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Mike Riley leaves Qualcomm Stadium after a 34-40 victory on Saturday.

(Randy L. Rasmussen/Oregonian)

SAN DIEGO --- On Saturday during the first half at Qualcomm Stadium, someone described Oregon State's defense as a dumpster fire -- on top of a train wreck. I had zero disagreement. Then, after the game, a die-hard Beavers fan who witnessed the Beavers racing back for

said, "That's the worst fun team I think I've ever seen."

I think

would take that as a wonderful compliment. So yeah. The Beavers really are a raging, laughing, thrilling, exciting, maddening mess. Also, they're 3-1, and also, fun. And as the stadium lights were turned out after the game, an official in the press box announced, "Oregon State is halfway to being bowl eligible."

I wanted to say: "You're drunk. Go home."

This Beaver Nation stuff lately really is better than reality television. Consider that the first individual I encountered on the field after the game, Ryan Murphy, a Beavers defensive back, was scowling as if someone had stolen his BMX bicycle. I told him to smile, he'd just won. He said, "We beat ourselves up. We gave up an 80-yard TD. We couldn't tackle." Yeah, but you won. "Yeah, OK. We won."

How can you not love this team?

They're not particularly great anywhere but at quarterback (Sean Mannion) and receiver (Brandin Cooks). Cooks caught 14 passes for 141 yards, but also fumbled twice in key situations. But, whew, OSU left a winner. For two consecutive weeks, they've scrapped, and hoped, and scowled and celebrated, and come away with victories in games that had most of whoever cared to watch writing them off.

Running back Storm Woods, at home recovering from a concussion, announced on social media that he should no longer monitor Twitter during games because its too negative. I should hope when he returns he does not pull out an iPhone in the huddle, and check the mentions.

Also, I'd offer to him that the team really is pretty nerve-wracking. Watching Oregon State play is joyful torture for Beavers fans. It's a gut-wrenching siege followed by a kiss. It's realizing in horror that you've lost your wallet, retracing your steps, and finding it on the sidewalk with an extra $20 tucked in it. Somehow, someway, Saturday evening's dumpster fire ended with a parade to the locker room. The roar from Oregon State's bunker could still be heard inside Qualcomm Stadium, up three levels from the visiting locker room 20 minutes after the game ended.

The title of "Worst Fun Team in Football," is not a back-handed compliment. There are lots of terrific teams that are a drag to watch. Alabama, for one. And there are a lot of bad teams that are not fun to follow either. Too many to mention. But Oregon State is a rare operation. Because they're absolutely thrilling, and compelling, and the storylines are rich. Also, they always look like they're barely hanging on, like a guy at a western bar riding the bull at 3 a.m.

You might already know that Mark Banker runs the defense at Oregon State. For the record, he did not skip off field Saturday night. I did find him, however, in a relieved gallop, his hair flowing, his eyes glistening, the defensive game plan tucked under his arm. He bounded across the field, and I intercepted him in the end zone in about the spot where his defense scored the game-winning points.

"It's a good feeling, it's a bad feeling," Banker said. "You know how it is. Everyone sees the difficulties we're having. It's the same (expletive) calls when it doesn't work. It's the same great calls when we're out there kicking their (expletive). We gotta stay one step ahead of the posse."

Banker's right. The posse is chasing. Without Steven Nelson's game-winning interception return this column would have ended up being a call for his head on a stake. Instead, it ends up telling a larger truth about the entire operation: Oregon State is a blast. They're also not that great. In that, they're everyman. They spend Saturdays scrapping, tripping, falling, and recovering from mistakes. They follow bone-headed plays with game-breaking plays. They fumble, then intercept. You can't look away, not even for an instant, because the best possible outcome and the worst possible development are in a continual swing dance when this bunch is at work.

Riley should sell tickets to the halftime talks from the coaching staff. I'd buy the first one. In, fact I'd bring In-N-Out burgers. Whatever he wants.

"Players clinging to our every word," Banker said.

The Beavers have had some things go woefully wrong this season. But I believe Banker. I don't think Oregon State's players have checked out at any point. Not after losing to Eastern Washington. Not when Hawaii punched them in the mouth. Not when Utah tied the game and sent it to overtime a week ago. Not even when San Diego State was up 13 points with 13 minutes left in the game and the world was caving in.

Banker and Riley have spent a long time coaching together. They were together through that whole Chargers debacle. I suspect Riley dances with the one he brung even when his toes are bleeding.

"The good, the bad, the ugly," Banker said. "I've been in a lot of games in this stadium, most of them up in the box. You thought you had a good plan and things turn South on you."

Congratulations to Oregon State. The Beavers have won three straight. The team that most wrote off weeks ago as a bust is now halfway to a bowl game. Also, halfway to giving the rest of us an ulcer.

Antacid all around.

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