TUCSON, Ariz. - It was nearly one year ago that a group of joyous Oregon State football players entered the Valley Football Center media room, playfully slapping coach Gary Andersen across the chest.
The Beavers' had just won by 25 points over Arizona in what turned out to be the most thorough victory of the 30-game Andersen era, a moment internally viewed as progression toward the impending completion of a multi-year rebuild.
On Saturday night inside the cement bowels of Arizona Stadium, interim coach Cory Hall was in Andersen's place following a 49-28 loss to the Wildcats, who set a single-game school record of 534 rushing yards as the gap between OSU and the rest of the Pac-12 appeared as stark as ever.