Notes & Quotes From Jonathan Smith's Press Conference
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With Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith meeting the media on Monday afternoon to recap the Washington State loss and to preview Friday's matchup against Utah, BeaversEdge recaps all the info in notes and quotes!
MORE: Snap Counts vs Takeaways | Jake Overman Departs, Will Enter Portal | Grades & Top Performers vs WSU | Beavers Fall To No. 19 In AP Poll, No. 21 In Coaches | 5 Takeaways From OSU's Loss To WSU
Notes
- Recapping the loss to Washington State, the general theme of head coach Jonathan Smith's press conference was too many self-inflicted errors that were ultimately too great to overcome. He highlighted the deep-ball touchdown from the Cougars to open the contest and the fumble on OSU's opening drive that stalled as things that "caught up to them losing by three."
- Smith reaffirmed that DJ Uiagalelei is the starting quarterback. He said that DJ did some good things and got them back into the game, but also that he can 100% play better. He also added that they need to protect him and that he's got some throws he needs to make. Smith was asked if we may see Aidan Chiles in spurts to shake things up, and it sounds like we will...
- There were a few mishandled exchanges between the quarterback and the running back against the Cougars and Smith said those are some of the fine details they need to clean up.
- Smith said they really liked some of the run package with DJ and that they'll continue to utilize it.
- No significant injuries to report from the Washington State game...
- Kicker Everett Hayes was dressed against Washington State and Smith said he took part in practice on Monday... Hayes is yet to make his season debut after suffering an injury in fall camp.
Quotes
On preparing for Utah's QB situation
"You go off of what those guys have done in four games on tape," Smith said. "(Nate Johnson) is a good player, he creates and you see his confidence growing more and more. Obviously, Cam Rising is there and has a long history of being a really good player and winning a lot of games. So we're preparing for the four games we've seen, and there's not much of an adjustment, because Rising can create in the same way as (Johnson)."
On Utah's defense
"They do everything well... The guys are physical at the line of scrimmage, play the scheme well, and don't give you anything easy. They don't bust, they're not giving you free access throws, they challenge you, they're athletic at linebacker, they've got pass rush ability without blitzing, but blitz when they want to. It's a long history and they're playing dominant defense right now."
On DJ Uiagalelei's Completion %
"I think you can spin the stats, he needed to throw incompletions in those last couple of drives to stop the clock, so those numbers will fluctuate a bit. The goal isn't to be 60% completion, the goal is to score and complement the run game with the pass. Am I saying we love being below 50, no. DJ's not on his own, schematics from the coaches end, separation, protection, all that's combined."
On if the Utah game is a must-win
"Every game we go in with the same mentality of it being a must-win. There's no panic here, we're going to prepare well and play aggressively. We know these games are going to be tight."
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MORE: Snap Counts vs Takeaways | Jake Overman Departs, Will Enter Portal | Grades & Top Performers vs WSU | Beavers Fall To No. 19 In AP Poll, No. 21 In Coaches | 5 Takeaways From OSU's Loss To WSU
On the teams' response
"The way we practiced, I think the response has been great. These guys are competitive and know when you come up short you've got to go back to work and the process with it. I thought we responded to some adversity, but it was not going our way the way it started, even in the third quarter we were down quite a bit, these guys responded, kept battling, and shoot, we're kicking onside toward the end. The response showed Saturday and during today's practice."
On the missed 4th and 1
"Aggressive call, especially the field position. They were loaded in there, and we did have Martinez in the flat, but the guy is up the field from DJ and we're anticipating them pinching more on a short-yardage play. We didn't execute it."
On Washington State's receiving output and yards after catch
"They have really good players in space and we knew we'd have to tackle well and we missed some tackles and they extended plays. I think back to a third and 10 and they throw a 10-yard curl and he takes it for 50. That was a huge play, we didn't have the right angles to take him down."
On the defensive line play
"They played okay. You want to make the quarterback uncomfortable, and credit to them, they were throwing it quickly and had protection dialed up for the deep ball. We needed to make him uncomfortable and we didn't."
On what Utah presents offensively
"The run game, the physicality of the o-line, schematics, they're going to run the ball to set up some play-action passing down the field that they can make really explosive. They do a good job with shifting pre-snap motion, you've got to have your eyes right because it starts one way and it turns into something completely different and we've got to recognize that. It's not always easy playing at home, because Reser is loud, but the defense has to communicate within shift-motion."
On the defense's response vs WSU
"There was some response from the defense, because, in the first half, that was not our our MO. I thought we got on our heels a bit in the second quarter and we were able to regroup. We didn't change our plan completely, I think we changed our mentality of going back to being an attacking front and challenge mindset."
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