It’s been a great 2 years in Knoxville. Going to miss all my brothers. -Proud to now be a mountaineer! God is good

— Ray Raulerson (@Rauler_64) July 2, 2016

In 2013, WVU recruited Ray Raulerson in high school, where he attended Plant High School in Tampa, FL. Raulerson ultimately chose the University of Tennessee. West Virginia will have the last laugh because Raulerson has now decided to transfer to the Mountaineers.

Ray Raulerson redshirted in 2014 and saw his first action in 2015. He played in 5 games, making his first appearance against Bowling Green.

Raulerson was rated as a three-star prospect during high school and had a long list of Power 5 school offers including Auburn, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Nebraska and Mississippi State. He was rated the 54th offensive tackle in the nation and the number 77 prospect in Florida.

Despite being recruited as a tackle, Raulerson played center for the Tennessee Volunteers. The Mountaineers currently have a vacancy in 2017 because Rimington Watch List and Pre-Season All American Tyler Orlosky is a senior and will graduate after this year.

Raulerson will sit out the 2016 season and be eligible for the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

I still wanna visit Arizona low key

— ELIJAH – BLADES SZN™ (@savageszniv) July 2, 2016

In 2012, the Oklahoma Sooners planted the flag at the center of the Cotton Bowl after a 63-21 thrashing of the Texas Longhorns in the annual Red River Rivalry. With the win, Bob Stoops moved to 10-6 overall against the folks from Austin. The number edged the coach over Barry Switzer and Bud Wilkinson who managed to down the Longhorns nine times each during their individual stints as Oklahoma’s head coach.

Through 16 years under Stoops, the product on the field has produced four wins of 35 or more points over Texas. Previously the feat had been completed a mere four times in 1956, 1973, 1986, and 1987 in the rivalry’s history. However, it’s not just the offense proving their worth in the Red River Rivalry.

During the Stoops era at Oklahoma, the Sooners have scored seven defensive touchdowns in the heated rivalry. None may be more recognizable than the play deemed “Superman.”

Gary Andersen knew it was going to be difficult.  Perhaps he didn’t know exactly how difficult it would be.

Taking over a team that just three years prior had been one of the surprise “breakout” teams in the nation, you would forgive Andersen if he had assumed all that was required was a little tinkering of the playbook, a few well-placed transfer candidates and a little bit of his patented “tough love” leadership style.

What transpired was completely different.  A QB race that at one point featured seven players turned into a one-man race where a true freshman whose only other major scholarship offer was from San Jose State essentially competed against his own experience level to win the job.  A defense which had boasted the return a difference making DT and an All PAC 12 shut down corner turned into a disaster of a unit that was able to record just 18 sacks on the season (9 fewer than the next worst) and force just 167 opponent third down attempts (fewest in the PAC since Colorado in 2012).  A passing attack that featured standout receivers across the board and had averaged roughly 4000 yards per year over the previous three couldn’t even eclipse the 2000 yard mark (think Washington 2008 as a point of comparison).

It was that bad.

The record reflected it.  Oregon State managed just two wins on the season, none of which came against a PAC 12 opponent.  And, yes, Colorado was on the schedule.

The Beavers did finish the season on a bit of an upswing as they put arch-rival Oregon through the ringer in a 52-42 loss that, in many ways, could easily (and should have been) an Oregon State victory.  Coach Gary Andersen hopes that the Civil War is a precursor to the kind of hustle and effort that the rest of the PAC can expect from his team in 2016.

Are the Beavers on the upswing?  Is there any juice left in the Orange?  Let’s put the Gekko File to the test and find out.

OSU’s Offense:

Ryan Nall might be the best player nobody knows about in the PAC 12.

In an era where teams seem to be increasingly moving back to pro sets and multiple looks, the Beavers are now into their second year of moving forward in their quest to become Oregon North.  A youth movement to accommodate that change is underway as 9 of Oregon State’s offensive starters from a year ago return.  But when your offense manages just 19 points a game and is widely panned as the worst in the conference, is that a good thing?

