Canfield makes most of chance.

Byline: Bob Clark The Register-Guard

CORVALLIS - Can Sean Canfield do something no Oregon State quarterback has ever done?

That would be chosen by the Pac-10 coaches as the conference's top quarterback when all-league selections are announced in December.

There have been Beavers who have led the Pac-10 in passing, and two this decade have gone on to the National Football League, but since the league expanded to 10 teams for the 1978 season, no OSU quarterback has been voted to the all-league first team. The only other Pac-10 school that hasn't had a first team all-league quarterback in that span is Arizona.

Could Canfield be OSU's first? Probably only if the Beavers (4-3 overall, 2-2 in the conference) stay near the top of the Pac-10 standings, but he will merit consideration with his numbers.

The OSU senior enters Saturday's game against UCLA second in the Pac-10 in passing yardage and fourth in efficiency, a measurement that factors in elements such as touchdowns, interceptions and yards per attempt. This month, he's been even better than his overall season statistics.

"In the last three games, he's played his best football ever," OSU coach Mike Riley said of OSU's games in October.

In wins over Arizona State and Stanford and a six-point loss to USC, Canfield has completed 70-of-105 passes for 835 yards, with six touchdowns and one interception. His season numbers are 163-of-239 for 1,734 yards with 11 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Canfield's completion percentage of .682 is seventh in the nation, and well ahead of the OSU record of .606 set by Matt Moore in 2006.

"We're just in a rhythm more than anything," Canfield said. "I'm comfortable with the receivers, the playcalling (by coaches) has been outstanding and we've had good game plans."

It's also not unusual to see a senior playing the best of his career, particularly as a quarterback.

"It has to do with confidence and growth and decisiveness," Riley said. "That's the nature of the position."

Canfield hasn't quite followed the normal path to senior success. He had some of the usual struggles of a sophomore in his first season as a starter, throwing 15 interceptions and nine touchdowns before being knocked out of action in the ninth game by a shoulder injury.

Surgery followed that winter, and Canfield wasn't ready to play until a month into the 2008 season. By then, Lyle Moevao had established himself as the starter, and only a shoulder injury to Moevao allowed Canfield to temporarily regain the starting job. He led the Beavers to road wins over Arizona and UCLA last season.

When Moevao's surgically repaired shoulder wasn't ready for the start of this season - and he's out now with a foot injury - Canfield reclaimed the starting spot without a battle, but has left little question he's deserving of the spot.

"I don't really think back," Canfield said. "The (shoulder) injury is what it was."

There certainly seems to be no reason to think it hampers Canfield in any way. The 6-foot-4 lefthander can make every throw, and even with some inexperience among his receivers and a youthful offensive line, he's been solid from the opening game. His standout numbers in recent games might more be an indication of the improvement around him rather than what he's doing.

"I feel like I've been confident all year," Canfield said. "There were a lot of little things on film that we saw we needed to fix from those two (September) losses and that's what we did.

"There were a lot of good things we were doing on offense then, but now it's all coming together."

This is how Canfield imagined it could be when he was recruited by the Beavers, and saw a video of Derek Anderson "throwing the ball all over the field. That was something that really sparked my interest ... something that I wanted to come and take part in."

After Anderson left for the NFL, Matt Moore took over and a solid senior season put him in the NFL, too.

Next? Canfield certainly looked like an NFL prospect as he picked apart USC's defense for 329 yards and three touchdowns last Saturday.

"Canfield was great, a pro quarterback out there," USC coach Pete Carroll said.

Canfield said Carroll's praise "meant a lot to me" but thoughts of the NFL are "a little bit down the road. We've got half the season left."

That, and then an all-league berth for Canfield?