Hott recaps official visit

Oregon State commit Beau Hott took his official visit to Corvallis last weekend and he's never been more sure of his choice.

"I loved it," Hott told BeaverBlitz.com. "Loved everything."

Not that he really had any doubts before the trip.

While the Beavers dropped the game to Cal the Plano, Tex., offensive lineman didn't let that put a damper on the weekend.

"That didn't affect how I felt about Oregon State at all," he said. "I loved hanging out with the players. My host was Drew Clarkson, a redshirt freshman, and I liked him a lot. We really clicked. We hung out a lot."

But his favorite part of the visit was something else.

"Getting to eat at the best places in Corvallis and running up the bill," he said with a laugh. We ate at Flat Tail, Broken Yolk, Famous Dave's and a place called Murphy's on Friday night."

Food is important. Especially for an offensive lineman and one that will need to continue to pack on the pounds over the next couple of years. Hott said there's a "95-percent chance" he redshirts as a true freshman. He's prepared for that and he's looking forward to the extra time for development.

"Whenever I (took) my unofficial visit back in June I asked (Mike Cavanaugh) what position he thought I would play. He said I would play either left guard, right guard or center," Hott recalled. "He had never seen me snap up to that point."

But there's been a change since then. This is Hott's first year playing center and he's acquitted himself very well at the position.

"It's actually come pretty naturally," Hott said. "The first game I played at left guard, like I've done the past couple of years. Then coach moved me to center. Our starting center got hurt and our coach moved the backup back to guard. So I've been playing center. One of my coaches told me it was the best decision they've made as a staff.

"I've always as a guard gotten my presnap read. I've just always tried to learn as much about the defense as I could before the play. I've always looked to see what they're doing and checked for tendencies. As a center I'm not just responsible for the tackle next to me. As a center I have to tell both the guards what they need to do. From there they tell the tackles what they need to do. There's a little bit of pressure to it but I never really feel the pressure. It's something I'm pretty familiar with in our offense."

Plano is 6-3 on the year with one regular season game remaining. Their playoff spot is secured and the playoffs could hold some extra intrigue this year.

"We're probably going to be playing Denton Guyer in Cowboy Stadium so I'm super excited. I've been there but I've never played there before," he said.