Don’t count on
wins over OSU
for much longer
Over the years the Oregon State
Beavers have proven they can
do one thing well — lose. It has
been a long and arduous jour
ney to get to the point they have reached,
but for 27 seasons, counting this one, the
Oregon State Beavers have failed to finish
the season with more wins than losses.
It has gotten to the point where Pacific
OPINION
10 Conference prognosti
cators don’t rate the con
ference's 10 teams from
1-10, they rank them 1-9.
It has become a given
that Oregon State will
finish at the bottom of
the conference, as if it
Ryan
Frank
were a parking space re
served for them.
But year in and year
out, the Beavers and their
fans are always saying,
“This is our year. There is no way we can’t
break that string this season.”
Yet they never do.
In short, the state of college football in
Corvallis is, and has been, very sorry,
much to the pleasure of the Duck fans.
Those Oregon fans should enjoy the
domination of the Beavers while they can
because it isn’t going to last forever. In
fact, I would not be surprised to see Ore
gon State climb out of the cellar before the
turn of the century and work its way into
the middle of the Pac-10 pack in 10 years.
Don’t get me wrong, I have an ingrained
dislike for the Beavers as much as any
Duck fan. I grew up rooting for the Ducks
and therefore against the Beavers, and I
contemplated writing another story on
how horrible Oregon State has become
and poke fun at their tradition, or lack
there of, but I really think the school and
community is on to something in Corval
lis.
What had always stuck out in my mind
as holding Oregon State back from any
kind of success was its lack of quality fa
cilities.
There was no Casanova Center, no in
door practice facility and no stadium that
appeared to look anything like the home
of a Division I-A football team.
I always thought if the school decided
that success in football was a priority and
began to put money into the facilities a Di
vision I-A football program needs, the
Beavers would begin to reap the benefits.
After extensive reconstruction early in
the decade, Parker Stadium has been im
proved. True, it must still be considered
one of the conference’s most unattractive
places to watch a game, but it is improved
nonetheless.
The addition of a Jumbotron also helped
the look of the 43-year-old stadium.
While the additions and improvements
to the stadium are nice, the construction
and completion of the Valley Football
Center, a building much similar to Ore
gon’s Casanova Center, is what will really
put Oregon State back in the recruiting
game.
Think of yourself as an in-state recruit
choosing between Oregon and Oregon
State early in the 1990s.
The Ducks have the beautiful brand
new Casanova Center to house football op
erations, a first-of-its-kind building, and a
44,000-seat stadium.
The Beavers, on the other hand, have no
central building for football operations,
nothing to compare to the Casanova Cen
ter, and a hideous stadium with wooden
bleachers.
Which school do you choose?
Now with the Valley Football Center,
the Beavers are back on the map with re
cruiting. They have something they can
show recruits, a place players want to be.
And it will pay off.
If you look back to when the Ducks
started making regular appearances in
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Oregon Feature
(( The sky’s the limit for LaCorey, but it’s going to take discipline and
maturity and until he has that, hell just be regular. ”
Akili Smith
UO quarterback
- -..-__-......i
MICHAEL CRISP/Emerald
The most impressive numbers LaCorey Collins has still revolve around his size. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound red
shirt freshman has 15 catches and two touchdowns in 11 games for Oregon.
Wide receiver LaCorey Collins has struggled to live up to all
the hype that followed him to Oregon two years ago
By Chris Hansen
Assistant Sports Editor
Keyshawn Johnson, J.J.
Stokes and ... LaCorey
Collins? Believe it or not,
it was only two seasons
ago that the Oregon wide receiver’s
name was being mentioned in the
same breath as the two former All
Pacific-1 0 Conference and now pro
fessional receivers.
It was a comparison that was easy
to make the minute Collins inked
his name on a letter of intent to play
for Oregon. As a Parade All-Ameri
can and Gatorade Player of the Year
in California in 1996, Collins came
to Oregon as one the most decorated
recruits ever.
He was one of the new breed,
standing an imposing 6-foot-4 and
weighing 220 pounds with soft, reli
able hands, cut from the same mold
as Stokes and Johnson.
The hype that followed him to
Oregon was so thick it was palpable.
People questioned whether he
would even stay his full four years
or if he would leave for the NFL ear
ly
But two seasons and a meager 15
catches later, Collins hasn’t lived up
to expectations. A nagging high
school knee injury forced him to
redshirt last season and he is slowly
learning what it takes to play major
college football. Not to mention that
the Ducks are loaded with talent at
wide receiver, limiting his game
time experience.
Calling Collins a bust so early in
his career would be irresponsible.
To say that he has disappointed,
though, would be appropriate.
But Oregon head football coach
Mike Bellotti insists that Collins is
right on track.
“I think development wise, he is
doing fine,” Bellotti says, “I said this
two years ago when he came here
that his body type is going to require
more maturity to the position then
the average guy. He’s a big, coltish
kind of kid who is still growing into
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