Oregon State Interim Coach Robb Akey Talks Home Pac-12 Matchup With Washington State

The Oregon State Beavers were finally able to pick up their first victory of the season in their last game against FCS Lafayette. Now move on to the first of two conference matchups, both of which will be against the same opponent.

They are slated to face off against Pac-12 opponent Washington State for a 7:30 PM EST matchup on Saturday.

Beavers interim head coach Robb Akey led the team to their first win in his first game following former head coach Trent Bray's firing, and now sets his sights on the Cougs.

Before the team's evening contest against the Cougars, he spoke to the media about the upcoming contest.

Akey on facing Washington State after the bye week

"I thought we needed the bye-week to be real honest with you. That was a very hectic time and I thought our players and this coaching staff did a really good job of attacking that. And it's like I said, our deal is to help these guys be the best them that they can be and help them find a way to have success. And it was great to be able to see them smile again, and it felt like there was some time needed for both ends of it. You know, we had training camp for four weeks and then you had the running of games as it was, and a lot was going on, and obviously you magnify with the emotion of everything that went into that last week prior to the bye."

"And so, we took that as a combination be able to get bodies rested, get minds brought back again, and get rejuvenated to go make a new run. I was excited about the way that our players responded to it. I thought the coaches did a great job of responding to it. We got a lot accomplished, I felt like during the course of the bye week, and like I said, we're back on the practice field...everything has moved forward very well."

Akey on the 109th meeting with Washington State

"It's going to be like being back in the division race. You've got to beat everybody, you know, try to win it twice, you win the division, go to the playoffs, and we get the opportunity to be able to play them twice. And if we can win it twice, we get to be the PAC-12 champions. And that's a good thing, or the PAC-12, whatever you want to call it. We've got an opportunity, and there we go again. It's what do you have a chance to do? Well, you got an opportunity to play a new game this week, and we've got each day to prepare for it. No different than we had this last week to get bodies ready, get minds ready, and be ready to go about attacking the new week and the new opponent."

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Akey on the relationship with Washington State as the last 2 Pac-12 programs

"Well, I think you'd be crazy to say it's just two teams playing each other because we are in the same boat and we, you know, obviously both want to be in the driver's seat of the conference moving forward as it as it grows in years to come. The bottom line is all that stuff really doesn't matter, either because this is the opportunity that you have in front of you and to go about it that way. So, you know, I don't know that if you look at it, there's some rivalry there between the two schools because we're the two that are left, and the strong survive."

Akey on the team's bye week preparation for Washington State

"I congratulated them after the game, and it was great to see them smile, and then I told them they needed to take some time and get some air. We got some workouts; some lift in them. We got some practice later in the week. Gave them some time early in the week to be able to get their bodies feeling good. My goal was that we would feel better when the players physically feel as good as you can feel going into this game. That was the big thing."

"So, we did enough that physically they were able to get some things done. Mentally, we were able to do a lot with them. We practice later in the week, and then we'll start our normal routine tomorrow with a Tuesday, but we've been able to work forward on some things. So, I think that was good."

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