Football Notebook: All-Pac-12, injuries, bowl picture and more
Published: Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Updated: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 05:11
• All-Pac-12 — Senior cornerback Jordan Poyer, senior wide receiver Markus Wheaton, sophomore defensive end Scott Crichton and special teams senior Jordan Jenkins were named First Team All-Pac-12 on Monday.
“Those guys that were named, they deserve it,” said head coach Mike Riley. “Usually when you get a few guys [on the All-Pac-12 team], it’s always an indication of how the team has played around them throughout the course of the year.”
Wheaton is second in the Pac-12 in receptions (76), fourth in receiving yards (1,084) and third in touchdowns (10).
Crichton is sixth in the conference in sacks (9) and fifth in tackles for loss (18).
Poyer is first in the Pac-12, and tied for fourth in the nation, in interceptions (6), and fourth in passes defended (12).
Sophomore wide receiver Brandin Cooks, freshman center Isaac Seumalo, senior defensive tackle Andrew Seumalo, sophomore kicker Trevor Romaine, junior cornerback Rashaad Reynolds and junior guard Grant Enger were All-Pac-12 honorable mentions.
• Injury update — Wheaton (quadriceps) and Cooks (knee) both missed practice Monday.
Both are expected play Saturday vs. Nicholls State, but are waiting for the soreness and swelling to ease up this week. Cooks said he should return to practice later in the week.
Poyer came out with an injury during the game against Oregon on Saturday, but returned to action. He practiced Monday and is ready to play Saturday.
• Quarterbacks — Riley said Monday that it will be sophomore quarterback Sean Mannion starting for the third straight week, but didn’t rule out the possibility of junior Cody Vaz receiving playing time, too.
“I know we’ll start Sean and then we’ll see from there,” Riley said. “I think that if we wanted to substitute, it is certainly not because of [the Civil War]. I’ve been thinking about that for a long time, and don’t know that we’ll do it. But we might.”
Riley also said the ankle injury that has been limiting Vaz in practice for the past two weeks is not a problem anymore.
• Civil War aftermath — Coaches and players seem to be in agreement that having a game after the Civil War is a good thing, especially given the nature of OSU’s 48-24 loss to the Ducks on Saturday.
For one player in particular, Wheaton, the loss was especially tough.
“I have a lot of family out here, so they helped me a lot,” Wheaton said. “They kind of took my mind off it. I didn’t want to talk about the game too much.”
Wheaton fumbled a punt return and turned the ball over to the Ducks, as well as having two drops in crucial junctures of the game.
• De’Anthony Thomas — There are no plans from Riley and Oregon State to take action with the conference to review the play in which Thomas, from Oregon, stomped on Poyer’s chest with his cleat after the whistle blew.
Thomas said after the game Poyer and the OSU defense were targeting his ankles after the play was dead.
Poyer has since seen the replay of Thomas stepping on him.
“I’ve seen it a couple times,” Poyer said. “I’ve seen it on YouTube. It’s football. I’m not angry at him, I’m not angry at anybody.”
• Bowl game picture — After the loss to Oregon, it has become clear there are two possible destinations for Oregon State. The Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, which pits the No. 2 Pac-12 team against the No. 3 Big 12 team, or the Holiday Bowl, No. 3 Pac-12 vs. No. 5 Big 12.
The winner of Friday’s Pac-12 Championship — No. 8 Stanford vs. No. 16 UCLA — will go to the Rose Bowl. Oregon will be an at-large selection in a BCS bowl in all probability — Fiesta Bowl being the most likely spot.
If Stanford wins the Pac-12, count on OSU heading to the Alamo Bowl and UCLA going to the Holiday Bowl. If UCLA wins, Stanford probably will slide into the Alamo Bowl with OSU going to the Holiday Bowl.
As it stands, the opponent for the Alamo Bowl would be Oklahoma State or Texas. The Holiday Bowl is up in the air, with TCU, Texas Tech, West Virginia and Baylor all being possibilities.
Warner Strausbaugh, sports editor
is a member of the 
