back in the day - OSU Alumni Association

section sportsGreat expectations come from football successBy Kip CarlsonLike it or not, broadcast stories and headlinesat the top of newspaper sports sectionscan brand a university to thousands,perhaps millions, of people. What a difference10 football seasons have madein perceptions of OSU, on campus andacross the nation.There have been seven winningfootball seasons in the past decade, sevenbowl games, five bowl wins, a shareof a Pacific-10 championship and a topfivenational finish. Oregon State enteredthe current season with the second-bestoverall record in the Pac-10 over the pastsix seasons.The Beavers are coming off back-tobackthird-place Pac-10 finishes and top25 national rankings. Last season, OSUhad more players selected to the All-Pac-10 first and second teams than any otherschool in the conference — yes, includingSouthern California — and 11 Beaverswere named to the conference’s All-Academic team.More than 40,000 fans regularlythrong to Reser Stadium for home games,and the largely rebuilt arena highlightsa list of facilities that includes the ValleyFootball Center, the Merritt Truax IndoorCenter, an expanded Goss Stadium atColeman Field, the OSU Softball Complexand the brand-new Sports PerformanceCenter.“We can talk to anybody with confidenceabout where this program is, howit’s competed, what’s been going on,”OSU head coach Mike Riley said of hisreception on the recruiting trail. “Kidsknow it. Recruiting will forever remaincompetitive, but we are definitely in thegame much differently than we were in1997.”It was in 1997 that Riley arrived forhis first stint as head coach and took overa program that hadn’t had a winningseason — in fact, hadn’t even won fivegames in a season — since 1971. ParkerStadium had seen minimal improvementsand mostly minimal crowds.Quarterback Lyle Moevao entered the fall as the leader of the Beavers’ next attempt tomaintain what has become a strong football tradition. Photo by Dennis WolvertonShawn Church, ’83, now editor ofthe timber industry newspaper RandomLengths in Eugene, remembers his undergraduatedays during those dark footballyears.“In college, you went to the gamesbut you never really had any expectationsthat you were going to win,” saidChurch, a Beaver fan since he was akid growing up in Monroe. “I remembergoing to watch Stanford when JohnElway was there, and you really wentto the games to see John Elway. If USCever came to town, you went to watchCharles White. You always hoped theBeavers could do well, and once in awhile they would, they’d pull an upsetagainst UCLA or something.”In 1998, Riley’s Beavers were withina handful of plays of winning six or sevengames, and they capped the season witha frantic double-overtime victory over15th-ranked Oregon in Corvallis. AfterRiley left to become head coach of theSan Diego Chargers in the National FootballLeague, Oregon State hired Dennis49Fall 2008