No cliche's ...No gnashing of teeth...., but..

Maybe we are too inexperienced on defense, but I'm most concerned about our inability to contain and tackle. Defense spent too much time on the field. While that can be due to the offense, surely it's the defense's job to get off the field as quickly as possible.

If we change that one factor, then I think the rest of the game looks like the first half. An even contest.

We didn't make the right adjustments at halftime and they certainly did, so that's on the coaches.

We just crashed straight into reality. This is our life for years to come, it ain't getting better! Welcome to mediocrity, folks!!

Let me ask you something, CPO. Is this an institutional thing? Simply a matter of demographics? Geography? Climatology? Scientology (just kidding)? What is it, in your opinion.....'cuz I gather you have one. Thanks. Leb

I'm an old guy trying to understand your question ernestly. Please restate it in a way an old boatswains mate understands. What exactly do you want to know? My apologies in advance for my ignorance.

You're not ignorant at all. WHY do we have such a hard time being an upper tier PAC 12 team? Why did we have a hard time being an upper tier PAC 8/10 team? The university (OSU) or the town (little, bitty Corvallis) HAS to be be part of the blame/reason. No? I'm fascinated by folks who think we should recruit on par with UW...USC...UCLA...ASU...etc. What is your TAKE on the WHY? Thanks

You are one of the guys I truly love. Give me some time and we can converse on that. Hope to meet you some day because I know you are a true Beaver.

Nobody is giving you a real answer to a good question. 

First of all, I do think Corvallis is to blame. Lets cut straight to the heart of the matter, it is tough to recruit quality So-Cal and big city kids to sleepy cornvally, a city that doesn't even have a shopping mall, little to no retail scene that appeals to college aged kids, zero night life and basically no entertainment. 

That is the city by design. It is a town entirely driven by aging Oregon State professors, and at one time, HP engineers. heavily liberal and yuppie in essence for years. Coffee shops and gluten free bakeries are what are desirable there. 

And that is perfectly fine... unless of course you are trying to appeal to 18 year old football players. 

So we immediately have a large roadblock to overcome.  Corvallis is the most middle aged white dad of a town I have ever seen. T-shirt tucked into khaki shorts and socks and sandals with a fanny pack level of middle aged white dad town. 

Next road block is the fact that historically we did battle with WSU for the smallest recruiting budget in the Pac. We spend less than half what Oregon spends on recruiting. 

Overall budget is also among the low end in the Pac, our facility situation is on the low end of the Pac. we have one of the smallest stadiums, and one that is half built. until this year our locker rooms were an embarrassment. Even with the recent updates, they are somewhat... meh. 

Our branding is not great, our marketing has been pathetic for years. We started toying around too much a look and most of the time they have fell flat. 

You add it all up, and from the outside looking in... Oregon State is meh. We really need to step up on a whole lot of fronts.