It’s hard to project OSU’s offense based on last year’s mostly because junior QB Darell Garretson, a transfer from Utah State, was not a factor.  Instead, Gary Andersen was forced to start true freshman in Seth Collins who was mostly incapable of delivering the ball to weapons like senior WR Victor Bolden and junior WR Jordan Villamin.  Garretson is a upgrade over Collins. The best comparison for Garretson might be, ironically, former OSU QB and current UW offensive coordinator Jonathan Smith.  He is an average-sized, average-armed, heady, accurate QB who understands what it means to be a point guard as a quarterback.  The biggest concern for a guy like him might be his durability.  If he can’t go, OSU does have experienced backups in Marcus McMaryion and, if necessary, Collins.

Garretson has some weapons to work with.  In fact, it is hard to not look at two players – RB/TE Ryan Nall and Villamin – and not consider them as legitimate all-conference types of guys.

Nall was an absolute revelation in 2015 despite the fact that most people still haven’t heard of him.  As a hybrid player in Andersen’s spread attack, Nall was a weapon as a receiver and a rusher.  He resembles former Seahawk FB John L. Williams in how he approaches the game.  He’s not fast, but he’s quick.  He’s not big, but he’s strong.  When he gets a head of steam going, he is hard to take down and he’s used in a way that results in him showing up all over the field.  He’s just a grit and grind kind of guy and a joy to watch.  If you saw him put up 253 total yards in the Civil War against Oregon, you know what I’m talking about.  Oh, and he’s just a sophomore this year.

Villamin is no longer a spring chicken.  The junior still hasn’t had a true breakout season, but that is likely more about the OSU QB situation than it is the receiver.  When you look at him, he’s got all of the tools:  6’5″, 230 lbs, soft hands, and 4.5 level speed.  Expect to see a heavy dose of Villiamin as the beneficiary of short slants, rub routes and bubble screens in Andersen’s offense.

Beyond those guys, there are some capable players that could really help out a new QB.  Senior Victor Bolden is a legitimate upper-tier-of-conference receiver.  Senior TE Caleb Smith is a big, reliable target.  Big sophomore TE Noah Togiai is a high-upside guy.  Junior Hunter Jarmon and Collins will both be factors as receivers (by the way, watch Jarmon as a blocker from the slot – he really embraces the role).  JC transfer Kyle White looks like a capable go-to running back to balance out the run game.  Given the tear down that Andersen went through, this is a relatively well-stocked offense.

The line is of particular interest to me.  Senior and 3-year starter Sean Harlow returns after missing most of last year due to injury.  When healthy, Harlow is one of the most reliable LTs in the league – particularly when he gets to attack.  His right-side twin, senior Dustin Stanton is another big, nasty road grader.  In fact, the entire OSU offensive line is made up of seniors and juniors with about 75 career starts between them.

I’m telling you now, Oregon State is going to surprise with this offense in 2016.  I’m not saying that they are top-half levels – there are still depth and team speed issues that can’t be overlooked.  However, if Garretson can stay healthy, I don’t see any reason that they can’t be the fastest rising offense in the PAC.

OSU’s Defense:

Linebacker play will be critical in stabilizing a shaky Oregon State defense.

As bullish as I am on the OSU offense, I’m equally as bearish about their defense.  I fully acknowledge that trying to project the OSU defense in any of these past few years has been a futile exercise.  They’ve been remarkably dependent on JUCO transfers each of the past three of four seasons.  That makes projecting them difficult.

What I can say is that they are missing some important pieces from a defense that was truly awful (rivaled only by Oregon) a year ago.  Their best player – DT Kyle Peko, their DC in Kilane Sitake, their entire defensive line, their star CB (Larry Scott) and their leading tackler (LB Rommel Mageo) are all gone from a year ago.  In their place … well, let’s just say it’s going to be hard to put it all together.

Kevin Clune is the new DC and has a long history with Andersen.  He’ll bring in a more flex/hybrid style than what Sitake was running a year ago.  As such, you can expect OSU to schematically look a little different.  They’ll be more 3-4 in their alignment with more dropping of their BUCK style backer into zone coverages.  Sitake was very aggressive and it opened OSU up to a lot of chunk plays.  Only the Arizona and Oregon surrendered more plays of 10 yards or more in the PAC.  I expect more bend-don’t-break looks this year.

