Nov. 1, 2011
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State head coach Mike Riley met with the media Tuesday to discuss the Beavers’ upcoming game Saturday against Stanford. Kickoff is slated for 12:36 p.m. PT.
The game will air live regionally on ABC. It marks the 78th all-time meeting between the teams and 32nd in Corvallis.
Below is a selected portion of Riley’s press conference. For the full version, visit the Podcast page under “Fan Zone” on osubeavers.com.
Opening statement …
“We’re facing a major challenge. This team is very good in all areas. Their offense and their quarterback, that’s all well documented and outstanding in every way - statistically and by performance. What’s not talked about as much about but should be is their defense and special teams. They’re just an all-around good football team; that’s why they’re ranked where they are. It’s a major challenge for the Beavers. Our kids will have a great week of practice and are looking forward to an opportunity to play such a great team.”
On playing defense against Stanford …
“We’re going to have to play balanced defense. They’re tremendous at running the football – that is a given. They’ve had some running numbers that have been unbelievable – 400-something yards, almost 500 in a game, is hard to believe, so you know their capability there. Couple that with one of the most efficient, talented quarterbacks in the country and that’s a pretty good combination. We’re going to have to be very physical, with continual play physically because they have a will to run. They might not run with big hits early in the game, but that won’t stop them. All of a sudden they hit big runs, so you have to play with perseverance against the run, and then you have to be solid against the pass. They’re going to play-action pass, they’re going to play guys out that looks like a running play, and you have to be sound. You see time and again against this team that people just leave somebody uncovered because of a play-action pass.”
On Andrew Luck …
“Start with the record and the resurgence of Stanford football since he was recruited by Jim Harbaugh and since he took over. His won-loss record is really impressive. It’s pretty easy to look at his gifts. He’s not only a great passer, an accurate passer with a good arm, he’s a very gifted athlete. He can run with the best of them. He can run any style of offense – if you wanted to run the spread with him, he’d probably be really good at it. Then you add some of those intangibles like intelligence and poise – that ability to look at a defense and know where he’s going to go with the football. He combines all those attributes to have accomplished what he has done there at Stanford, which is really change the dynamics of the whole program. From when he came to where they are now, a top-10 team two years in a row, that’s pretty interesting.”
On watching last year or two year’s ago tapes …
“We don’t go back two years, especially with our offense because they have a new defensive system, a new coordinator since we beat them here. What they’ve done with this staff is enhanced what they’ve done well. So defensively, structure-wise, last year’s film is applicable. Of course, offensively, it is too. They’ve just done a great job of taking something that’s good and making it better, and keep growing it. I admire that in a new staff, being able to look at that and make it better.”
On what the team would like to accomplish in the next month…
“We have a month left of our regular season games amd to grow. We talked this morning about attitude, about growth, about opportunity, and about being a team. That’s one thing I love about this group. They will come out today and work hard. They have bought into the idea that you have to play well every week if you want to have a chance to win. They found out last week that regardless, you have to prepare, and it takes every minute of the game to play well. You can’t just turn it on whenever you feel like it and win again. They have also bought into the fact of getting better. We have solid guys who are older, and a ton of young guys who are just frankly wanting to keep playing. They like playing. We’ve done enough stuff to feed them motivation to keep going. With the quarterback and receivers, there’s been a lot of positive growth there. And the running game, even though we didn’t succeed last week, we have had growth in that area. We have mostly two freshman running backs playing a lot right now, and they’re excited to keep going and playing. I’m a broken record here, but look at today, let’s see what we can do today, then put it in the context of a week, then get ready to go play and then start again next week. We have to keep a good attitude. We have to keep growing, and we have to keep opportunity always at the foremost of everything we’re doing right now.”
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