Oregon State football: Five things to watch in OSU-Utah game

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah ? Oregon State bounced back from its season-opening loss to Eastern Washington with a 19-point win over Hawaii last week.

But the Rainbow Warriors hardly compare with the bevy of talented crews OSU will face in a tough Pac-12. For the Beavers to maintain any hope of earning a quality bowl berth, they'll likely need to beat a much-improved Utah team on the road tonight.

Here's what I'll be watching for during OSU's conference opener:

1. Development of run game: It was the prevailing theme of last week's postgame press conference: The Beavers' run game has been unacceptable. In fact, coach Mike Riley said, it has been "scary." OSU has netted 162 yards on the ground so far, forcing quarterback Sean Mannion to gain the vast majority of the team's offense through the air. So the Beavers, who understand that balance is a key component of a successful attack, are intent on establishing the run game against the Utes. Of course, that could prove difficult. Running backs Storm Woods and Terron Ward will have to run behind a reshuffled line, and Utah owns a talented rotation of defensive linemen.

2. D.J. Alexander's return: At the start of fall camp, Alexander seemed poised to solidify his status as one of the Pac-12's top linebackers. But a mid-August knee injury delayed those aims, sidelining the junior for the Beavers' first two games. Alexander will hope to finally start building off the 58 tackles and seven tackles-for-loss he tallied last season when he returns to the starting lineup tonight. But will he show the same issues tackling that many of his teammates displayed in the season opener? The Beavers certainly hope Alexander, who hasn't tackled live since April, can step in and lead an inexperienced linebackers group that lost Michael Doctor (team-leading 83 tackles in 2012) to a potentially season-ending foot injury against the Warriors.

3. Slowing down Travis Wilson: It was only two weeks ago that Eastern Washington quarterback Vernon Adams set an OSU opponents' record with 518 all-purpose yards. Utah's Travis Wilson may not match Adams' speed, but he is a dual-threat quarterback in his own right. The sophomore ran for 93 yards and threw for 264 in one half during last weekend's 70-7 shellacking of Weber State. The Beavers don't want to relive anything similar to the embarrassment they experienced Aug. 31 when they face Wilson. With at least five mobile quarterbacks remaining on its schedule, OSU realizes that learning how to stop such players could prove critical.

4. Road environment: The Beavers' first road game of 2013 comes in an environment in which they've struggled in recent years. They fell to the then-No. 15 Utes on a last-second field goal in 2008, and they allowed Utah running back John White to notch a career-high 205 rushing yards in a 26-8 loss three years later. Now, OSU is back in Salt Lake City for a game many Utes fans believe is a must-win. So 45,017-seat Rice-Eccles Stadium figures to be raucous tonight. If the Beavers can handle the pressure and leave with a victory, the next stretch of their schedule ? three of four games are on the road ? will look a bit less daunting.

5. Improvement at left cornerback: Senior Sean Martin and junior Steven Nelson faced a daunting task entering spring practices: step in for arguably OSU's greatest defensive player of all time in Jordan Poyer. So far, Martin and Nelson have appeared relatively inconsistent sharing time at left cornerback. They've both had flashes of greatness, but they've also been beat on coverage far more than secondary coach Rod Perry would prefer. Expect Utah's Wilson to avoid cornerback Rashaad Reynolds early tonight, intent on seeing if his targets can find success against Martin and Nelson. If Poyer's replacements struggle, OSU could have a tough time holding the Utes to a manageable number of points.

-- Connor Letourneau

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2013/09/oregon_state_football_five_thi_1.html

Comic Con 2013 Maia Mitchell Only God Forgives RIPD Garrett Clayton British Open emmy nominations