Personnel will be a fluid situation.  The most stable group is the linebacking corps that returns senior MLB Caleb Saulo and sophomore Jonathan Willis.  This duo returns over 100 tackles and are each capable guys, even if they don’t wow you with their measurables.

I mentioned the d-line as a complete unknown.  There are three returners who have game experience – senior DE Baker Pritchard, junior NT Kalani Vakameilalo, and sophomore DE Sumner Houston.  Of the three, Baker is the probably the most important.  Not really a flashy guy, he’s a big end that will shine the most in sealing off the pocket and defending the run.

Those guys are going to need some help. 324 lb redshirt freshman NT Elu Aydon is an interesting prospect who will definitely get some snaps.  Also, keep you eyes on true freshman Isaac Garcia.  He may get a chance to start right away as a pass rush specialist for a team that has no obvious candidate to fill that role.

I’m just as concerned about the secondary that, by my eyeball, returns just a few pieces of moderate accomplishment and not much else.  Big corner Treston Decoud is probably their best player.  The 6’3″ senior is an effective enough coverage guy with 3.5 PBU last year, but he is more effective in run support.  CB Devin Chappell and Cyril Noland-Lewis are both good players who will provide some depth, but neither has shown effective coverage skills.  If some of the young guys like Jalen Moore or Jay Irvine don’t step up and seize the opportunity, I fear that this secondary will continue to get exposed by PAC 12 opponents.

One Breakout Star

TE Noah Togiai

Since I am coming around on this idea that OSU’s offense is going to surprise some people, it only makes sense that I look to that side of the ball for a breakout player.  It would be a little too cliche to jump on the Garretson bandwagon, so I’m going to highlight a player that I think will make Garretson look that much better.

Sophomore TE Noah Togiai is an interesting prospect who really fits well into what Gary Andersen is trying to do on offense.  More of a receiver than a blocker, Togiai has good height and flashes really soft hands.  He looks a lot like Joshua Perkins as a younger player.  I expect that he’ll be a regular part of the receiving rotation and, as evidenced by his team leading 7 receptions for 107 yards in the OSU spring game, he already has struck up a rapport with Garretson.  It wouldn’t shock me in the least to see Togiai’s production jump up into the 35 catch / 500 yards range which, for the Oregon State offense, would be a huge contribution.

Predicting 2016

I like what the Beavers are putting together under their new coach and his staff.  The offense has the benefit of an experienced offensive line and leadership at the QB position.  It also has more playmakers than you think, even if depth is an issue for what is otherwise a young team.  Defensively, the Beavers are at least coalescing around a plan that makes a little more sense than what Kilane Sitake was doing with them.  The fact that they continue to be so heavily reliant on JC transfers is an indication of how much work is left to do to stock up the talent pipeline on that side of the ball.

OSU’s schedule is one of the more interesting of the PAC.  The first thing that jumps out at you when you look at it is the timing of the BYE.  OSU’s break comes after their Thursday night home opener.  Once past that September 10th date, the Beavs are playing every week until the end of the season.

Fortunately, OSU does have a pretty good run of home games.  After their road trip opener at Minnesota, they only leave home one time – an October 1st trip to Boulder – before taking on the Huskies on October 22nd.  The Beavs are really going to have to take advantage of that time because the end of the schedule is highlighted by a brutal stretch of @Washington, vs Washington State, @Stanford and @UCLA.

I don’t really expect Oregon State to survive that stretch wholly intact.  While I think that they will compete in a few games that people don’t really expect – Boise State and Cal, for example – I don’t see too many scenarios where attrition and depth challenges don’t take steam out of their sails by the end of the year.  I do, however, expect Gary Andersen to improve upon the two-win mark he hit on last season and to put the Beavers within a game or two of bowl eligibility before it is all said and done.  If he does that, we’ll be talking about Oregon State as a team on the rise in 2017.

With about five weeks to go until WSU football opens up fall camp in Lewiston, I’ve come to the conclusion that watching an excellent hype video is one of the best ways to both pass the time and build anticipation.

