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CORVALLIS – There was plenty of room on Saturday at Reser Stadium. Upper bridge. Lower deck. New side. Old side. Many empty seats in each section. But not the ones that mattered most to Jonathan Smith's program.
These seats were all filled.
State whipped in Oregon Cal Poly 45-7.
Tickets sold: 33,585. Many of them had to stay at home. But these are not the people I want to focus on today. Because what OSU bought itself was a boon for an unbalanced victory in front of a public that needed it badly.
Devon Williams, a sophomore USC student who recently accessed the NCAA transfer portal, saw the game closely. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound catcher was at Reser Stadium. He is the former No. 1 athlete of the 2018 recruiting class. Before the match, he was walking on the sidelines, escorted by James Rodgers, the former receiver of OSU.
Also here Saturday, the president of the university, Dr. Edward Ray.
In the second half, I studied with a pair of binoculars the stadium suites in the media room. Dr. Ray was not immediately visible, but I am told he was swimming in the sea of VIP boosters in front of me. The crowd with deep pockets remained in the fourth quarter, eyes on the ground, perhaps just to be certain.
Also in Saturday's match, my neighbor Ernie arrived. As well as my teenage daughter. They did not drive together. They did not have tickets in the same section. They probably did not even know, maybe until then, that one or the other was at the same game. But these two groups represent two important factions: A) the inflexible old guard of Beavers supporters who is still there, anyway; and B) the curious spectator who comes on a sunny day and gives a chance to a football program.
Ernie is a skinny, white-haired retiree, holding a season card since 1981. He is here primarily because he has always been here. That's what he does and what he will always do. My daughter is 16 years old, she is the root of all professional and collegial teams of the state and she wanted to see her first OSU game. She brought her best friend to sit with her at section 120.
They were all there. But chances are you were not there. Perhaps because an opponent of the FCS has not moved the needle for you. But more likely because OSU has won only three of its last 14 home games and no one wants to be kicked.
"We had good practice," coach Smith said after the win, "and that showed – we were focused."
Beaver coaches, players and coaching staff all needed a win away. In fact, he deserved it. Especially after losing to Hawaii last week in a match that had so many problems that it was three days late.
Oregon State did what it was necessary to do in Cal Poly on Saturday. The riposte included four Jake Luton touchdowns, miles of blue skies, and the total annihilation and domination of an FCS opponent by a Pac-12 team.
Of course, many could have gone wrong. Earlier in the day, East Michigan, who participated in the Mid-American Conference, defeated Illinois by one goal. East Illinois has also cashed a check for a million dollars to play this game. In contrast, Oregon State paid $ 600,000 to Cal Poly and walked away with a win without surprise and without further major injury.
Smith's program has entered the winning column. OSU has also sold many hot dogs, beer and t-shirts. The student bookstore was packed before the game. And the key people in the stadium, from the potential USC transfer recipient to the VIPs through my older neighbor and young teenager, all had the show they needed to see.
Do not be surprised if some of them come back.
Williams, the rookie, was also scheduled to travel to Eugene for the Oregon Ducks game later Saturday. But people from the recruiting world will tell you that a talent that even advertised to be in the stadium, curious to know the state of Oregon, was a major development.
He only spoke to Rodgers, who scored 28 touchdowns himself, and watched Isaiah Hodgins capture two more receptions. The ball was in the air aplenty. Oregon State looked good. Even if Williams did not show up at OSU, that was exactly what the program would have done if he had wanted to reach it.
Students from the state of Oregon will return to campus in time for the next home game. There is no reason to believe that the announced participation in the Stanford home game on September 28 will exceed 40,000 spectators.
"We are always excited when students come back," said Assistant Sports Director Zack Lassiter. "Beyond that, the trend of attendance is historically driven by performance on the ground."
Basically: Win games and people will show up. It makes sense. Losing them and people staying at home and washing their hair. It also makes sense.
What the OSU needs to do now to bring some of you back to Reser Stadium is to chain two more awesome university football Saturdays. Oregon State is on leave next week with a bye. Then it's the first Pac-12 home game against a defeated Stanford team. The Cardinal has opened brutally in his season and will welcome Oregon next Saturday. After that, OSU gets underway against Chip Kelly and UCLA, the coach of the sputtering.
If Oregon State manages to record a 3-2 record after five games, it could well do it, right? And is it unreasonable to ask for a program in his second season under Smith?
"We have always been a university run by a student body," said Lassiter. "When you capture the enthusiasm of the student body, it is contagious here."
That's the plan, right? Oregon State needs to develop its season ticket base by winning football games and attracting peripheral supporters. In addition, play long games by giving your student body a memorable experience in the stadium that allows a student to be stuck to his football for life program. In fact, no one knows it better than the Beavers quarterback, the Fiesta Bowl, who has returned as a coach and is now trying to capture this adrenaline rush from the university.
I watched Smith closely before the kickoff.
He prepared his team, but then moved away from the field to shake hands and thank people for coming. He shook hands with boosters and teammates such as women's basketball coach Scott Rueck. Then Smith went to the media in the field.
"Thank you guys for being here," said the coach, shaking hands.
Can anyone imagine that Alabama coach, Nick Saban, does that? Or have to do that? Or any other coach attending the conference, in fact? But it's the daily reality of a head coach who is rebuilding the program at Oregon State. And I would bet that if the coach had been able to, he would have worked in the stands, shaking hands with every ticket buyer who came.
Smith improved his overall record to 3-12. Meanwhile, at the corner of the end zone before the kickoff, Rueck said about Smith, "I've been exactly where he is."
Rueck may have an appearance in the Final Four and a team that everyone still considers to be still dangerous, but he went 9-21 in his first season at OSU.
"I remember it," he says.
So yes, a win – no matter what win – deserves to be celebrated in the Pac-12 right now. Especially at Oregon State. USC lost against BYU on Saturday. Stanford lost a lot against UCF. The air force beat Colorado. State of Oregon started at 1:15 pm and I imagined that some of the Beavers supporters present might have turned a blind eye to some series, just in case.
But then, it happened.
Touch. Big game tackle. All this followed by cheers. Oregon State crushed an opponent of Big Sky during this day that prompted people to want to come back longer.
Smith said, "We are happy with any victory."
He has one.
Now he needs a streak
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