Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller
A healthy Jeremy Perry might turn Oregon State's season from mediocre to good. How often does an offensive guard hold so much importance?
Not often is the answer.
But Perry's importance isn't merely about his ability to knock people over, which, by the way, he does a lot when he's healthy. It's his attitude. It's the tone the 338 pounder-sets up front.
Ask defensive players around the Pac-10 about Perry and they'll tell you two things: 1. Perry is really good; 2. He doesn't play nice.
Some might use an unprintable word.
"I don't give a rats' [pause for effect without using the expected word] who's across from me. Nobody intimidates me," Perry said. "I'm nasty, even if the whistle blows, I guarantee I'll get the last shove. I bring that mental toughness and that finish to our offensive line."
Perry said this over the telephone, but one could easily imagine him making his point while swinging around the leg bone of a large animal he just caught and killed with his bare hands.
Sure, Perry is polite. But I've seen him on film.
So, knowing the sensitivity of knee and foot problems that have hounded him for 18 months and mostly killed his 2007 season, as well as reports that Perry has been sitting out the early action during Beavers preseason camp, the million-dollar question comes out kind of mousy.
Er, how long before you can do full-contact work?
"As soon as our knee braces get in I'm going to start banging," he said.
Er, but lots of folks have been putting a huge question mark by your name over whether you are healthy or not.
"I see all these questions marks by my name and I know a lot of Beavers are worried about me not playing," he said. "I don't know where they got that from. All I know is I'm going to play this whole season."
If it were only that easy. Perry's not unexpected bravado doesn't cloak the fact that it's impossible to tell if he'll regain the form that earned him first-team All-Pac-10 honors as a sophomore.
There were fears that his problems were career-threatening.
"Some doctors told me that I should stop playing," he said. "I told them that ain't happening. They said it was for me later on down the line. But I just can't see myself not playing football."
The plan for now is for Perry to rotate with another guard, mostly likely Gregg Peat, until he regains his football shape and confidence in his knee.
The Perry of old paired with Second-Team All-Pac-10 tackle Andy Levitre would give the Beavers as formidable a left side of the offensive line as any in the conference -- and perhaps the nation. And when right tackle Tavita Thompson returns from an NCAA eligibility issue on Nov. 1, the Beavers line as a unit could become fairly salty.
But without Perry, the early going could be dicey, particularly if anyone else gets hurt. The Beavers are replacing two starters from 2007 and aren't deep at the position. A green stable of running backs might find the holes scarce, and the pass blocking was a problem even last year, with 36 sacks surrendered.
However, Perry says none of that will matter. He'll play and he'll be back to his ole nasty self before long.
"I had two good seasons but now I have to prove myself all over again," he said.
Ted Miller has been covering college football since 1997, starting with Auburn and then heading West to Washington and the Pac-10. His columns for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer won first place in 2007 APSE Best Writing contest. The Atlanta native and University of Richmond graduate presently lives with his wife in Scottsdale, Ariz.
