Cincinnati’s ‘Oregon Trail’ ends successfully with victory over Oregon State

In front of a crowd of 41,909 fans, mostly clad in orange and black—the same colors some Bearcat players adorn on Sundays while rooting for the hometown NFL team—the Cincinnati Bearcats defeated the Oregon State Beavers last Saturday afternoon.
In the process the ‘Cats moved up to #14 in the AP Poll and even had one writer claiming that they’d be playing in Pasadena for the national title.

There was a flyover before the game, just the way flyovers should be done. They were extremely low and right on time

And, while all that is nice, they must re-focus on academics (UC began classes on Wednesday, which explains the tardiness of this post) and on a new opponent, Fresno State. Pat Hill’s Bulldog squad got beat in Fresno last Friday night, a game that most of the UC coaching staff and players watched while lodging at the team hotel on Friday night.

Fresno got into a shootout with Boise State, and indications are that tomorrow’s game could be the same way.

But enough about tomorrow, let’s look back at UC’s 28-18 win in Corvallis. That’s a place where USC and Pete Carroll haven’t won in their past two trips (2008, 2006).

The Oregon State scoreboard/videoboard was just another videoboard in the run of obnoxiously large video screens

Reser Stadium reminds some folks of a European soccer facility. The ‘overhangs’ on the sidelines keep a lot of noise down inside the stadium. And let me tell you, I was quite concerned with the crowd as the game kicked off. It was an intense atmosphere, just the way college football should be played.

The way it shouldn’t be filmed however, is inside a building standing just inches from boosters and alumni.
That’s my stand during the game right there. I was inside that building with the windows pulled out of the way, as you can see below. My view was as good as it could be of the victory.
So overall I was impressed with Reser Stadium and the Oregon State fans. They were very cordial after the game, and their video staff was very helpful before the game began. West coast trips are never easy, but we pulled out a victory on the road, that’s all that matters.
--------------------------------------------------------
I’ll try to get my photos of the Oregon Statehouse up when I can find the time over the next few weeks. On Friday night we stayed in Salem, Oregon, the capital of the state. Our hotel was within walking distance of the statehouse and I walked down with the free time that I had. My impressions to come later.

On to racing at Dover this weekend. I’d prefer to write about another Mark Martin win on Sunday night. We’ll see if that happens on Sunday.