| 1. Stroughter
will suit up |
Oregon State receiver Sammie Stroughter will suit up and play for the first
time this season.
Stroughter missed several weeks of fall camp as he worked through personal
issues that included the death of two uncles and coach Jim Gilstrap, who
recruited Stroughter to Corvallis.
The All-American started to practice with with the team in late August
working first with the scout team before moving to the second team offense while
also returning punts. This week he practiced with the first team offense.
Stroughter will back up true freshman Darrell Catchings at split end and
return punts. Last season Stroughter caught 74 passes for a conference
best 1,293 yards and five touchdowns. He also returned three punts for
touchdowns, setting a school record.
| 2.
Humidity, temperature could play a factor |
Despite the weather being in the low 70's with very little humidity in the
home opener against Utah several OSU players, including Keenan Lewis and Anthony Brown, suffered from cramps.
Cincinnati defensive coordinator Joe Tresey is hoping for high humidity and
temperature to give the Bearcats an edge Thursday.
“I’d love to see about 90% humidity and about 85 degrees at kickoff," Tresey
said. "That’s what we’re used to practicing in, and I’m sure they’re not. I
think it would be to our advantage, but who knows.”
The difference in temperature is something Oregon State coach Mike Riley has
also noted and hope won't affect his team late in the game. He had his
team leave a day earlier then normal and had his team practice in Nippert
Stadium Wednesday in hopes of getting them better acclimated to the climate.
“[A] factor in this game will be the temperature and humidity,” Riley said.
“How we handle that, and how many guys can stay fresh will be important.”
According to Weather.com, the Cincinnati area at game time will be around 90
degrees with 49% humidity. For comparisons sake, at the same time
Corvallis residents will be in 75 degree weather with 56% humidity - slightly
more humid than Cincinnati, but 15 degrees warmer.
| 3. Canfield to start; no parameters on
rotation |
Mike Riley and his staff took one step closer to naming a starter this week
as he loosened the parameters for playing time for Sean Canfield and Lyle Moevao.
Unlike the first game of the year, where there was a predetermined rotation,
Canfield will start and not be pulled until he proves he needs to be pulled.
"We are going to start Sean Canfield and play Lyle Moevao, but we don’t have
any parameters as to time. We’re not going to do quarters again," Riley said.
As a result Canfield received more repetitions with the first team this week
which should help his timing and confidence. Couple his extra practice
with the first team with receiver Sammie Stroughter's return and Canfield could
make a strong case for being named the starter.
Canfield says that one of the main things for a quarterback to be successful
is to have a short memory and stay level headed.
“Take things one play at a time, the biggest thing for a quarterback is to
have a short memory," Canfield said. "That and to acclimate to the speed
of the game; it’s a little different than in practice. The bottom line is to get
it done in the game when it’s on the line.”
Even with Canfield set to solidify himself as the starting quarterback,
Moevao is not ready to back down and will be ready to go if his name gets
called.
"Having the on call situation for myself is kind of the same situation I was
in last week, just being ready on the sidelines," Moevao said. "I had a
feeling that if Sean was on a roll with the first team offense that he would
stay in, but fortunately enough I got my chance in the second.”
| 4.
Defending against the spread/no huddle offense |
The Cincinnati offense put up some gaudy numbers last week against SE
Missouri State - 615 total yards (314 rushing), 33 first downs, and 59 points.
The Beaver defense will have their hands full with a vertical, no huddle offense
that likes to get up and down the field.
"They try to stretch your defense and you have to do a great job one-on-one,"
Riley said.
The good news is the Beavers have experience playing against a no huddle
offense as they squared off against Missouri in the Sun Bowl last year.
Fortunately Oregon State won, but the Tigers had no problem moving up and down
the field racking up 561 yards (359 passing), 21 first downs and 38 points -
something Riley has noted.
“I don’t know what Missouri ran, but they had some success if that was the
spread offense. It hasn’t always been good," Riley said.
Riley feels OSU has a couple of advantages when defending against the spread
offense - good teaching and team speed - two things the defense will have to use
to stop the Bearcat attack.
"One thing that our coaches do a nice job of is teaching our defense the
spread. The more we play against it, the more knowledge you get of what they are
trying to do with certain plays," Riley said. "As you know watching that
offense it creates a lot of one-on-one plays, and if you miss that one-on-one
then you get big plays."
"Our compensation, frankly though, is speed. If we’re playing with our speed
and confidence in where we are then you have a better chance to get more people
to the football and that’s what we did against Utah.”
There is no such thing as too much speed. One of the Orange and Black
defenses' strengths is team speed - a trait that they share with the Bearcats
defense.
“They are fast.They have good speed up front and one defensive end in
particular. No. 82 (Angel Craig) is fast," Riley said.
The UC defense generated four turnovers, four fumbles and two interceptions,
a week ago and are receiving a boost as All-Big-East tackle Terrill Byrd is back
from a one game suspension.
Just like every opponent, the defense will be geared to stop the run and
Yvenson Bernard. Unfortunately the offensive line is without Jeremy Perry,
but Bernard says not to worry about that as they dealt with the same issue in
the Sun Bowl.
"They have probably one of the best-coached offensive lines that we've played
against," UC head caoch Brian Kelly said. "They do a great job up front. They're
physical. We know their back is a featured player, but they're like any other
team in the country.
"They know they can't just run the ball. They're going to have to throw the ball
down the field."
And that's where the return of Stroughter to the lineup and the emergence of
Darrell Catchings and James Rodgers will help. The team won't have to rely
so heavily on the run as they can give Cincinnati different looks to open up the
running game.
Riley preaches balance and that's just what the offense will need to do to
come away with a victory.