SPORTS
BAKER CITY HERALD • SATuRDAY, SEpTEmBER 3, 2022 A5
OREGON STATE PLAYS HOST TO BOISE STATE
Beavers, Broncos kick off season
BY JESSE SOWA
Corvallis Gazette-Times
CORVALLIS — A long list of vet-
erans on the Oregon State defense
means an equally lengthy list of play-
ers who can be leaders, whether do-
ing it by example or with their voices.
The Beavers have 17 players on the
defensive depth chart who have been
in the program for at least four years
and four others in their third cam-
paign as OSU opens its football sea-
son Saturday night, Sept. 3 at home
against Boise State at Reser Stadium.
The Beavers are hopeful that the
experience and leadership turns into
more wins on the field, as the team
tries to improve on last year’s 7-6 re-
cord. Oregon State could have as
many as nine players with four or
more years in the program starting
on defense Saturday night.
“We’re really trying to be a play-
er-led team. We have a lot of veterans
... so we have a lot of leadership on
our team,” said Riley Sharp, a red-
shirt junior outside linebacker enter-
ing his fifth season in Corvallis. “So
it’s not just one guy or a couple guys.
The whole defense is accountable and
helps each other out and leads each
other in that way.”
That player-led mentality and ini-
tiative picked up steam in the offsea-
son. Players were taking responsibil-
ity for themselves while also holding
their teammates accountable to make
sure the work — whether that was in
film study, in the weight room or on
the field focusing on skill improve-
ment — was getting done.
“There’s been a lot less of us having
to instruct guys and get guys to do
stuff and police guys more. They lead
it and we focus on coaching, which
is great to do,” defensive coordinator
Trent Bray said.
Bray says there have been a grow-
ing number of players who lead vo-
cally, more than in his previous four
years in the program.
He points to Crescent Valley High
alum and inside linebacker Omar
Speights, who has seen his leadership
grow in a different direction.
“A guy like Omar has always been
a lead-by-example guy. Much more
vocal than he’s been in the past,”
Bray said. “So guys like that are step-
ping up. Once they put in the work
and shown that they do it right, now
they’re starting to be more vocal
about it, which is great.”
Sharp added that the team has a
good mix of players who lead in one
way or the other, which he says is a
plus to have that kind of balance.
Speights, inside linebacker Kyrei
Fisher-Morris and safety Jaydon
Grant are three of OSU’s six full-sea-
son captains. Grant and quarterback
Tristan Gebbia have been named to
those spots for the third time, becom-
ing just the third and fourth players in
program history to accomplish that.
It’s the first time since 2007 that
Oregon State has had six full-season
captains. Offensive linemen Brandon
Kipper and Jake Levengood are the
others this year.
Grant is in his seventh year in the
program. Tackle Cody Anderson is
next in years of service on the defense
with six. End Isaac Hodgins, insider
Jack Colletto, outside linebacker John
McCartan, safety Kitan Oladapo and
Sharp are all at five.
With so much experience on the
field, Alex Austin says it’s leadership
by committee, with many players tak-
ing their turn.
Being a player-led team is some-
thing the redshirt sophomore corner-
back in his fourth year with the Bea-
vers brought to the discussion when
asked about leadership.
“Not having the coaches being the
ones to tell us to hold us accountable
when we’re making a mistake,” Austin
OREGON OPENS AGAINST DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Leon Neuschwander for The Oregonian/File
Oregon State’s Chance Nolan tries to avoid pressure as the Beavers face the Stanford
Cardinal in a Pac-12 football game on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021, at Reser Stadium in
Corvallis.
said. “Every man knows what their
assignment is and what they have to
do.”
Leaders also know their time and
place to make an impact. But in the
biggest moments this season, Oregon
State will lean on a select few to lead
the way.
“The back-end guy like Jaydon
Grant and Kitan, Omar, just to name
a few guys who have been here and
played a ton of football for us,” Bray
said “They’re going to bring an expe-
rience that they can talk about and
lead guys through. Those guys are
definitely important.”
Come Saturday and every week for
the next few months, the veterans will
be asked to continue leading which-
ever way they know how.
“We know the standard and we
know what we have to get done here
to win,” Austin said. “So we’re just try-
ing to continue to build off last year
and come in week one and get us the
win.”
WASHINGTON STATE FOOTBALL
Dickert leads ‘new Wazzu’
into opener against Idaho
BY COLTON CLARK
The Spokesman-Review
Sean Meagher/The Oregonian, File
True freshman defensive back Jahlil Florence (No. 6) runs off the field in celebration after his diving interception as the Oregon
Ducks hold their annual spring football game at Autzen Stadium in Eugene on April 23, 2022.
Georgia D is eager to
show it hasn’t lost a step
BY PAUL NEWBERRY
Associated Press
ATLANTA — A significant
chunk of Georgia’s defense for the
ages has moved on to the NFL.
Can we expect a major drop-off
in 2022?
Don’t count on it.
