Oregon State Football News

January 19, 2007

Pac-10 Football Schedule Announced

Corvallis – The Pacific-10 Conference announced the 2007 tentative football schedule Friday, and while Oregon State officials put the final touches on the non-conference slate, an ambitious league adventure awaits the Beavers.

Oregon State, coming of a 10-4 season and a 39-38 victory over Missouri in the Brut Sun Bowl, will open conference action Sept. 22 at Arizona State University. The game will feature another match-up between the two most recent OSU coaches, current mentor Mike Riley and former head coach and first-year Sun Devil leader Dennis Erickson. Both the Beavers and Sun Devils played in bowl games last year.

The UCLA Bruins, also a 2006 bowl participant, come to Corvallis Sept. 29 for the Beavers’ Pac-10 home opener. The Bruins were the only team to defeat the Beavers in 2006 over the final nine games. UCLA has won two straight at Reser Stadium, but hasn’t played in the upgraded venue since 2002.

Arizona follows UCLA to Corvallis on Oct. 6. The Beavers will be looking to continue their dominance of the Wildcats as they have won seven of the last eight meetings. The game also features the two teams with the most difficult road conference schedules in the Pac-10; Arizona’s away games are against teams that went a combined 43-22 while OSU’s are against 41-23 clubs.

One of its most difficult road games of the season awaits Oregon State Oct. 13 when it travels to the likely preseason top 25 California Golden Bears. The Bears defeated the Beavers by four touchdowns last season in September, matching the team’s biggest loss. The programs have split the last four meetings, oddly with both winning two games as the visitor, including OSU’s 23-20 at Berkeley in 2005 in an ABC televised game.

The Beavers take the week off Oct. 20 before hosting first-year head coach Jim Harbaugh and the Stanford Cardinal Oct. 27. The Beavers have won five of the last six games in the series. The game highlights Homecoming weekend festivities for OSU.

A difficult November stretch includes three of the final four games on the road, starting Nov. 3 with the likely preseason No. 1 ranked USC Trojans at the Memorial Coliseum. The Beavers ended USC’s 27-game Pac-10 winning streak last season in one of the most thrilling games ever played at Reser Stadium. Oregon State has had opportunities to win at USC over recent years, but hasn’t since 1960.

For the first time since the 2003 season the Washington Huskies come to Corvallis in what will be Senior Day and Dad’s Weekend for the Beavers. OSU will be looking for its fourth consecutive victory over the Dawgs in the Nov. 10 affair.

Oregon State ventures to what will likely be the chilly Palouse to play Washington State Nov. 17. This will be the first visit for the Beavers to Pullman since 2003, where they have lost two straight by a combined total of 13 points.

It’s a break for Thanksgiving before the 111th Civil War, presented by the Northwest Dodge Dealers, resumes. The Dec. 1 game at Autzen Stadium concludes the 2007 season. The Beavers will be looking to end a streak in this series in which the home team has won every game since 1996.

The three-game 2007 non-conference schedule and season ticket information will be announced in the near future.

Return to osubeavers.com for more postseason football news and for the introduction of the 2007 recruiting class. The class will announced Wed., Feb. 7 as the national letters of intent are received by athletic officials. Become a subscriber to Beaver Nation Online, and not only receive commemorative DVD of the 2006 national championship run by the baseball team, but also watch the actual video that the Beaver coaches have assembled on the recruits.

Source: Oregon State Sports Information Department