All hail the Beavers of Oregon State, for they are LSU’s best shot to make the national championship game. Forget all of this “Syracuse needs to beat Notre Dame” or “LSU needs to jump Southern Cal in the various BCS polls to get to the Sugar Bowl.” Sure all of that can happen, but the chances of jumping USC without the Trojans losing are slim to none.
So Saturday, before the Tigers lock horns with Georgia for the second time this season, all LSU fans and supporters will turn their attention to the battle on the West Coast between USC and Oregon State.
Most of the national media and college football experts have already written off the Las Vegas Bowl-bound Beavers (7-4, 4-3 PAC-10) against the mighty Trojans. But as ESPN’s Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast my friend!”
Can Oregon State give the Tigers a hand? Hell yeah, they can. You’ve just got to have faith in the Beavers.
The spoiler and underdog role that Oregon State is in Saturday is a position LSU is all too familiar with.
In 2001, the Tigers were in the same kind of role in the SEC Championship game against No. 2 Tennessee, who was off to the national championship if they could get by LSU. The Tigers upset the Vols with a convincing 31-20 win and went to the Sugar Bowl. LSU’s win gave Nebraska a shot against Miami in the national championship. The Beavers have an opportunity to give LSU the same chance, if the Tigers take care of business against Georgia in the SEC Championship.
Although Oregon State doesn’t have any BCS opportunities ahead of them if they beat USC like the Tigers did in 2001, the Beavers are excited about their chances.
“I think we all realize we’ll be underdogs in the game, and to me, those kind of things don’t play a big part in our thought process,” Beavers coach Mike Riley said at a Tuesday press conference. “We have to prepare to play USC and the people they have and what they do. It’s all about that for us. If we get prepared and go down there and make plays and play well, then we’ll have an opportunity in the ball game – that’s just how we’re looking at it. What’s motivating to me is the preparation for the game and our opportunity to go down there and play.”
So a trip to the national championship is at stake in this game, but for Oregon State, this is almost like its own national championship game. The Beavers, an up and down, 7-4 team with an explosive offense going up against the 10-1 Trojans who are trying to prove they belong in the big dance.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for our team,” Riley said. “For us, it feels a little like a postseason game after playing the Oregon game, having Thanksgiving, having a bye. But I think it’s truly just a great opportunity. It will be very hard. This is an outstanding team; there’s a reason they’re No. 2 in the nation right now. It provides a lot of challenges and we’ll have to play very, very well. But we’ve been pretty resilient during the year in coming back from disappointments, so I’m looking forward to the game and I think our team is, too.”