OSU football notebook

By Cliff Kirkpatrick
Corvallis Gazette-Times

Starting offensive guard Jeremy Perry is watching Sun Bowl practices on crutches but remains in high spirits, and of course predicts victory for the Oregon State football team over Missouri.

He’ll travel with the team to El Paso, Texas, and do his part rooting for the Beavers.

Perry underwent surgery Tuesday on his medial collateral ligament in his left knee from a injury on the last drive of the Dec. 2 game at Hawaii. He’s expected to be out of commission for two months, but may return by April’s spring practice.

“I’m going to take my time,” Perry said. “I have a whole year to get back. I’m not going to rush back to spring ball.”

Perry has endured a difficult season because of a string of injuries. However, the sophomore still earned first-team all-Pacific-10 Conference honors. He has been the most visible offensive lineman for the Beavers since last year, when he was the conference co-Freshman of the Year.

Tuesday’s was his second surgery this season on the same knee. Perry needed work done on his meniscus during the bye week from a lingering injury in the summer.

“I was banged up all this year,” Perry said. “I didn’t play a game where I was 100 percent. All year I had an issue with my thumb and both my ankles and my knee from the summer with the meniscus. I promise next year I’ll be 100 percent each game.”

While the rehab has yet to start, Perry’s already looking to next season. He expects another strong performance because of the depth and maturity of the offensive line.

Once healthy, Perry can combine lessons learned this season and his strength to be a better player.

“I’m looking forward to that,” Perry said. “The injuries this year helped me out a lot with my technique. I had to trust my sets and using my hands. Each day I had to focus on that.”

No Randy Moss

Junior punt returner Sammie Stroughter didn’t win the inaugural Randy Moss Return Man of the Year Award. It went to California’s DeSean Jackson. Stroughter, however, already earned second-team Pac-10 and third-team All-American honors.

“I’m going to wait until after the season before I reflect on how the season went,” Stroughter said. “We have one more game to go. And all those awards, those are team awards. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Staying put

Two juniors who had stellar seasons with the Beavers say they are returning for their senior seasons. Two-time 1,000-yard rusher Yvenson Bernard and Stroughter, a 1,000-yard receiver, won’t declare for the NFL draft.

Bernard said if someone in-the-know told him he would be a high-round pick he’d look into it, but his goal is to gain a merchandise management degree. Stroughter said his plan since he arrived was to get his sociology degree.

Sun Bowl TV

CBS Sports announced the Sun Bowl broadcast crew will be Craig Bolerjack, Steve Buerlien and Sam Ryan. This year’s telecast is the 39th consecutive broadcast by CBS, which is the longest-running network affiliation among the 32 college bowl games.

Bolerjack will handle play-by-play. He has been with CBS since 1998, calling college and NFL games. Buerlien, who will serve as the analyst, has been with CBS since 2004 after a 17-year NFL career. Ryan joined the network in June, and will serve as the sideline reporter.