5 things we learned from practice this week

The Oregon State Beavers are just two days away from bringing in just the third Big Ten opponent to Corvallis since 1971 as the Minnesota Gophers come into Reser Stadium. In order for the Beavers to be competitive against a tough, physical football team like the Gophers, they need to improve on defense to handle Minnesota’s dynamic ground game. Here are the five things that we learned from OSU’s week of practice.

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We've seen flashes of greatness from the Beaver offense during the first two games of the season, but then we've also seen flashes of not so great play as well. The point here is that the Beaver offense has been inconsistent, but is only a few adjustments away from being an offense that could regularly put up 30-40 points on a regular basis.

During practice this week, I saw an offense that is getting more comfortable and familiar with each other and is nearing the point of being an offense that teams will only hope to slow down. Jake Luton is growing in Kevin McGiven's system, and Isaiah Hodgins, Noah Togiai, and Jordan Villamin are getting more comfortable with the big-armed Luton at the helm. If OSU can find a way to get the running game going, with Ryan Nall, Thomas Tyner, Artavis Pierce, and Trevorris Johnson, this offense could be in for a big day against a suspect Minnesota defense.

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Both Gary Andersen and Kevin Clune stated this week that they thought the Beaver defense was ready to "flip" and be the defense that the coaching staff and players thought they would be headed into the season. Sure, OSU has said that, but now it's up to the players to go out there and make plays and clean up the miscues. If OSU truly wants to be a better defense, things like communication issues and defensive breakdowns that leave receivers wide open just can't happen.

The Beavers' front seven certainly appears that they are ready for the flip as the linebackers and defensive line played very well this week. OSU has been much more disciplined when it comes to playing in their gaps and tackling better. I've been impressed with the tenacity and grit that the front seven has played with.

The back end is still a question mark to me as the secondary was burned by the scout team offense several times during Thursday's session. On the flip side, they did show me much better play on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, so it will be something to keep an eye on this Saturday.