Oregon State Beavers

Mike Riley’s second stint as the Oregon State Beavers coach is going a lot better than his first one even though he could be credited with the reversal of fortunes at Reser Stadium. In the late nineties, he only managed eight wins in two years but for the team that averaged only two wins a year under Jerry Pettibone, the five that Riley guided the Beavers to in 1998 was their highest number of wins in 27 years. Since his reappointment in 2003, Riley has led Oregon State to five Bowl games in six years and has won every single one, the most recent coming in one of the lowest scoring games in history, a 3-0 win over Pittsburgh in the Sun Bowl. Posting a 9-4 record for two years in a row, the Beavers have finished in the top three for three years straight. A poor start to the season with defeats to Stanford and Penn State didn’t fill the fans with much confidence especially with a match against number 1 ranked USC coming up. A 45-7 win over Hawaii was a must before what was seen as a routine win for USC. But the Beavers shocked college football world by beating the favourites 27-21. Oregon State went on to win seven of their remaining nine games and triumphed in the Bowl game.