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With the Oregon State football team taking down Idaho State 38-15 at Reser Stadium on Saturday afternoon, BeaversEdge gives five important takeaways from the win!
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1. Beaver Offense Slow To Emerge From Hibernation
While Beavers don’t hibernate, Oregon State’s offense may have been awoken from an offseason football hibernation as the offense in the first half was not what was expected against the FCS Idaho State Bengals.
The Beavers’ first offensive drive of the season showed promise, going 39 yards in five plays, but running back Jam Griffin fumbled at the Idaho State 21.
The offense got the ball right back via an interception from Skyler Thomas and had its most successful drive, going 63 yards in six plays, capped off with an Anthony Hankerson rushing score to take a 7-0 advantage.
The defense forced another Idaho State punt on the following possession, and the offense had a chance to build off a 7-0 lead. However, gaining just three yards, the Beavers were forced to punt from their end of the field.
One of the more under-the-radar bits of news out of fall camp was that Peyton Hogan had replaced Dylan Black at long snapper as Black is out for the year, and Hogan’s first snap of the season went through Josh Green’s feet and out the back of the endzone for a safety.
While it didn’t prove to be extremely detrimental in the long run, the safety gave Idaho State momentum. On their very next drive, they scored a touchdown to take a 9-7 lead.
The Beavers reclaimed the lead via an Everett Hayes field goal on their next drive and followed that drive with another score with 27 seconds left in the first half to hold a 17-9 advantage at the break.
Only the running game found its groove in the first half, as Jam Griffin and Anthony Hankerson were fantastic today (more on them in a bit), but the passing attack just didn’t find life until the second half.
The offense made some necessary adjustments at the break, and perhaps the most impressive play of the day was a beautiful 55-yard fade route to David Wells from Gevani McCoy in the first five minutes of the second half, which extended the advantage to 24-9.
The Beavers only attempted seven passes in the first half, compared to seven just in the third quarter alone, and that speaks to the Beavers opening up the playbook and trying to get their quarterback in rhythm.
The second half was a more consistent performance overall for the offense, as we saw the playbook open up and allow McCoy to throw deep, which was needed against an Idaho State team that was daring the Beavers to throw in the first half.
The Beavers need to bottle up the offensive good from this matchup and carry it into the next week because one-half of subpar offensive football could land you in a more challenging spot next week on the road against San Diego State.
There were flashes of an effective offense, but the passing game needs to catch up to the ground game for the Beavers to have a truly dynamic offense this season.
