cate's playbook

In this article, Catie talks about week seven of Caveman football and Oregon State University's first win of the season under new head coach interem. She also recognizes NFL division leaders and star rookies across the league.

Football updates

By: Catie Beardslee

Welcome back to Catie’s Playbook, football fans! The past two weeks in the football realm have been a whirlwind of unexpected losses, victorious wins, unfortunate injuries, and even new coaches for lots of collegiate teams. Away games historically get the best of athletes, psychologically affecting the quality of their game play. The long, squished bus ride full of anxious teammates, the new field or court that athletes are not used to, and even the opposing teams' fans ruthlessly shouting at the field with no filter. These are all factors that contribute to the away game funk. Unfortunately for Matt Kennedy and his Cavemen, they are down in players for the away game due to sickness. They had two consecutive losses in weeks six and seven of caveman football against the Silverton Foxes and Sprague Olympians. Week six brought our Cavemen the first rain game of the season and a gruesome loss to top off the five-hour drive north. The final score was 40-16, with Silverton continuing their undefeated season into week seven. With a back-to-back away game streak, the Cavemen fought hard against the Sprague Olympians in the cold, but the Cavemen could not carry out the win, and the final score was 32-21.

broken gp football records

Photo Credits: Makenna Bassett

Despite the losses, individual players have been breaking records left and right here in GP. On Fri., Sept. 26, the Cavemen faced South Salem. James Traylor shattered the receiving yard record with 251 receiving yards in a single game. The Cavemen held down the victory with a final score of 63-55 at the cave that Friday, thanks to the sophomore and his receiving skills. But James is not the only new record holder for the football program. On the flip side, running back Treyton Powers now owns the single-game rushing record, settling at 310 rushing yards. Another victorious win for the Cavemen that night against North Salem with tremendous help from the junior.

Beavs first 2025 win

The Oregon State Beavers have taken an unexpected turn for the better against the Lafayette Leopards, ringing in the first win of their season with a final score of 45-13. Previous to this win, the Beavers had seven consecutive losses before letting go head coach Trent Bray. Thanks to this win against the Leopards, the Beavers now sit at number one in the PAC-12, despite their record being one and seven.

Photo Credits: Beavers Football Instagram

Ducks v. Hoosiers and Penn state victory

Photo Credits: Eric Evans

On the other hand, Dan Lanning and his Oregon Ducks have had a victorious season, with only one loss so far, during week six against the Indiana Hoosiers. This matchup was an unfortunate loss, considering the long-standing rivalry between the two Big Ten teams, creating bad blood and cut cutthroat environment at Autzen Stadium with a final score of 20-30. Before this loss, the Ducks overcame an intense battle against the number three Penn State Nittany Lions in Pennsylvania during double overtime. The final score was 30-24, with a phenomenal display of football full of fumble recoveries and interception touchdowns during both of the overtimes. The Ducks-Lions match-up is always a highly anticipated game for both fan bases because of the rivalry, similar to Indiana and Oregon. This year, the game landed on Penn State's white out; a sea of white pom poms created by the fan base Dan Lanning describes as “A blank canvas for us to paint our masterpiece on” ahead of the Penn State game, and paint they did.

nfl updates

When it comes to the football realm, the NFL is a totally different beast compared to collegiate and high school level ball. Taking into account the range of ages and skill level the league carries, fans across the globe are united by this league, even bringing games to play outside of the United States, like the UK, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, and Ireland. Broken up between the American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC), the leaders between North, South, East, and West, these are the most notable performances ahead of week ten.

On the AFC North side, Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers settled in at number one in the standings ahead of week nine but number three on the touchdown leader board individually. This is an unexpected ranking for the quarterback, considering his time in the league and experience across different coaches and teams. More notably, in Mar. 2025, DK Metcalf lined the NFL headlines with the news of his trade from Seattle to Pittsburgh. The trade was a decision on behalf of Metcalf in response to the coaching staff changes and his claims that he needed a “fresh start”. He felt as if he was “an outsider” in his sixth season, according to Riley Kenney, a writer for Steeler Nation. Although it has been rumored that Metcalf put in multiple trade requests during his time in Seattle, the Seahawks struggled to find a replacement to successfully fill his shoes. To summarize, Metcalf has been blowing expectations out of the water for Pittsburgh this season.

Taking a trip only five hours from Pittsburgh, the Indianapolis Colts hold the AFC South division leaders title. The Colts are exceeding pre-season predictions with a 7-2 record ahead of week ten. Jonathon Taylor, in his sixth season with the Colts, holds the record for the most rushing yards in the 2026 season so far, with 895 yards, as recorded on ESPN. He is gaining much attention from opponents like Aaron Rodgers, who praise him for his performance against the Steelers, despite the Colts' loss. According to Sports Illustrated, during week nine, Rodgers pulled Taylor aside post- game to say, “You’re the MVP, bro”, recognizing Taylor for his outstanding season so far.

Only ten weeks into the NFL regular season, the San Francisco 49ers have had a rough go already. With star players like Brock Purdy, Brandon Aiyuk, Fred Warner and Nick Bosa all still injured ahead of week ten, the 49ers continue to fight despite the bench-heavy roster. On the bright side, tight end George Kittle is back in business for San Francisco, wrapping up week nine with a solid 32 yards against the New York Giants. Ultimately, the 49ers have shown that, despite the lack of 'star players' on the field and the low divisional ranking, the 49ers rack up the individual rankings and top the stats charts across the league.

Photo Credits: Logan Bowles, Getty Images

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