. I anticipate them playing even better."

The biggest test of the season comes this evening when the Beavers face top-ranked Southern California in a Pacific-10 Conference game in Reser Stadium. USC possesses one of the best defenses in the nation, and is statistically the best in the conference.

Running the ball against the Trojans has been difficult and protecting the quarterback can be a lost cause when teams trail and must pass all the time.

"After watching the film from the last game, the O-line has a lot of work to do still," offensive guard Adam Speer said. "The (low) amount of sacks is on (quarterback) Lyle (Moevao).

He's getting rid of the ball fast. The receivers are doing a good job of getting open. He's making our job easy."

Moevao completes a solid 61.2 percent of his passes, going 79-for-129. He has thrown for 922 yards and six touchdowns. His passing average of 307.3 a game leads the Pac-10 and is seventh nationally.

Enough time is being given to Moevao that secondary receiver Shane Morales leads the team in catches with 22. That means Moevao can look around for the open man when defenses think about game-changing split end Sammie Stroughter too much.

"I knew our offensive line was capable of hanging in there with the best of the best, and they proved that against Penn State," Moevao said. "We had two breakdowns in that game, one of them was a coverage sack. The experience they have, it's not as much as you think with the way they played."

The running game has slowly improved. The Beavers rushed for 86 yards in the first game against Stanford, 92 at Penn State and then 217 in the win over Hawaii.

Controlling the tempo is vital to OSU, and even more so tonight. Freshman tailback Jacquizz Rodgers is on the small side and can get through tight spaces, but with extra room he'll have longer runs.

"Cav is doing another outstanding job with that bunch," Riley said of the offensive line. "And Lyle helps a ton by getting rid of the football quickly and moving around. And in the running game, we are making progress."

All this offensive success has come without three expected starters. It reached the point that walk-on Mike Remmers won the starting right tackle spot and has had little trouble.

Standout guard Jeremy Perry has yet to play this season after offseason knee surgery. He didn't play much last season with a broken ankle and the knee injury.

Offensive tackle Tavita Thompson has been out since midseason last year due to an NCAA one-year suspension from use of a banned diet pill. He'll be back by Nov. 1, unless his lawyer can convince the NCAA to allow him back sooner.

Mono took center Marcus Henderson out of much of training camp, so Alex Linnenkohl was pressed into service and settled into the position.

"They are doing a great job handling their situation," Moevao said. "I had no worries when the season started. I knew it would take them some time to get back into it, and now they are doing great."