CORVALLIS – So, what would YOU do for $300,000?

Walk a tightrope over a pool of great white sharks? Slip on a Speedo and plunge into a vat of fire ants?

Eat Brussels sprouts?

Well, to earn ITS $300K, Eastern Washington University sent its football team to Reser Stadium on Thursday night.

Hope the Eagles think it was worth it.

Division I-AA Eastern Washington, with considerable help from Division I Oregon State, demonstrated just how wide the gap between the highest two levels of college football can be.

OSU’s Beavers, out to set a winning tone in its 2006 opener on the heels of a losing season, scored early and often, then scored again and again, in laying a 56-17 whooping on the Eagles.

Payday games – as this one was for EWU – come with a price.

It’s hard to believe that when these two programs met in a season opener six years ago, the Beavers escaped with a 21-19 victory. And that was an OSU team that went on to finish 11-1 and blow Notre Dame out of the Fiesta Bowl.

Beaver believers would be wise not to read too much into Thursday night’s result. But lopsided as it was, the game provided some insights into what might lie ahead in the longest regular season (13 games) in Oregon State football history.

To wit:

* Joe Newton is back, and he’s a force. That’s no surprise – the senior tight end from Roseburg has been named to a variety of preseason awards watch lists, even though he missed all of last season with a leg injury. And it was heartening to see him out there again, running routes, catching passes (five for 57 yards and two touchdowns) and bowling over would-be tacklers with his 6-foot-7-inch, 256-pound frame.

”It’s great to be back,” Newton said afterward. ”Actually, it was a little weird at first – it’s been so long since I played in a game. It was so fun to be back playing … just incredible for me.”

* Matt Moore played well – or as well as he needed to – in his return as starting quarterback after a knee injury late last season kept him out of the Civil War game. He completed seven of his 14 passes for 88 yards, including two touchdown strikes to Newton.

What’s more, with the game well in hand early, the Beavers got a good, long look at their quarterbacking future: Sean Canfield, a redshirt freshman, completed 11 of 15 passes for 177 yards (and one ill-advised toss that was picked off in the second quarter). There’s no quarterback controversy – not yet, anyway – but the left-handed Canfield has clearly overtaken junior Ryan Gunderson on the depth chart.

* Yvensen Bernard, the Beavers’ electric junior tailback, gained a rather casual 124 yards on 19 carries, including touchdown runs of three and 16 yards in the first quarter as OSU capitalized on two EWU fumbles to build a fast 21-0 lead.

It was a nice start to what could be a monster season for the Florida product who, at 5-9 and 204 pounds, is reminding Oregon State followers of another pint-sized powerhouse – Ken Simonton.

* The Beavers’ defense controlled the Eagles at just about every turn (EWU’s rushing yardage was a net of minus 14 yards; its total offense was 126 yards) and created four turnovers.

But the OSU special teams earned only mixed reviews: Sammie Straughter’s 51-yard punt return for a touchdown was countered by a 60-yard touchdown return by Eastern’s Tony Davis. And punting will be a point of emphasis this week for the Beavers, as freshman Kyle Loomis struggled to an average of just 28.4 yards on five kicks.

”Going into any game, you never know what it’s gonna be like,” said Mike Riley, the Beavers’ head coach. ”I was proud of the fact that we came out with great energy, and we did accomplish the very most important thing, and that was to win.

”But,” he added, ”we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Another Thursday night game, next week at Boise State, is up next for Oregon State, and many of the current Beavers remember the 53-34 spanking the Broncos gave them two seasons ago in Idaho.

Bernard admitted after the EWU game that he had stolen a few glances at the Reser Stadium scoreboard as updates were displayed on other opening-night action from around the country – including Boise State’s game with Sacramento State.

Final: Boise State 45, Sacramento State 0.

”They’re definitely a good team,” Bernard said of the Broncos. ”We’ll have to play a quality game.”

Judging by their opener, the Beavers appear to have that in them.