Oregon State flies high after
years of futility
■ Head coach Dennis Erickson has guided the Oregon State
football program to unprecedented success
By Robbie McCallum
Oregon Daily Emerald
You have to go back a long way
to find an Oregon State football
team that has been as successful as
the 2000 squad.
Beaver boosters have waited 28
years for a team this good. Before
1999, Oregon State hadn’t had a
winning season since 1970. It was
almost three decades of futility, a
staggering stretch of seasons in
which the Beavers went to no
bowl games, finished no higher
than sixth in the Pacific-10 Confer
ence and won no more than four
games in a season.
Six different head coaches came
to Corvallis from 1965 until 1999.
Most were either fired or quit in
frustration, all with losing records.
The Beavers were the Pac-lO’s
doormat, finishing dead last a
mind-boggling 14 times.
Enter Dennis Erickson.
Erickson came to Corvallis after
an unsuccessful stint with the
NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. Still, the
Northwest native sported a 113-40
1 career college record and two na
tional championships while at Mi
ami, Fla. But more importantly, he
had a reputation for turning col
lege football programs around.
Erickson’s only losing season as
a college coach came in 1987, his
first year at Washington State. The
following season, Erickson guided
the Cougars to a 9-3 season and a
Holiday Bowl berth.
Although he was only the inter
im coach at Wyoming in 1986, Er
ickson built the Cowboy program
into a Western Athletic Conference
contender for years to come.
Erickson lost only nine games at
Miami while guiding the Hurri
canes to bowl games in all six of
his years as head coach.
So it’s no surprise that Erickson
has accomplished what he has at
Oregon State. The 29-year head
coaching veteran inherited a 5-6
team and transformed it into a 7-4
team that went to the 1999 Oahu
Bowl. The bowl appearance was
Oregon State’s first in more than
30 years. Erickson accomplished
the impossible: Winning in Corval
lis.
The building continues as Ore
gon State finds itself at 9-1 with a
No. 8 national ranking and a shot
at the Rose Bowl — or, at worst,
the Holiday, Sun or Aloha bowls.
On Oct. 21, Oregon State defeat
ed UCLA 44-38 to earn its sixth
win of the season, clinching a win
ning season for the second straight
year. It also meant that the Beavers
will go to a bowl game — the first
time that Oregon State will go to
back-to-back bowl games.
Erickson has won more games
in two seasons at Oregon State
than former head coaches Craig
Fertig, Joe Avezzano, Dave Kragth
orpe and Jerry Pettibone did in
their entire careers.
Oregon State has succeeded this
year with an exciting offense, led
by quarterback Jonathan Smith
and tailback Ken Simonton, and
the conference’s top defense.
Aside from Oregon State’s stars
— Smith and Simonton — the
Beavers have an army of role play
ers who complement the Beaver
offense.
Although he is second on the
depth chart, tailback Patrick Mc
Call does more than spell Simon
ton on a couple of downs. McCall
is a major part of the Oregon State
offense and ranks ninth in the Pac
10 in yards per game.
“I can tell you how much [Mc
Call] helped the team this year,”
Simonton said. “Fresh legs are al
ways a must. If you've got them,
that's a problem for a tired defense.
We'll try and use that to our advan
tage.”
Wide receiver T.J. Housh
mandzadeh is one of Smith’s fa
vorite targets downfield. The sen
ior averages 15.9 yards per
reception, while fellow wide re
ceiver Chad Johnson has also
caught the ball well this season.
Senior Ricky Walker is one of
Oregon State’s options on offense,
defense and special teams.
“I think Oregon State is playing
as well as any football team in this
conference,” Oregon head coach
Mike Bellotti said. “I think the two
best teams in the conference, no
question, are playing in Corvallis
this Saturday.”
Prior to the Dennis Erickson era
of Oregon State football, the Civil
War matchup meant bragging
rights in the state, maybe a 4-7 sea
son instead of a 3-8 season, and
sometimes it even meant who
would climb one game out of the
Pac-10 cellar.
Now, the Civil War is for the big
time — a berth in the 2001 Rose
Bowl. It would be the Beavers’ first
trip to Pasadena since 1965.
Emerald
Beaver quarterback Jonathan Smith directs a big-play pass offense and a deep, fierce
running game.
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