Try not to read too much into Oregon State’s loss

As it is with just about everything else, there’s more than one way to look at how Oregon State’s upset loss to Eastern Washington potentially affects Hawaii’s chances against the Beavers this Saturday.

I guess I’m an optimist, because when OSU fell to the Eagles 49-46, it made me immediately think the Rainbow Warriors’ possibility for a huge road upset of their own against the Beavers went from nearly impossible to somewhat plausible.

It didn’t take long for the wet blanket.

The idea of the embarrassing season-opening loss to an FCS team riling up the Beavers quickly became a key talking point among those with low expectations for UH. According to them, Hawaii is really in for a serious spanking at Reser Stadium because Oregon State is really, really mad now.

Perhaps the Beavers should have gotten angry after falling behind in the first half last week.

Apparently, nationally ranked OSU was not in the right frame of mind for football and that’s why it trailed 29-17 in the first half. Really now. After preparing all spring and summer for their first game, they were disinterested enough to lose to an underdog so inferior that Vegas set no betting line?

This week, the bookies seem to believe that A) Eastern Washington is pretty good and B) Hawaii is really bad; they’ve installed OSU as a 241⁄2-point favorite.

Maybe Oregon State is just not very good. Its defense certainly was not against Eastern Washington, and the Eagles piled up 625 yards.

It wasn’t about lucky bounces; neither team had a turnover. As for the officiating, the Eagles were flagged eight times for 59 yards and the Beavers four times for 17.

It looks like they were plain old beaten.

But so was Hawaii in its opener. As good as its defense played, the Rainbow Warriors were still outclassed.

One of the cool things to say this week is that Oregon State is better than USC. That statement might have been believable from late Thursday, after the Trojans’ uninspired 30-13 win at Aloha Stadium — right up until the Beavers’ bumbling Saturday in Corvallis.

Now, that idea makes no sense. Oregon State lost at home to an FCS team — a good one, but still a team from a division lower. USC won on the road by 17 — without even knowing who its starting quarterback is — at one the hardest places to play for visiting college football teams.

USC was pathetic on offense until UH’s defense tired late in the game and the Trojans put together a couple of drives. But it was the Hawaii turnovers that really made the difference — four interceptions thrown by quarterback Taylor Graham.

This was not all on Graham. An offensive line that yielded seven sacks is still being shuffled, so is an ineffective running attack. The receivers have great potential but their youth is evident in their errors.

UH’s inexperience on offense won’t magically disappear in one week. But if Oregon State’s defense performs as poorly as it did last week, it will help the Rainbow Warriors along in their improvement.

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Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783 or on Twitter as dave_reardon.