Was it all just a giant hiccup, or a sign of more trouble ahead?
The answers to those questions are months away, but no question, there is sense of urgency around the program as spring football practices begin Tuesday.
This is the time of year ? like baseball?s spring training ? where anything seems possible but the bitter taste of back-to-back 5-7 and 3-9 seasons and the heartbreak of losing popular defensive tackle Fred Thompson to a heart attack made it a long and sometimes gut-wrenching off-season.
?It?s been too long since we played,?? said head coach Mike Riley. ?It will be good to get back on the field.??
For the first time since 2006, the Beavers will not have Jacquizz or James Rodgers on the roster, a look that will take some getting used to.
James leaves OSU as the school?s all-time leader in all-purpose yards (6,377), career catches (222) and single-season receptions (91 in 2009) and he hopes his next stop is the NFL, where Quizz has found a home with the Atlanta Falcons.
The Rodgers brothers impact at Oregon State can?t completely be measured in yards gained and touchdowns scored but what a long, wonderful trip it was: the dynamic siblings from the Houston suburbs accounted for a combined 11,310 yards in their careers, or 6.43 miles.
Forgive Riley if he isn?t looking around the Truax Center on Tuesday, thinking about how much he?s going to miss having at least one of them standing next to him, peppering him with questions.
?It?s going to be strange,?? admitted Riley, who is starting his 12th season overall in Corvallis (10th straight) and is three wins away from becoming the school?s all-time winningest coach.
Although there are several key players sitting out the spring as they recover from surgery and re-hab injuries, and the offensive line is tissue paper thin, Riley is eagerly anticipating the coming weeks of practice if only to see how all of the young players thrust into action last season have grown and improved.
In some cases, the growth is significant: playmaking defensive end Dylan Wynn, for instance, is listed at 6-foot-2 and 265 pounds ? 25 pounds heavier than his listed weight as a true freshman starter last season.
Sophomore quarterback Sean Mannion, on the other hand, dropped a few pounds and maybe that will make him more nimble in the pocket.
Mannion has spent the off-season getting comfortable with his receivers and the OSU playbook. His mantra in 2012, he says, is to cut down his interceptions and maximize a dangerous receiving corps that includes Markus Wheaton, Brandin Cooks, and Jordan Bishop.
??I expect a lot from Sean,?? said Riley.
Riley knows there are holes to fill, and position battles to be fought, and serious problems to be solved but he loves every minute of it. This is where his coaching staff ? which has added veteran NFL assistant Rod Perry as secondary coach - earns its money.
?I?m really looking forward to it,?? Riley said. ?This group had a great off-season (in the weight room). We played a lot of younger guys and I?m anticipating them entering spring with a little bit of a veteran status.??
The Beavers played 23 first-time starters in 2011 and a school-record 10 true freshmen, so there will be numerous players with a ?veteran?? swagger.
There are 16 starters back, including placekicker Trevor Romaine, and enough pieces in place to think that a bowl-eligible 2012 season is possible provided this team can run the ball and improve its run defense and overall defense.
Running the ball, and stopping the run, are two basic tenants of Mike Riley football and the Beavers failed miserably in both categories in 2011, which puts the offensive line, the running backs, and the defensive front seven under the microscope in the spring and Fall.
It grates on Riley to think that OSU was 19th in the nation in passing (286.8 yards per game) and 118th in rushing (86.6 yards per game). Riley said the Beavers have always ?prided themselves?? on the running game and at a school which has produced the likes of Bill ?Earthquake?? Enyart, Steven Jackson, and Jacquizz Rodgers 86.6 yards per game isn?t only unacceptable it?s embarrassing.
It was such a dismal 2011 season in many respects ? a season that started with a faceplant against Sacramento
State ? the Beavers were a humbling 10th, 11th, or 12th in ten different statistical categories in the Pac-12.
Because it?s the spring, and anything?s possible, Riley sees a much stingier defense and envisions normalcy returning to the tailback position after a very uncharacteristic year in which the Beavers flat couldn?t run in seven of their 12 games. Riley admits running back ?is one of our big question marks.??
Reality says the offensive line is in the middle of major overhaul ? true freshman Isaac Seumalo (or perhaps true freshman Garrett Weinreich) and transfer and ex-UCLA starter Stan Hasiak could start somewhere ? and the tailback position is as fragile as sophomore Malcolm Agnew?s oft-strained hamstrings.
But Riley expects improvement at running back. Anything less would make life miserable for second-year starter Mannion, who is obviously more effective when the offense is balanced and he isn?t forced to throw the ball 60 times.
Notes: Practices (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday this week) will run from 2:45 p.m. to around 5 p.m. and will be held either in the indoor center or at Reser Stadium. All practices are open to the public. The grass practice fields at the Tommy Prothro Football Complex are unavailable in the spring while FieldTurf is being installed for the start of pre-season practice in August. ? tight end Caleb Smith (6-6, 250) is one of OSU?s highest-profile recruits and he?s leaving early from Kentridge High School in Renton, Wash. to enroll for spring term and join the Beavers? this spring. Smith was rated the No. 7 tight end in the nation by Rivals.com.
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