Notebook: Beavers looking to improve in all aspects for Minnesota
The Oregon State football team returned to the practice field after getting their first win of the season in the form of a narrow victory against FCS Portland State. Even though the Beavers evened up their record at 1-1, the team still knows they have a long way to go to be one of the better teams in the Pac-12. With Minnesota coming to Corvallis on Saturday, the Beavers will be looking to iron out the kinks to be a more well-rounded football team come Saturday.
Two quarterbacks?
To the surprise of most Beaver fans, Jake Luton didn’t take all the quarterback snaps in OSU’s 35-32 win over Portland State. Backup quarterback and former starter Darell Garretson entered the game in several situations where the Beavers were able to use his running ability to their advantage in the zone read game. Other than a fumble that led to a PSU touchdown, Garretson was extremely effective in running the zone-read game that featured a running back and often a receiver in motion.
Offensive Coordinator Kevin McGiven said that he was pleased with Garretson’s performance against Portland State except for the fumble.
“Other than fumbling on third and short, I thought it went pretty good,” McGiven said with a chuckle. “He brings a different element to the offense and the defenses have to account for him. Minnesota is probably preparing for what the offense looks like with both guys in there at QB. It’s nice to be able to have that package with someone like Darell who can do those things while also being able to do the normal things in your offense as well.”
Garretson added that it was nice to get back onto the field in some capacity and he is willing to do whatever the team asks him to do which recently has meant being able to be the zone-read quarterback.
"It was fun and refreshing to be out there again," Garretson said. "As far as what I bring to the table, I don't like to look at myself or talk about myself really. When you get into a game, you never know what a team is going to do when they see my number called so it's really just being honest and sticking with my rules and whatever the d-end does, making him wrong."
Moving forward, McGiven said that Garretson will still be a focal point of the offense. He was quick to note that Luton is still the quarterback for the Beavers and that Garretson is used in certain packages and situations. McGiven also noted that he and the staff like how Garretson fits into the offense and it will make it harder for opposing team to prepare for the Beavers by using two QB’s.
“It will be tight little packages,” McGiven said. “Jake is our starting quarterback and Darell comes in certain situations. Obviously there are some good things that he did in the red-zone and some things on third down. It gets defenses into a little bit of a different mindset with Darell as opposed to Jake and that can keep teams off-balance.”
RELATED: Tuesday Oregon State Practice Nuggets | VID: Kevin McGiven post-practice Tuesday
Beavers looking to get both pass blocking and run blocking on same page
It’s been Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when it’s come to the difference between OSU’s run blocking and pass blocking so far this season. The Beavers have been nearly flawless in terms of pass blocking this season as OSU has given Jake Luton a clean pocket to throw from nearly every single snap. The Beavers rank #28 in the nation and 1st in the Pac-12, having only given up one sack for a loss of five yards.
Run blocking hasn’t been nearly as kind to the Beavers as they have largely struggled to open up holes for what many people thought was going to be one of the best backfields in the Pac-12 and perhaps OSU history. Outside of a big touchdown run by Ryan Nall against CSU, the offensive line has struggled to open up holes against defensive lines that aren’t exactly known to be amongst the nation’s best in CSU and PSU.
Blake Brandel feels that the Beavers are getting more and more comfortable with each other each and every day and that the run-blocking will be improving game by game.
“We have a lot to learn from the first two games,” Brandel said. “We don’t dwell on what went wrong, but rather learn from what went wrong. So, we have to play with better technique when we are tired, and sustaining blocks are what we have been keying on. There’s always something we have to work on and that’s why we are out here practicing hard and doing our thing.”
If OSU wants to draw parallels from last season, they certainly can as the Beavers didn’t find their offensive line groove until mid-season last year. Once the Beavers found their chemistry last season, it led to a school record in yards per carry. OSU will most certainly be hoping that magic can strike two seasons in a row with the offensive line.
“We just have to keep coming out here and practicing hard,” Brandel said. “We have to consistently improve everyday and we are going to be alright. I know we are. We’ve got great guys, and all the talent in the world. We just have to keep playing and practicing and we will be there.”
Quick Hits
-To the surprise of many, the Beavers are 2 point favorites against Minnesota in Corvallis on Saturday. This caught many off-guard as the Beavers were crushed by CSU and barely held on to beat Portland State. The reasoning behind the spread could very well be because of Minnesota’s lackluster performance against Buffalo. Minnesota beat Buffalo 17-7, and that same Buffalo team went 2-10 in 2016.
-The Beaver defense continued to work on communication, tackling, and swarming to the ball on Tuesday. OSU will need to be more fundamentally sound in all aspects on defense in order to handle Minnesota’s dynamic rushing attack.
-Backup quarterback Darell Garretson continued to look impressive in his designed packages. Garretson played very well minus a fumble against Portland State and will be continuing to get in-game reps as the Beavers see fit.
-Titus Failauga, Seth Collins, and Manase Hungalu didn’t practice during the portion open to the media today. Collins did work on the side with coach Kerry Taylor while Failauga and Hungalu watched practice. Hungalu’s injury was reported as a bruised hip, and I expect that he will be fine on gameday given that he isn’t listed on OSU’s injury report.
-Collins and Failauga are trickier. Collins was upgraded from out to doubtful for this week, and it will be interesting to see how he progresses during the course of the week. As for Failauga, we will have to keep an eye out to see if he partakes in any practice this week.
-Despite reports that have been saying air quality could be an issue for Saturday’s game, an OSU spokesman assured the media that the Beavers game against Minnesota will be a go as normal. The Oregon Ducks have been practicing in Florence, Oregon this week due to extremely poor conditions in Eugene. Corvallis has better air quality than Eugene at the moment which leads to OSU saying that everything is on schedule.
-Here is my .02 on the air quality in Corvallis: I’ve been an Oregonian my entire life and I’ve never seen this much smoke over the course of a summer in this state. I will have to admit that the smoke and humidity combine to make outside quite unpleasant. For me, when I went outside to breathe deeply, it didn’t feel very good. I’m no expert on air quality, but it certainly isn’t great anywhere in the state.