10/18/2021 football Edit

Notes & Quotes From Jonathan Smith's Press Conference

Brenden Slaughter • BeaversEdge

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With Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith meeting the media on Monday afternoon to recap the bye week and look ahead to Utah, BeaversEdge.com recaps the info!

MORE: WATCH: Jonathan Smith Press Conference | PFF: OSU's Midseason Grades & Top Performers | Following The Future: Week 9

Notes

- As far as how Oregon State handled its bye last weekend, head coach Jonathan Smith said the team didn't stray much from what they had done in previous seasons.

- That meant a Monday film session that examined all six games in detail, breaking down all the good and the bad so far. From there, the Beavers emphasized the points made during Monday's film session during practice on Tuesday & Wednesday, before settling into full Utah prep on Thursday.

- Smith said that he was able to catch a "good amount" of the Arizona State-Utah game on Saturday night. He said he keying on players, schemes, flows of the game, etc. in preparation for this upcoming matchup against the Utes...

- In terms of injury updates, Smith said that the bye week proved valuable for the fair amount of players that are dealing with the typical bumps and bruises. He also mentioned that Tyjon Lindsey should be good to go against the Utes after missing the Washington State game.

- For those curious, Smith said that outside linebacker Addison Gumbs is still not available, and doesn't have a timetable for when/if he will be.

Quotes

Jonathan Smith On Third Down Defense

"Where we're at is not where we wanted to be this year. We took a heavy look at it on Monday... It's deflating, especially when you're not able to get off the field on a long third down. I'm not going to give (Utah) what adjustments we've made, but adjustments need to be made. Some of it is schematic, some of it is we need to make the plays, and sometimes it's just playing a very effective offense. We need to improve it."

Smith On The Second Half Of The Season

"We're going to need to play better because our opponents will. Each game is new, but we've got to improve in all three phases. Around this league, every game is going to come down to the fourth quarter and we've got to be playing our best at the end of games."

Smith On The Decision To Not Run Late vs WSU

"At some point, we wanted to take a shot at the endzone... some of it was with the clock, continuing in the heavy-base run packages would have required substitutions that would have taken up clock. We did take the attempt on first down, got beat at left tackle, and got sacked. We had a guy open... It's always hindsight, there's no guarantee it breaks, it could have been a 1-2 yard run and that could have made things tough with the clock... Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't."

Smith On Utah QB Cameron Rising

"He's throwing it really accurately... he's athletic, he's extended plays, and is managing that offense really well. He's shown really great decision-making these past few weeks and Utah is playing great football. You watch that second-half against ASU, and a lot of the momentum started with what he was leading on offense."

Smith On The Importance Of Having A Big Home Crowd vs Utah

"It's huge... It starts with our student section and they've been awesome all year long. You like to have a home crowd that impacts a game and makes it hard on your opponent. Also, our players continue to feed off the energy from the crowd so we're hoping to have a packed house. But we've got to play four quarters of good football to keep the crowd going."

Smith On The Competitiveness Of The Pac-12

"I kinda expected it to be really competitive each week. One school can beat the other, and it hasn't been surprising to see the way it's played out so far. Each week, you couldn't pinpoint who the best team is. Right now you've got a couple of teams playing better, but that doesn't mean anything going into the next weekend."

Smith On Utah's Defense

"It starts at the line of scrimmage, they can affect the passer and play the run really well. They play really tight man coverage but also mix in some disguised zones to confuse the offense. They can create havoc in a lot of different ways..."