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With the Oregon State football team (4-5) falling to San Jose State 24-13 at Reser Stadium on Saturday afternoon, BeaversEdge gives five important takeaways from the loss...

MORE: WATCH: BeaversEDGE Breakdown | WATCH: Beavers Talk Loss To SJSU | RECAP - Beavers Fall To SJSU

Needing an offensive spark following a three-game slide, Oregon State head coach Trent Bray and offensive coordinator Ryan Gunderson opened up the quarterback competition during the bye week, allowing for a full competition to play out.

All in all, the coaching staff decided that veteran junior Ben Gulbranson, replacing the incumbent Gevani McCoy, was the move against the Spartans coming out of the bye week.

While that move led to marginally better-passing numbers, as Gulbranson had the second-highest passing total of any quarterback this season, the overall offensive output was beyond disappointing for the second straight contest.

After scoring 42 points against Nevada a month ago, the Beavers have seen their offensive scoring numbers fall into a massive rut. They scored just 25 against UNLV, seven against Cal, and 13 against the Spartans.

Additionally, offensive coaching and playcalling absolutely lead to the result of this matchup.

After taking a three-point advantage with 9:47 left in the third quarter and then getting an interception from Sai Vadrawale in the endzone on the other end, the Beavers had the lead and the ball with just under six minutes left in the third.

The next drive for the Beavers was right on schedule until some baffling play-calling left them with zero.

After taking the ball the length of the field (71 yards), the Beavers found themselves with a first-and-goal from the SJSU four, with a chance to go up by double digits and put a chokehold on the game.

However, the sequence of plays and execution were as bad as they were all day, as the next four plays played out like this:

1st and 4: Anthony Hankerson two-yard loss

2nd and 6: Hankerson one-yard rush

3rd and 5: Ben Gulbranson incomplete to Bryce Caufield

4th and 5: Gulbranson incomplete intended for Darrius Clemons

Now, considering that it was only a three-point game, I’m not against wanting to go for it there for the reasons I just mentioned. However, with just four yards to gain, was that your best group of four plays?

While that sequence was frustrating for the Beavers, their defense delivered on the next SJSU drive, forcing the Spartans to punt, which was a net win for the Beavers after they had come away with zero.

Unfortunately for the Beavers, SJSU landed a perfect punt, pinning them at their own five.

The Beavers ran just three plays, two of which were no gain or a loss before Gulbranson threw the play of the game. It just so happened to be right in the breadbasket of SJSU defender DJ Harvey, who took the interception untouched to the house to give the Spartans a four-point advantage.

The Beavers’ next and final drive, which included an actual shot to get back into the game, also fell flat because of subpar playcalling and execution. After working the ball to near midfield, trailing by four, the Beavers went for it on fourth down only to have Darrius Clemons drop a passing attempt.

While the Beavers have improved a weakness in their defensive unit from the first seven weeks of the season in the run defense, the book is out on how to beat this defense, particularly through the air, and the Beavers did nothing to improve that coming off the bye week.

Cal laid out the game plan to attack this Beavers defense through the air, which San Jose State pretty much copied all but the name on the play sheet.

San Jose State quarterback Walker Eget torched the Beavers’ secondary to nearly 400 yards passing through the air, along with a passing touchdown. Eget also wasn’t efficient either; with so many missed plays and drops, it could have been even more lopsided for SJSU, yet he could still be effective on the passes he threw to his receivers.

Although San Jose State's game plan is to attack the opposing defense through the passing game, the fact that you can’t get any pressure on the quarterback rushing four defensive linemen makes it inexcusable to give up that much yardage.

The game plan is so simple when you want to slow down San Jose State on offense, you slow down their best receiver in Nick Nash, and you get pressure on the quarterback and force him to throw to someone else in a San Jose State uniform who isn’t Nash.

However, the Beavers couldn’t even do that as Nash had a 100-yard receiving right before the end of the first half and finished with 161 yards and a touchdown.

Outside of Nash torching the Beavers' secondary, Eget found wide receiver Justin Lockhart, who also had over 100 yards receiving with 128 yards. So while the Beavers could slow down Nash at times, they still couldn’t consistently defend the pass on key passing downs where you knew what the Spartans were going to do offensively.

Oregon State has a lot of work to do in defending the passing attack of opposing offenses. Otherwise, if they do not improve, it’ll be a long day against Washington State to close out the final home game of the 2024 season.