Monday with Smith: Jake Luton, Artavis Pierce nearing return

After being bested by Arizona State in a 52-24 loss on Saturday, Oregon State (1-4, 0-2) now turns their attention to Washington State (4-1, 1-1) and Mike Leach’s Air Raid attack. The Cougars are one of the most dynamic offenses in the Pac-12 and after another disappointing performance against the Sun Devils, the Beavers will look to make improvements defensively.

BeaversEdge.com senior writer Brenden Slaughter was in Corvallis for Smith’s weekly press conference and here’s what we learned.

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- Let’s start with the positive injury news for the Beavers as Jonathan Smith noted that quarterback Jake Luton, who’s been recovering from a high-ankle sprain suffered against Nevada, and running back Artavis Pierce, who suffered a left elbow injury against Southern Utah, could see the practice field this week. It’s been a slow recovery for Luton as he’s yet to go through a full practice since the injury, and this is a welcome sign for the Oregon State offense. In terms of Pierce, I’d still say that it’s probably still a stretch for him to play Saturday. Smith noted that he hoped to see him do some limited work this week, but given that the Beavers have a bye next week, they’ll most likely take it slow with their starting running back. Smith’s update on Thursday should tell us more about these two guys and their status for Saturday nights contest.

- In terms of of not-so-good injury news, Smith didn’t have an update on the status of defensive lineman Jeromy Reichner and safety David Morris. Both Reichner and Morris have been dealing with a broken foot and a foot injury respectively and based on the tone of Smith, it’s hard to envision them being on the field before the bye week. Given the timetable that these two guys have been on, it’s possible that the Beavers are perhaps taking it slow in their recoveries given that they both could play late in the season and still earn a redshirt year.

- Saturday’s game against Washington State will be a bit of a homecoming of sorts as Smith said that he and his support staff expect over 100 former players to be at Reser Stadium. Smith said that he likes to have large-scale invitations sent to former players at least every six months and that he was really excited to have a lot of former players returning. Smith also added that he feels it’s awesome for the current team to see the former players returning because that’s the culture he wants to keep building at OSU.

- As for this weeks opponent, Smith couldn’t say enough about the respect he has for what Mike Leach has built at Washington State. He added that while he was a coach at Idaho, he really enjoyed the area in and around Pullman.

- An interesting note after the Arizona State game was that tight end Isaiah Smalls didn’t play against the Sun Devils. Smith noted that while Smalls didn’t play, it was more gameplan than an actual reflection of the depth chart. Smith added that in terms of pass protection, Noah Togiai and Teagan Quitoriano give the Beavers better protection and that in the run protection, Togiai and Quitoriano’s skillset fit the scheme better against ASU. He noted that they’re not down on Smalls at all and he could see him getting a lot of playing time on Saturday.

- Wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins, who suffered a hamstring injury against Arizona State, is day-to-day according to Smith and the Beavers would see how he responds this week before determining his status for Saturday.

Jonathan Smith on Washington State

“It’s going to be a great challenge for us,” Smith said. “These guys can score offensively and defensively, over the last couple years, that’s what gotten them to where they are now.”

Smith on whether OSU’s tackling issues stem with the team solely, or is it because OSU is playing very good teams with standout athletes

“There’s no question that we’re playing some really good athletes because this league is full of them,” Smith said. “The ability to break tackles and make guys miss comes with playing against players this league. That’s part of the equation. It’s also part of the equation of fundamentally, how we approach a tackle and I go back to what I said Saturday night and that it’s a bit of a confidence thing by just triggering and going for the tackle. And so, that’s compounded, all of it.”

Smith on the Beavers’ lack of defensive takeaways

“We’ve made an emphasis about it and the guys are working at it,” Smith said. “We’re practicing it and we’ve created turnovers in practice, but that stuff is game-changing. Turnovers are momentum swings and we’ve got to create them. I told the team, it’s not like they’re going to give us the ball. They’re not gonna do that, we’re playing too good of teams and players. We’ve got to be more physical in the way we tackle and when we have an opportunity to catch a ball, we’ve got to catch it. It would change games for us if we get turnovers.”

Smith on what the Beavers will do when Pierce returns

“I’ll feel a whole lot better, I know that,” Smith said with a smile. “I’m in to having a 1-2 punch in the backfield and when AP comes back, we’re going to have that.”

Smith on how he feels about the offensive line after five weeks

“Those guys have done a great job,” Smith said. “I would describe them as mid-season healthy right now as we haven’t had a huge injury, but those guys are working through some things and are battling out there. I’ve really liked the approach they’ve had, doing this together and communicating, which is an improvement from early on. The physicality this last week was the best I’ve seen from our offensive line, which is really great to see given how physical ASU’s defensive line is. We’re pleased with where they’re at.”

Smith on the team morale, most notably after several players were noticeably frustrated postgame

“They’ve responded well, but I want them to be frustrated and have it mean something to them when they lose,” Smith said. “I’m totally understanding of where they’re at after games and we’ve still got the mantra that we can compete, but that we have to improve every week.”

Smith on the Beavers continuing to work and believing in what the coaches are selling

To get over that hump, which we’re battling to do, it’s not that easy. You’ve got to be able to continue to work, even though you haven’t gotten the results yet, because our process is right. Our effort is right. Our practicing is right. It will get us over the hump, but it’s tough to swallow when it hasn’t happened yet.”