Beavers finish off Bend week in style
Luton & Togiai shine as Beaver offense shows potential
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After a week full of team bonding, slip n’ slides, and high altitude football practice, the Oregon State football team concluded their annual Bend week with a family fun fest scrimmage that gave Beaver fans their first opportunity to see Gary Andersen’s 2017 Beavers.
In the Minnesota game last season, Beaver fans saw the type of playmaker that h-back/tight end Noah Togiai could be on the field. Then starting quarterback Darell Garretson targeted him early and often, and Togiai was the recipient of the Beavers first touchdown in the 2016 season. Sadly for Togiai and Beaver fans, a knee injury on a kickoff return against Idaho State cost the emerging tight end an opportunity to play anymore in the 2016 season.
Without Togiai in the fold, the Beavers offense sputtered and coaches said they had to throw some formations out because no one else could replicate Togiai on the field. While recovering from the injury, Togiai noted it was one of the hardest times in his life to not be on the field with his teammates.
Flashing forward to today, Togiai is once again raising eyebrows with his tremendous play, this time in OSU’s first scrimmage of 2017 fall camp. Togiai was on the receiving end of all three of OSU’s touchdowns. Every pass he caught was a touchdown, and perhaps most importantly is that he caught those three touchdown passes from newly appointed starting quarterback Jake Luton.
“It’s great to see (Togiai) back,” Andersen said. “The best thing about (Togiai) being able to make those plays is that when you have (Collins), (Hodgins), and (Villamin) out there you have a great combination of talented young men.”
Luton has long been the favorite to start at quarterback for the Beavers since his arrival from Ventura CC but didn’t get off to the best start at OSU because of an illness that caused him to lose weight. The only time Beaver fans were able to see Luton live prior to this was the spring game where he was solid at best.
However, once Luton was healthy, it was evident that he was going to be the guy for the Beavers. During OSU’s first round of practices last week in Corvallis, I predicted that he would be named the starter during Bend, and he hasn’t looked back since. Luton finished the scrimmage with 122 yards passing, three touchdowns, while connecting on 66 percent of his passes. For an OSU passing attack that has been in the 50’s or below in Andersen’s tenure, that is music to the ears Andersen and Co.
“The key is, we (as a staff) really wanted the chemistry to grow (between Luton and the receivers),” Andersen said. “I think it’s continuously grown with all those wide receivers and we want those kids to play in a group as much as possible.”
In addition to the passing game that appears to be on the uprise, the Beavers also appear to be in very good shape with several high-end running backs. Not surprisingly, Ryan Nall only ran the ball five times, but at this point, putting extra hits on your star running back is overkill. The real question that intrigues me the most is who is going to be the No. 2 running back behind Nall. Both Thomas Tyner and Calvin Tyler showed the ability to be solid backups as they ran for 54 and 39 yards respectively. Based on everything that I have seen, Tyner appears to be coming into the same form that he was at Oregon, and that could propel him to a 1B behind Nall. Returning backup Artavis Pierce is still heavily in the mix for No. 2 as well as transfer Trevorris Johnson. I haven't seen much of Pierce in the fall thus far, and will have to fight off Tyner to keep the backup RB job.
In terms of the defense, the credit has to go to the defensive line that Andersen and Co. have repeatedly challenged in the last several weeks. Titus Failauga showed a lot of potential on the line tonight as he had a very nice sack on Marcus McMaryion. Failauga has struggled with injuries during his time in Corvallis, but if he’s healthy, he could transform the Beaver defensive line. He has one of the quickest first steps in the Pac-12 and has tremendous upper body strength.
Many question marks still remain with this squad including depth on the defensive line, consistent offensive line play, and a quarterback who can lead the team on a consistent basis. I expect several of those to be answered in the next coming weeks, but the Beavers still have to prove on game days that they are ready to rise from the cellar of the Pac-12.
You never want to get too high or too low after a scrimmage, but I believe there is reason for cautious optimism if you are a Beaver fan. The offense appears to be gelling behind Luton, and outside of three Togiai touchdowns, the defense appears to be up for the challenge as well.
Time will tell how the Beavers mentally and physically respond after this scrimmage and head back to Corvallis, but one thing’s for sure. They found out who they were as a team during this week in Bend and developed a chemistry and bond together that will help them return to postseason play for the first time since 2013.
Several years down the line when the Beavers are winning 7-8 plus games a year, OSU fans and Andersen will look back and see that this week spent in Bend each year builds the brand of Beaver Football under Gary Andersen.
“This week in Bend is such a great time for our kids to bond and have a great time with each other,” Andersen said. “This team is very edgy and they like to compete and battle against each other day in and day out. We’ve grown as a team (in Bend.
One of the more noticeable things Andersen proudly wears is a visor that says “Players make plays, Players win games”. He eats, sleeps, and breathes that motto. He is consistently tabbed as a players coach and players echo that narrative. When your head football coach wants to run face-first down a homemade slip n’ slide with his players, you know you have more than just a football team.
You have family.