The reigning national champi-
ons still have plenty of talent on that
side of the line, led by massive line-
man Jalen Carter, linebacker Nolan
Smith, and defensive backs Kelee
Ringo and Christopher Smith.
They’ll get a chance to claim the
spotlight when No. 3 Georgia opens
the season Saturday, Sept. 3 against
No. 11 Oregon in the Chick-fil-A
Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz
Stadium in Atlanta.
“I’ve been a Georgia fan all my
life,” Nolan Smith said. “That’s
one thing that’s always been great
around here, the Georgia defense.
So I’m 100% not worrying about a
drop-off. It’s a standard. Just because
we had a lot of guys leave last year,
it’s a standard of Georgia defense
that we play at a high level.”
Five players off Georgia’s defense
were drafted in the first round, in-
cluding top overall pick Travon
Walker. Three other defensive
standouts were selected in the later
rounds.
In all, Georgia had 15 players
taken in the draft — a record since
the NFL went to a seven-round for-
mat.
The guy on the opposite sideline
is certainly familiar with Georgia’s
ability to shut down opponents.
Dan Lanning served the last three
years as Smart’s co-defensive coor-
dinator. Now, he’s making his head
coaching debut against a team he
knows so well, having succeeded
Mario Cristobal.
“There’s definitely some feelings
of excitement for me to go play a
team that I care about and was a
big part of for a long time,” Lanning
conceded.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart, who
agreed over the summer to a 10-year
contract extension worth more than
$110 million, downplayed the sig-
nificance of facing a former member
of his staff.
He’s already done it with two
“I’ve been a Georgia fan all my life,. That’s one thing that’s always been
great around here, the Georgia defense. So I’m 100% not worrying
about a drop-off. It’s a standard. Just because we had a lot of guys leave
last year, it’s a standard of Georgia defense that we play at a high level.”
— Nolan Smith
Oregon vs. Georgia
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 3, 12:30 p.m.
WHERE: Mercedes-Benz Stadium,
Atlanta
TV: ABC
other ex-assistants, beating Arkan-
sas’ Sam Pittman twice as well as
knocking off South Carolina’s Shane
Beamer.
“Neither Dan nor I will be wor-
ried about each other during the
game,” Smart said. “It’s not about
that.”
EYES ON THE QB
Lanning declined to name a start-
ing quarterback, but the Bulldogs
have a pretty good idea who they’ll
be facing.
Bo Nix transferred to Oregon after
starting the past three seasons at Au-
burn, one of Georgia’s biggest South-
eastern Conference rivals.
Nix is 0-3 against the Bulldogs.
“I know who the quarterback is
going to be,” Smart said. “I’m not
worried about that.”
There are no uncertainties about
Georgia’s QB.
Coming off a storybook season
in which he was picked as offensive
MVP in both playoff victories, for-
mer walk-on Stetson Bennett is back
for his sixth college season.
It’s quite a change to be the un-
questioned starter after battling for
playing time every other year.
“I’m probably a little bit more ex-
cited than I was this time last year,”
Bennett said.
ONCE A DUCK
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Mar-
cus Mariota, who won the Heisman
Trophy at Oregon, will be an honor-
ary captain for his alma mater.
Mariota believes the Ducks, who
are 16½-point underdogs, have a
chance to pull off the upset.
“They’re gonna be competitive,”
he said.
Lanning hopes to build a program
that turns out more players like Mar-
iota.
“He stands for everything that I
think Oregon football stands for,” the
rookie coach said. “Thrilled that he
gets to be around and we get to play
in his home stadium.”
THREE-HEADED MONSTER
Georgia’s offense has a chance to
create all sorts of matchup problems
with an elite trio of tight ends.
Brock Bowers is coming off a dy-
namic freshman season, Darnell
Washington is quite a handful at
6-foot-7 and 270 pounds, and Arik
Gilbert had a stellar year at LSU be-
fore transferring to Georgia.
“It’s hard to find a team that has as
much talent in their tight end room,”
Lanning said. “You can call them
tight ends, but the reality is they’re a
matchup issue as wideouts as much
as they are at tight end.”
EXPERIENCED LINE
While Oregon has a bunch of new
players, including 21 transfers, there’s
one area where the Ducks have
plenty of experience.
All five starters return on the of-
fensive line, providing some much-
needed stability amid all the changes.
“It will be key that we play well,
play physical,” Smart said. “You have
to control the line of scrimmage and
strike people to be a good football
team.”
HONORING WEBB
Oregon will honor Spencer Webb
with a helmet sticker of his No. 4 in-
side a spider web.
Webb died in July after falling and
striking his head during an outing at
a popular swimming spot in Eugene.
PULLMAN — About 10 months
ago, Jake Dickert was entrusted
with the task of unifying a fractured
team.
Now, members of Washington
State’s football program consider
unity and trust to be among the
team’s greatest assets.
“(The players) understand that
our coaching staff and our peo-
ple are here for them,” Dickert said
earlier this month during his first
preseason as WSU’s head coach.