Enter Gabe Storment, who produced the video above. It’s pretty dang great.

The video focuses on the preparation for the 2016 season, and if you follow any of the coaches or players on Twitter or Instagram, you know how much work goes into that.

Strength coach Jason Loscalzo is a particularly great follow in that regard. In addition to a plethora of motivational sayings, he’ll often post video of the players working out:

Looooooong gone are the days where players show up to camp in August to get in shape. This team has been getting after it since the last season ended in order to do everything possible to realize its goals in 2016.

Name: Colin Byrne

Position: Right Guard

Year: Redshirt-Freshman

Height: 6′ 5″

Weight: 321

Hometown: Coral Springs, Fla.

High School: St. Thomas Aquinas

2015 Season: Redshirted

2016 Projections: He is second on the Syracuse Orange’s post-spring depth chart at right guard behind redshirt-senior Omari Palmer.

How’d He Get Here?: Colin received offers from Cincinnati and Indiana but chose to stick with Syracuse after verbally committing in 2014.

What’d Recruiting Sites Say?: He got three stars from ESPN, Scout, Rivals, and 24/7.

Money Quote: According to teammate Sam Clauseman, when Colin found out that they had an opportunity to continue to play on the same team in college, Byrne told him this over the phone:

“…’Hang on, I think I just fainted.'”

Links of Wonder: In a post-spring-game interview conducted by Scout’s Mike McAllister, Colin talked about the new offense and how everyone has adjusted during the practices leading up to the game itself.

Twitterfeed: @colin_byrne77

Tweets of Wonder: Shout it from the highest mountaintop, Colin!

I’m a Bachelorette fan and I’m proud

— Colin James Byrne (@Colin_Byrne77) May 31, 2016

What Does Babers Think?: He’s said nothing of yet, but Colin performed very well during this year’s Spring Game.

Interesting Nugget O’ Interest: Byrne played for Rocco Casullo at St. Thomas Aquinas, a former ball boy for the Orange and the son of former Syracuse assistant coach Bob Casullo, who still bleeds Orange (as he should!).

Let’s Get A Good Look Atcha: Below are the highlights from Colin’s senior year of high school:

Mark Richt made his point loud and clear that discipline isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“The root word of discipline is love,” said Richt, during an interview with media members. “If you love your child, you’re going to discipline them. If you love your team, you’re going to discipline your team. Discipline, to me, has three facets to it. No. 1, if someone does something they shouldn’t do, there has to be a penalty, something punitive to make them not want to do it again or anyone watching doesn’t want it to happen to them. There’s got to be some of that.”

While some people think that Richt has already lost control of his team, he hasn’t, and won’t.

Richt has a three-fold approach to disciplining his players. He believes in first educating a player on what they did wrong. The best way to fix a mistake is to learn from it. Next, Richt believes that a player needs to understand the magnitude of his mistake, and get back on the “right path”. Finally, the most important step in the process is showing love for the player. This is a very fatherly approach, and that should be respected, instead of criticized by outsiders.

Richt’s fatherly demeanor is appreciated greatly by players, and he equates disciplining a player to disciplining a young child.

Richt’s philosophy is very admirable, but the real question is, are these players really “children”? In Richt’s eyes he can discipline them as children, guide them as children, but in reality he is dealing with grown men. The approach Richt is taking is beneficial for players attempting to strengthen their  bond with their coach. Outsiders may be judgmental, but put yourself in Richt’s shoes.

In general, Richt is a “player’s” coach who has his player’s best interest in mind. He has made it known that by building the character of his players, he will in turn build a great team. He is more concerned with teaching his players about leading a fulfilling life, rather than just teaching them about X’s and O’s. And there’s nothing wrong with that, because in Richt’s eyes, a team that is filled with straight-laced players will inevitably come out as winners.

Between this article on whether Alabama’s backups could beat an average college football team and our staff’s own editorial discussions on position battles to come in the fall, I’ve been thinking a lot about reserves and depth this week. And in watching our staff debate who will start where, when and why, something hit me: Florida State is going to have a lot of players on the bench who would start elsewhere. And that can actually be an indication of team quality, as it means the starters are even better players. The inverse isn’t necessarily true; a team could have shaky reserves, great starters and never need it due to great health, but think about some of the players FSU is going to have on the bench this season. Very few starters are going to have their jobs by default, but rather because they beat out other highly skilled challengers.

