Column: Plenty of reasons to be optimistic as an Oregon State fan

The Beavers had a chance to snap a road losing streak of 20 games off the foot of Jordan Choukair, but he couldn't deliver under pressure as his kick sailed wide left.

It was a brutal way to lose, but to be quite honest, the fact that Oregon State even came back in this game to have a chance to win was impressive.

The Beavers started very poorly. The defense looked awful, and the offense was stagnant outside of OSU's first offensive drive of the game, which was a beauty.

But after going down 30-7 early in the second quarter, you would've thought it would take a miracle to see a comeback. And that nearly happened.

Jake Luton provided a much needed spark to the offense. On Thursday, head coach Jonathan Smith said that he would play a second quarterback if the offense needed a switch (paraphrasing here). They went with Luton in the second quarter, and he had his best game as a Beaver, completing 23-of-35 passes for 287 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He led three OSU scoring drives.

But then he was replaced after throwing an interception. The ESPNU crew reported it was due to an ankle injury. Either way, Conor Blount came in and led a touchdown drive to cut Nevada's lead to 37-35 that was set up by a John McCartan interception.

A quick three-and-out gave the Beavs the ball at their own 30 and then the Conor Blount magic happened. On 4th and 5, he found Isaiah Hodgins for a 10 yard gain. And then on 4th and 10, he found Hodgins for a 26 yard gain.

The Beaver offense marched down to the Nevada 15 yard line and got the ball squared up in the middle of the field, but Choukair couldn't connect.

But even with a loss on the road to a Mountain West team, there is plenty of reason to be optimistic. Plenty.

I read a lot of comments from Oregon State fans during the game on our game chat. Some even said the Beavers don't have a Pac-12 quarterback.

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I would argue that they have two capable Pac-12 level QB's in Blount and Luton. They both looked pretty good in a losing effort and the QB battle will continue on.

How about Jonathan Smith's 2018 recruiting class?

25 rushing attempts for 106 yards and two touchdowns for Jermar Jefferson. Even Kase Rogers powered in a touchdown. John McCartan had a huge interception. Isaiah Smalls caught four passes for 66 yards. Isaac Hodgins had a tackle for loss.

How about the receiving corps without arguably its best playmaker in Trevon Bradford? (Side note: OSU was also without star RB Artavis Pierce.)

Isaiah Hodgins and Timmy Hernandez were incredible. Hodgins hauled in 14 passes (!!!) for 200 yards (!!!) and 2 touchdowns (!!!). Hernandez added 11 receptions for 116 yards. Really impressive, gritty performances by these guys.

How about the Beaver defense that everyone wanted to write off after they looked so poor early?

After that Blount fumble, OSU forced seven consecutive Nevada punts -- six of them were three-and-outs. The touchdown they allowed in the fourth quarter hurt a lot, but they followed that drive up with the McCartan interception and then a three-and-out to give OSU a chance to win the game. The front seven was flying around and tackled well.

How about the grit?

We didn't see this type of performance from the 2017 team. Say what you want about moral victories, but this team grew up a lot tonight. Pac-12 teams won't be able to just walk past Oregon State. It's not an automatic win like last year. This team is tough as nails and play with fire.

We all knew coming in that this would be a rebuilding year. The Gary Andersen tenure was a disaster, and it was known that the rebuild wouldn't happen overnight. But after seeing the Beavers through three games and how much improved they look on both sides of the ball, there is plenty of reasons to be optimistic that Oregon State can upset some teams in the Pac-12.