“When you understand that, there’s
a real power in it. We’re all in this
thing together, creating the best
team we can be. It’s important to
them and they’re taking an active
role in it.”
Dickert was named acting coach
in mid-October after Nick Rolovich
and four WSU assistants were fired
for failing to comply with a state
COVID-19 mandate. The Cou-
gars could have fallen apart. In-
stead, they rallied to a winning
season. Dickert earned his pro-
motion in late November, one day
after WSU stomped Washington,
then spent his off-season reshap-
ing the program and firmly estab-
lishing his principles, setting the
stage for the debut of the “New
Wazzu” — Dickert’s catch-all tag-
line for his rejuvenated team, which
opens a much-anticipated season at
6:30 p.m. Saturday at home against
Idaho.
Throughout the past month,
Cougar players were asked to de-
fine the “New Wazzu,” the tenets of
Dickert’s coaching strategies and
the culture he has instituted here. It
starts with a “player-led team,” re-
ceiver Lincoln Victor said, but ex-
tends beyond the sport.
“The ‘New Wazzu’ is all about
approaching every day with a new
mindset, a will to win and doing
the right things all the time, and
not just when someone’s watching,”
he said.
“Not just doing the right things
on the field, but having integrity
off the field and being great young
men, because after ball, we’re going
to be fathers one day, we’re going to
be guardians, we’re going to be out
in the world.
“What you learn from here is
what you’ll take away. The ‘New
Wazzu’ is just our lifestyle, our new
routine. You can see it on the field
in practice. Everyone shows up
with a mindset, ready to play and
attack the day.”
Many Cougars noted WSU’s
“player-led” identity under Dickert.
“Us players, us leaders are step-
ping up and having a voice, because
this is a player-led team and the
best teams are player-led,” senior
nickel Armani Marsh said. “Ac-
countability and the little stuff, if it
comes from the players, that’s how
you get a good team.”
As a first-time head coach last
season, Dickert put faith in his ex-
perienced players, trusting them to
take on extra leadership responsi-
bilities in keeping the Cougars to-
gether through a uniquely difficult
situation. As WSU’s permanent
coach this year, Dickert is granting
his veteran players some level of
autonomy, trusting them to adopt
expanded teaching roles in uphold-
ing the team’s standards of play and
character.
“I’m a big believer in account-
ability and player-led teams,” Dick-
ert said. “It’s just an emphasis on
them being their best. When play-
ers hold themselves accountable,
WSU vs. Idaho
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 3,
6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Martin Stadium, Pull-
man, Washington
TV: Pac-12 Network
that’s when you have real power.
“It can be one thing for me to say
it, but they’re buying into it. They’re
driving it. I think that’s when you
have real accountability within a
program.”
Players seem to appreciate the
style of coaching, which empha-
sizes personal growth and rela-
tionship-building while stressing
maximum effort “in every aspect of
life — being a man off the field, on
the field, in the classroom, when it
comes to our daily duties as men in
the community,” edge rusher Bren-
nan Jackson said.
“He just expects and demands
excellence from us. He expects us to
be that way, because he knows we
can. When he talks about our best
on and off the field, he really means
putting your best foot forward in
everything you do. ... When you
have a group that really believes in
that standard, then you see so many
guys start to grow and become men
really fast.”
Added fellow edge Ron Stone Jr.,
speaking on the same topic during
Pac-12 media day in July: “It’s re-
ally important that the team has
accepted and embraced that belief.
That’s the difference maker in the
‘New Wazzu’ and everything we’re
bringing this year.”
Raised in pastoral Wisconsin,
Dickert worked primarily in small,
tight-knit communities during his
climb up the coaching ladder. The
39-year-old made stops at eight
programs before he was hired as
WSU’s defensive coordinator ahead
of the 2020 season.
Considering his unpretentious
upbringing and folksy personality,
Dickert seems suited for Palouse
life. He speaks often about his af-
fection for Pullman and the com-
munal nature of the college town
surrounded by farmland. It’s no
surprise that Dickert stresses the
importance of camaraderie in his
program.
“It’s just different (here) — it’s
just a family, a real family culture,”
transfer safety Sam Lockett III said.
“Everybody’s together and there’s a
whole lot of love. That’s one of our
core values: love and just being to-
gether.”
Victor, asked to compare last
year’s preseason with this one,
highlighted the improved “togeth-
erness of the team” ahead of its
2022 season.
“Hopefully, if you’re an outsider,
it’s something you feel when you’re
around the program,” Dickert said.
“From our coaches to our players
— down to custodians, chefs and
administration — we’re all a part of
being accountable and making this
program the best it can be.”
Dickert is an energetic presence
at practices. He always seems to be
on the move, offering hands-on
guidance for players regardless of
the position group.
“You see how vivacious he is, his
personality,” running backs coach
Mark Atuaia said. “That’s exactly
the juice we have in our program
every day. You have to match it. If
the head man is doing it — shoot,
you gotta do it, too. It’s infectious
and it pervades the whole building.”