While FSU’s offensive line wasn’t great in 2015, it was better than many fans realized. But, if you’ll remember, it was very young:

Florida State has the youngest offensive line in major college football, with just nine career starts combined on the offensive line. No other team in the Power 5 conferences is in the single digits.

This year, about 15 scholarship offensive linemen on the roster will be in years 2, 3, 4 or 5 in college football. Not only does that provide great depth in case of injury, for linemen No. 16-20 (the freshmen) to develop at an appropriate pace, and allow better looks for the second and third-string defenses in practice, but it is also going to result in some fierce position battles in training camp. Rod Johnson seems like a lock to start at left tackle, but beyond that, it’s conceivable that the other four positions are legitimately open. Consider that one of Derrick Kelly (very promising in 2015 for a redshirt freshman) and Rick Leonard (promising returns in the spring) will be a backup. On the interior, only two of Wilson Bell, Kareem Are, Chad Mavety (if he is cleared), Cole Minshew and David Robbins will be starting. Those are some very talented reserves. FSU may not have Alabama’s depth, but at certain positions like offensive line, it’s absolutely reasonable to believe FSU’s second string would be better than what is fielded by the average college team. And that says a lot about the starters.

The same goes for defensive back. Sophomore safety Derwin James and senior corner Marquez White are locked in as starters, but FSU is going to fill its other three starting spots with some combination of senior Nate Andrews, juniors Trey Marshall and Malique Jackson, sophomores Tarvarus McFadden, Marcus Lewis, and A.J. Westbrook, plus freshman Levonta Taylor, arguably the top corner in the country for the recruiting class of 2016. Barring a lot of injuries, FSU is going to have some very talented defensive backs who play 2-300 snaps as opposed to the 8-900 typically played by a starter. The guys who win these jobs will have absolutely earned them. Compare this situation to 2015, during which FSU ended up playing a walk-on after starter Trey Marshall went down with injury and Tyler Hunter never fully returned to the level he was at prior to a neck injury. I’m fascinated to see how all the pieces come together. Thanks to how well it has developed players, FSU has stockpiled a ton of players at the position who would be starters for most teams in college football.

Talked things over with my dad I’ll be making my college decision End of July! #AllGloryToGod

— Chris Brooks (@Breezy101C) June 28, 2016

@Gabe_Encinas Are these 3 stars really that much better than the 3 stars Arizona has been signing for years? Not snarky, just skeptical

— Robert Bowron (@cptnron1856) June 22, 2016

D.J. Park

RS Junior

Offensive Tackle

6′ 4″ /  325 lbs.

Dillon, SC (Dillon H.S.)

Recruitment:

Consensus Four-Star prospect, 13th overall offensive guard in the 2013 class. Received offers from Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, LSU, North Carolina, Tennessee, and others.

College Career:

After redshirting his freshman year (a fairly commonplace practice amongst Power 5 offensive linemen), Park began his career buried deep on the depth chart. After seeing action in just one of his first five games, he played the remaining seven on the schedule, with most of his playing time coming on special teams. Last year saw a continued progression, as Park competed in 10 contests, again, primarily on special teams.

2016 Outlook:

Highly touted recruits normally don’t take this long to fit into a system or grow into their own. However, DJ Park has taken his time to blossom in Columbia. Whether that’s a situational issue, a coaching issue, or a personal performance issue is unclear, but it is clear that DJ at least appears to be working his tail off. At the Spring Game, he earned one of four ‘Everyday Effort’ awards given to outstanding effort, and has likely earned his spot as the starter at right tackle over Blake Camper. Furthermore, the fact that he’s capable at both the guard and the tackle slots means he can move around the line to spot-fill in the event of injury or adapt to different defensive schemes and offensive formations. The Gamecocks come into the season with so many question marks over their heads, and the offensive line is a huge one. Let’s hope that DJ puts on a show this fall.