By: Nick Lilja

At the Emerald Bowl, nuts were everywhere. They were on commercials on the jumbotron, as mascots, in bags to eat, in the stands and on the ground. They had nut flavored ice cream and artists drawing nut characachers. The nuts spread all the way down to the field, too. The sloppiness of the first half could be attributed to all of the nuts flying around. Even the press was overwhelmed.

It looked like it got to Oregon State in the first half, as well. When the Beavers offense went into halftime, they looked in the mirror. They didn't recognize themselves. In a see-saw battle they found themselves stuck on the top unable to do anything. All season Mike Riley had preached the same thing. Play hard, play smart.

They were playing nuts. What they were doing was far from smart. They were playing hard but not protecting the football. The team they saw when they looked in the mirror was a team who was lucky to be within a stones throw of Maryland. And yet, they were tied.

At halftime, the Beavers left the field after a scoring drive that tied up the game at 14. It seemed like the momentum was beginning to swing back in their direction. After a first half like that even the New England Patriots shouldn't be in a game. The Beavers were still hanging tough like New Kids on the Block.

The Beavers committed three first half turnovers and spread the ball all over the turf like it was marinara sauce on some rigatoni. Which I recommend in San Francisco as a meal not an offensive strategy. Sean Canfield's interception in the end zone was dubbed "the worst throw in the history of organized football," by one commentator. It was not pretty.

But it didn't start -- or stop -- with the turnovers. The entire team looked out of sorts. Even the Beaver offensive line, the most stable players on the team (both literally and figuratively), were atrocious. At the end of the first half, one reporter said that sacking Sean Canfield was like shooting fish in a barrel. It couldn't have been worse and yet the Beavers were tied.

It was time to make adjustments, play harder, player smarter. They got into the locker room. They looked in the mirror. And they pulled it together and bounced back like Skee-Lo's last attempt at a career. Well, not really.

When the offense took the field they were still flat. The first series out of halftime the offense gained three first downs before they were forced to punt. Then Serna only managed an 11-yard punt. It didn't look promising.

But as usual it was the Beaver defense to the rescue. Three plays, three big losses for the Maryland offense. In the third quarter the Maryland offense didn't even register a first down. It was enough to swing momentum and give that push that the Beaver offense needed to finally tip the scale and take control.

With a minute to go in the third quarter, the Beavers were in the endzone on four straight runs with Yvenson Bernard. They never looked back.

After the game the players and coaches all said the same thing about the turn around. Nothing. It was just part of the game. They didn't make adjustments. Didn't change anything. Just let the game happen.

Maybe that's why Mike Riley is undefeated in bowl games. Maybe that's why he has finished off the last two seasons winning seven of the last eight. He doesn't scramble to make changes. He looks in the mirror and knows if he doesn't recognize something maybe he needs to just rub his eyes a little.

Nick Lilja is a columnist for The Daily Barometer
He can also be heard on The NickelBlock on 88.7 KBVR-FM
Comments can be sent to nickelblock@msn.com