5 Takeaways From Oregon State's Win Over Stanford

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With the Oregon State football team (6-4, 4-3 Pac-12) knocking off the Stanford Cardinal (3-7, 2-6) 35-14 to reach bowl eligibility, BeaversEdge.com gives five important takeaways from the win!

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1. The Defense Arrived

-> Following head coach Jonathan Smith's decision to relieve defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar of his duties after last weeks' loss to Colorado, all eyes were going to be on interim defensive coordinator Trent Bray against the Cardinal.

It's a small sample size, but the early indications are that Smith made the right call resetting the defense and giving them a fresh voice and new perspective.

While the Cardinal didn't come into the contest as world-beaters on offense, neither did Cal & Colorado in recent weeks, yet the Beavers allowed those offenses to thrive.

That was a trend that needed to change right away for the Beavers to get this defense back on track and they did just that in the blowout win over the Cardinal.

All told, the Beavers held Stanford to 230 yards of total offense and 14 points, far superior marks than we saw the past couple of weeks. That tells me that the change in leadership made a bonafide difference in this contest and that's not something that can be discounted.

Additionally, Bray was able to dial up some different tendencies on third down that made a difference against the Cardinal. OSU's struggles getting off the field on third downs have been well-documented this season and were a big part of the reason why opponents have been able to find success in recent weeks.

The Cardinal went just 4-of-11 on third down...

That's measurable progress and with any luck, it'll be a springboard for this unit heading down the stretch of the season.

Smith made a gutsy call after last week, signaling to his defense that it wasn't good enough, and that message was definitely received as the Beavers barely resembled the unit that got pushed around Berekely & Boulder the past two weekends.

2. Turnovers Made The Difference

-> While there were numerous reasons why OSU's defense had fallen off the pace in recent weeks compared to the beginning of the season, perhaps none were more impactful than the Beavers' inability to force turnovers.

We've got enough sample size on this defense to know its strengths and weaknesses, and there's no question that this group needs to have a couple of turnovers per contest to stay in the black and give themselves confidence.

At the end of the day, the Beavers didn't do anything radically different on defense compared to previous weeks, but the tweaks were noticeable. More pressure was brought on third downs and you could tell Stanford's rotation of quarterbacks weren't expecting to be seeing so much pressure.

All in all, the Beavers ended up forcing three turnovers (two interceptions & one fumble) and that was their highest mark in that regard since the USC game where they forced four. OSU hadn’t forced a turnover since the WSU game…

This defense isn't perfect by any means, but it's a big statement that this group was able to have such a night and day performance compared to the last two weeks.

We wrote last week how this team, and specifically the defense can embody a Jeykll/Hyde persona, and today we saw how effective they can be when everything is dialed in and clicking.

What a difference a week makes...

The competition will stiffen a ton the next two weeks, but similarly to how the Idaho shutout gave the defense some much-needed confidence heading into conference play, I expect this win to have a similar effect.

3. The Passing Attack Re-Discovered Its Rythym

-> Chance Nolan and the OSU passing attack found its groove just when the team needed it most...

While Stanford entered the contest as the last-ranked rushing defense in the Pac-12 (more on that in a bit), the Beavers still found themselves needing to hit the big plays downfield to break open the Cardinal defense.

The Beavers led with the run as they always do, but credit has to be given to Nolan who had his most productive day under center in weeks. You could argue things haven't been clicking for Nolan on a level like this since the USC game and that's an awesome development heading into the stretch run of the season.

Nolan finished 19-of-25 for 257 yards and two touchdowns all while committing zero turnovers and that's exactly what the Beavers want to see from him. His QB rating was 188.8 and he seemed to be really in sync and command of the offense.

Compared to recent weeks where it seemed like the passing game was forced, or rather was forced into obvious passing downs, today was different. The playcalling for the pass complimented the run well in this one and the receiving corps did a really nice job of creating separation.

Trevon Bradford continued his hot stretch of play, finishing with three receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown, including a 67-yard TD catch. Additionally, spreading the ball around and getting multiple guys involved was key too...

Tre'Shaun Harrison, Champ Flemings & Teagan Quitoriano all had big catches in this contest, and the ability for Nolan to go through his progressions and find multiple guys makes this OSU offense a lot tougher to stop.