CORVALLIS — As Oregon State players gathered on the Prothro Practice Fields around 7 a.m. in late June, strength and conditioning coach Evan Simon reminded the Beavers that their record was 4-2 and they would next be taking on Washington.
This "season," of course, was purely mythical, a day-by-day test Simon's staff used to evaluate performance during summer workouts. Yet now those offseason dog days are over and the season is here, with the Beavers set to open 2016 at Minnesota Thursday night.
So how will the Beavers' progress be measured in Gary Andersen's real-life second season?