Bowl goal requires road map.

Byline: Bob Clark The Register-Guard

Still a win away from being bowl eligible, Oregon State's postseason destination will largely be determined on the road, where the Beavers will be playing three of their final four games of the regular season.

While OSU coach Mike Riley said his thoughts won't stray far from preparing for Saturday's game at No. 23 California, "I did tell our team we can accomplish a lot (this season). Whatever that is depends on what we do each week.

"As the wins pile up, those options become better and better."

The Beavers (5-3 overall) are in a three-way deadlock for fourth place in the Pac-10 along with Cal (6-2 overall) and USC, and the league has berths guaranteed by contracts with six bowl games. After playing the Bears on Saturday, OSU has its home finale against Washington on Nov. 14 before ending the season with two more away games, at Washington State on Nov. 21 and at Oregon on Dec. 3.

OSU's postseason hopes would have been greatly damaged with a loss to UCLA on Saturday, but the Beavers survived even after giving up a 16-point lead in the final 10 minutes by scoring with 44 seconds remaining to win 26-19.

"You can never, ever relax in football," Riley said. "UCLA kept playing, but the only way they could get back in it was make a couple big plays, and they did and boom."

After a video review of the win over the Bruins, Riley found the usual mix of good and bad plays on both offense and defense. This was a game where that also carried over to special teams.

While OSU was again solid on covering punts and kickoffs, the Beavers were relieved when penalty flags took away what would have been an 87-yard punt return by the Bruins, though Riley said there were three fairly obvious illegal blocks on the return.

OSU had its own problems with penalties on special teams. An attempt on a fake field goal was aborted when the Beavers were called for a delay penalty, and there was also the matter of OSU keeping alive the drive by the Bruins that tied the score with a penalty for having 12 players on the field for a UCLA punt.

Riley termed that mistake "one of the biggest sins in football," because it allowed the Bruins to retain possession. "That's a good way to lose the game," he added.

The Beavers had 12 players on the field for the punt, Riley said, because with two returners in the game, another defensive player should have come out, but there was a lack of communication.

There could be times this Saturday when the Beavers will want 12 defenders on the field against California's offense.

"We have a lot of respect for what they do and the talent they have," Riley said. "It's very obvious they have some explosive guys who can go all the way in the blink of an eye."

The fastest Bear to fear is running back Jahvid Best, though he injured an ankle on Cal's final offensive series against Arizona State and finished the game on the bench. Best termed the injury not serious after the game, and he's expected to play against the Beavers.

"He can just flat-out run," Riley said. "He gets an opening and it's scary."

The Beavers will also have to make some offensive adjustments, with Cal predominantly using a 3-4 defensive alignment rather than the usual four linemen and three linebackers. Riley said the Beavers have had some experience this season against the 3-4, but there's "a lot of flexibility within that defense" for stunts and various ways of rushing the passer.

"We're going to have to be sharp," Riley added.