CORVALLIS - Alex Linnenkohl was baptized into Pacific-10 Conference play last week, and showed he was up to the challenge.

Next is a trip to Penn State for a nonconference game Saturday in his second career start.

The sophomore from Olympia, Wash., began training camp as a backup guard, but was pressed into service when starter Marcus Henderson contracted mono during training camp.

He started his OSU career as a center so it wasn’t too difficult getting back into the rhythm. And that’s his favorite spot on the line.

“We missed a couple things, and caught some things,” Linnenkohl said of his first game. “I’d say for the first little while I didn’t see things as well as I did later in the game. Then I started to look around and see players on the field better. I became more comfortable.”

There was a concern by the line, wondering what Stanford would do with a new defensive coordinator and its history of stunt blitzing. However, it turned out pretty basic.

Against Penn State that worry isn’t there since there’s a long history of what that team does with the same coach the last 43 years.

“We just, as a group, have to keep getting better, mend, communicate and finish blocks,” Linnenkohl said.

The other linemen quickly rallied around Linnenkohl. Veteran guards Adam Speer and Gregg Peat helped him through his first game, and expect even more from him now. They’ve given him the nickname the Tasmanian Devil because of how aggressively he gets after plays.

“I think Alex is a great player,” Speer said. “He has come on now that he’s been given a chance.”

Personnel changes?

There won’t be any personnel changes on the front seven, coach Mike Riley said, even though the defense gave up 210 yards on the ground to Stanford and face a tough challenge Saturday. He likes to keep faith in players he has evaluated and develop them.

One change that may happen in the future, but because of a positive, is getting slotbacks Shane Morales and James Rodgers on the field more. They are splitting time now.

Morales had a breakout game against Stanford with 13 catches for 151 yards and a TD. He also caught a two-point conversion. Rodgers had 247 all-purpose yards with 159 on kickoff returns, 49 rushing and 39 receiving.

“We’ve talked about that,” Riley said. “I think there’s plenty of football for Shane and James. They do what they do well. There can be situational ball for them. There’s all sorts of football for them, but we might not mess around too much with (their roles) right now.”

Keeping hydrated

Offensive linemen Andy Levitre and Speer missed parts of last week’s game with leg cramps. Dehydration causes cramps, and it was a hot day at Stanford. Both had these issues at the worst time, and contributed to stalled drives.

“It has been addressed,” Riley said. “Hydration is a long-term process, starting at the beginning of the week.”

Loud crowd

With more than 107,282 people expected to be in attendance at Saturday’s game it will be loud, so the Beavers worked on various silent counts to snap the ball.

If the quarterback is in the shotgun, he’ll use hand motions to the center. The rest of the team goes on motion.

The guards and tackles will hold hands during the game, and a squeeze by the guard tells the tackles to go.

To get used to the sound, noise was piped into Reser Stadium while the team practiced and the quarterbacks have used a whisper count so only the center and guards can hear them.

The forecast

The forecast for Saturday’s game in State College, Pa., is 40 percent chance of rain with a high of 69 degrees and a low of 58.