Oregon State's date with Hawaii in the Oahu Bowl is an intriguing matchup of teams that had two of the greatest turnarounds in college football.

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"The story of this game, with two programs that have turned things around might be the best story in college football this year other than the national championship game,'' said OSU coach Dennis Erickson.

Certainly, Hawaii did have a great turnaround in going from 0-12 to 8-4. But the Rainbows' home loss to Washington State and Hawaii's relatively weak schedule seems to indicate that the team's turnaround might not be as drastic as it has been painted.

Oregon State's turnaround isn't as drastic as it has been painted, either.

True, the Beavers' hadn't had a winning season since 1970 and hadn't been to a bowl game since the 1964 season … but this was a team on the rise even before Erickson took over in January. The Beavers went 5-6 in 1998 -- finishing 10 points away from an 8-3 season -- before Mike Riley left for the San Diego Chargers.

The feeling that Oregon State is the better team in this one only grew when Hawaii lost that home game to a WSU team that the Beavers had dominated in Pullman a month earlier. And there isn't much that should catch Oregon State by surprise in this game.

Hawaii runs a modified run-and-shoot that is very similar to the one-back set that Oregon State runs and that Erickson helped originate almost 20 years ago. And Hawaii's defensive coordinator is Greg McMackin, a former assistant under Erickson with the Seahawks and at the University of Miami.

"Hawaii's defense is very similar to ours in that they pressure a lot with their linebackers,'' said OSU offensive coordinator Tim Lappano. "Their linebackers have great speed and that is something we are going to have to deal with.''

The biggest difference between the two teams is the ability to run the ball. Oregon State has one of the best backs around in Ken Simonton, who was second in the Pac-10 with 1,329 yards as a sophomore. Hawaii, meanwhile, rushed for only 89 yards a game despite playing a bunch of defenses not noted for stopping the run.

Granted, Hawaii didn't always have to run the ball to win, but against a defense like Oregon State's, the Rainbows will have to mix it up more than in most games. That was most evident in the loss to Washington State.

And Oregon State has one of the better secondaries in the Pac-10, finishing the year as statistically the best in the Pac-10, allowing only 191.3 yards and eight touchdowns -- every other Pac-10 team allowed at least 14 passing TDs.

The X-factor, however, is that this is essentially a home game for Hawaii. But if the Beavers can overcome the home field disadvantage and avoid stage freight, they seem to have all the edges.

The Personnel File

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Erickson has always said the success of any of his teams is dependent on the running back, and the Beavers have a solid one in Simonton, who finished second in the Pac-10 in rushing with 1,329 yards, while leading the conference with 17 touchdowns. Simonton also averaged 4.8 yards per carry in becoming only the second player in school history to rush for more than 1,000 yards twice in his career. Simonton is sure to break the school record in every major rushing category by the time he's done in Corvallis.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Freshman cornerback Dennis Weathersby might have been the surprise player in the conference. Weathersby wasn't even a starter when training camp began, but moved into the lineup after an injury to Ricky Walker. He went on to lead the Pac-10 with 17 pass breakups while becoming one of the biggest reasons for the surprising success of OSU's defense. Weathersby's progress allowed the Beavers to cover receivers man-to-man, which let the defensive front play more aggressively.

COACH UPDATE: Even though he freely admits that 1998 coach Mike Riley deserves much of the credit for this season's success, Erickson is getting the majority of the kudos in Corvallis for the team's first winning season in 28 years. Erickson can stay in Corvallis for as long as he wants … but how long does he want that? Erickson's name is sure to come up in connection with other coaching jobs as they open, but he signed a contract extension last week through the 2004 season and seems to be telling the truth when he says he wants to stay in Corvallis, which is within a four-hour drive of his hometown of Everett, Wash.

STRENGTHS: Surprisingly, the Beavers became more of a defensive team as the year went on and were particularly tough against the pass, ranking first in the Pac-10 in pass defense at 191.3 yards per game and allowing only eight touchdowns through the air. The Beavers were also one of the more prolific offensive teams in the conference, ranking third in scoring and overall offense, and second in passing offense.

CONCERNS: The Beavers rushing offense depends almost totally on Simonton, and the team mostly struggled on the few occasions he was out, save for Antonio Battle's performance against UCLA. Oregon State was also statistically one of the easier teams to run on -- allowing 164.4 yards per game and 4.0 yards per carry -- but that stat is a little deceiving considering OSU allowed 330 yards rushing against option-oriented Georgia Southern. Oregon State's special teams coverage units were also somewhat prone to giving up big plays, as the punt cover team was last in the Pac-10.

HEAD START ON NEXT YEAR: Oregon State will finally get to take advantage of the one benefit of going to a bowl game that coaches crave the most -- the 15 extra practices that essentially serve as an extra spring practice and allow teams to begin preparing for the next season.

Oregon State loses 16 seniors -- eight starters -- and the extra work should further allow a developing team to come together.

"It's going to help us so much as a program,'' Erickson said. "Especially our young players when we get to spring football.''

TURNOVERS TELL TALE: Turnovers are big for any team, but they seemed particularly telling for the Beavers this year, who didn't win a game all year when they didn't have an even or plus-margin in turnovers, and lost the only two games in which they had a minus margin (USC and Washington). For the season, OSU had a plus-six margin -- plus 13 in all the games other than USC and UW -- which was tied for 23rd nationally.

Noteworthy

CIVIL WAR STILL STINGS: A driving force for OSU players during practice for the bowl game is to erase the sting of the regular season ending loss to Oregon.

"We want to win this game to end our season on a high note,'' Simonton said. "We are all disappointed about how we played in the Civil War and maybe some guys have added pressure to themselves to win this game.''

SCANT BOWL HISTORY: The Beavers are 4-2 in bowl games, but haven't played in one since losing to Michigan in the 1965 Rose Bowl, 34-7. OSU also beat Hawaii in the 1940 Pineapple Bowl, beat Duke in the 1942 Rose Bowl (memorable because it was played at Duke University due to worries over a Japan attack on the West Coast), beat Hawaii in the 1949 Pineapple Bowl, lost to Iowa in the 1957 Rose Bowl and beat Villanova in the 1962 Liberty Bowl.

A Look Ahead

Here's a glance at who the Beavers will have to replace in the starting lineup next season.

OFFENSE: 4 -- Wide receivers Imani Percoats and Roddy Tompkins, offensive linemen Aaron Koch and Jason White. Koch was an all-Pac-10 performer and a three-year starter. The Beavers have a lot of depth at receiver, but Percoats and Tompkins were the steadiest players and the Beavs will need to bring in some more big-play players.

DEFENSE: 4 -- DLs Aaron Wells, Shawn Ball and Toalei Talataina, MLB Jonathan Jackson. Losing three of four DLs obviously hurts, with DE DeLawrence Grant the only starter coming back. Wells and Ball were each three-year lettermen.

SPECIAL TEAMS: None.