Oregon State Meets Cincinnati for ESPN Game

The Bearcats crushed Southeast Missouri State, 59-3, Thursday night.

Yvenson Bernard ran for 165 yards and two touchdowns and Oregon State opened the season with a 24-7 victory over Utah on Thursday night. Photo courtesy: OSU Athletics

CORVALLIS, Ore. - The first road trip of the season has Oregon State venturing to the Eastern Time Zone to play the Cincinnati Bearcats of the Big East Conference.

It’s the first trip for the program to the ETZ since Sept. 17, 2005 at Louisville and only the third time since 1987.

Cincinnati is playing its first Pac-10 team since a 1976 game vs. Arizona State (then not a Pac-10 member) and is hosting its first ever Pac-10 opponent.

The Bearcats are 1-2 all-time vs. the Pac-10, losing twice to Arizona State and defeating Washington in 1974.

The game can be seen live Thursday night on ESPN at 4:30 p.m. PDT.

BEAVERS VS. BIG EAST

Oregon State is 5-7 all-time vs. current Big East Conference members -- 2-0 vs. West Virginia, 0-1 vs. Pitt; 0-1 vs. Louisville; 3-5 vs. Syracuse. Cincinnati is scheduled to make the return trip to OSU Sept. 19, 2009.

STREAKS

Oregon State enters the contest winners of nine of its last 10 games and has the Pac-10’s longest active win streak at five games. Cincinnati has won four straight, the second-longest streak in its conference (Louisville - 5).

BEAVERS’ OHIO CONNECTIONS

Oregon State sophomore receiver Casey Kjos (Choh-ss) is from Middletown(Lakota East HS). Kjos, who played as a true freshman on special teams, was sidelined for most of August with a hip injury, but returned to practice this week. Sophomore receiver Shawn McGarity joined the team last Friday -- he is a walkon transfer from Mt. Union College in Alliance, Ohio. McGarity, also a graduate of Lakota East, is ineligible to play in games this season due to NCAA transfer rules.

BEAVER BENGALS

Former Oregon State wide receivers Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh have become standouts for the Cincinnati Bengals and both are expected to be around the team Wednesday and Thursday. Johnson played for the school’s best team ever in 2000 where he accumulated 806 yards and eight touchdowns on 37 receptions. Houshmandzadeh was a teammate of Johnson’s in 2000 and actually had more receptions with 48 for 730 yards and seven scores. T.J. also played for OSU in 1999 -- 24 receptions, 378 yds, 2 tds.

DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE:

Oregon State showed last Thursday why most “experts” predicted its defense to be the strength of the team with eight starters returning and a large cast of veteran reserves. The Beavers held Utah, one of the nation’s most prolific offenses, to just 196 yards and seven points. It was only the second time in 39 games the Utes failed to reach double figures and its total yardage was 172 yards fewer than they averaged last season.

SPEED KILLS

OSU has one of its fastest defenses ever; some have compared it to its 2000 team that won the Fiesta Bowl. The Beavers led the nation for tackles-for-loss (107) and sacks (47) last season and returned to form last Thursday with nine TFLs and five sacks.

TOUGH TO CATCH:

Oregon State is 34-5 when it leads after three quarters with Mike Riley as the head coach. Over the last three seasons, the Beavers are 21-1 (only loss was to LSU).

YOUNG GUYS

Oregon State has a wealth of experience in almost every area of the team, but a couple of true-freshmen who impressed in August made people notice again in last Thursday’s contest. Wide receiver Darrell Catchings caught the go-ahead touchdown pass from Sean Canfield in the third quarter and his other grab was a 17-yard 4th-and-7 snag from Lyle Moevao that set up the game-tying score. Wide Receiver James Rodgers made his presence known on rushing plays with four attempts for 62 yards -- although in reality he was on the end of two receptions that were credited for rushes (behind the line of scrimmage).

“OLD” GUY

Senior defensive tackle William ‘Akau’ola Vea is 27 years old, believed to be the third-oldest player in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Vea worked for FedEx for two years, then participated in a two-year LDS Mission to the Dominican Republic before attending L.A. Harbor College. He and his wife Elaine have a son.

QUARTERBACK DUO

For the first time in modern history and the first time during the Mike Riley era, Oregon State opened the season with alternating quarterbacks. Sophomore left-hander Sean Canfield (8 games in ‘06) started the first and third quarters, with sophomore Lyle Moevao (MOY-vow) seeing action in the second and fourth quarters. Canfield made his first career start, completing 8 of 19 for 87 yards (1 TD, 1 INT), while Moevao was 3 of 9 for 32 yards (1 int). Canfield will get the start this Thursday and Moevao will play, but there are no “parameters” on how much either will play. Both signal-callers have distinctively different styles -- Canfield (6-4, 218) is a pro-style pocket passer with some mobility, while Moevao (5-11, 226) is more of a scrambler and “quick hits” style passer.

Mickens Named Big East Player of the Week

University of Cincinnati cornerback Mike Mickens has been named the Big East Conference Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the 59-3 whitewashing of Southeast Missouri State.

Mickens intercepted two passes and carded six tackles in Thursday night's season opener.

The junior from Huber Heights, OH made a leaping grab in the end zone to stop a Redhawks' drive in the first half.

He followed that by stepping in front of a pass and sprinting 45 yards for his first collegiate touchdown to put Cincinnati in front 25-3 with 11:55 remaining in the third quarter.

The performance marked the first time a Cincinnati defender had tallied two interceptions in a game since Mickens accomplished the feat, in the 30-11 victory over then-No. 7 Rutgers, on Oct. 18, 2006.

A two-time all-Big East selection, Mickens has finished in the top eight nationally in passes defended in each of his first two seasons.

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports