Oregon State Beavers Football: Monday Notebook

Forest has a 'very good trip' to Oregon State

Patterson chats about his Oregon State official visit

Oregon State Beavers Football: Snap Counts (vs WSU)

With our partners at Pro Football Focus, BeaversEdge.com gets an in-depth look at analytics of the Beavers. Here are five takeaways from PFF's information from the WSU-OSU game.

1. Beavers' offense graded very well. Oregon State had their second highest rated offensive performance of the season against WSU with a grade of 77.6 (had an 83.2 grade vs SUU). The pass blocking (76.7 grade) was solid, but as we've seen throughout the season, the run blocking grades from PFF on the Beavs has been surprisingly low. They had a 57.6 run block grade vs WSU. This tells me that it may be more of Jermar Jefferson making these plays than the line is blocking. But I've said this before and I'll say it again -- the analytics don't tell the whole story, but they tell a story.

2. Blount was better than you may have thought. BeaversEdge.com's Brenden Slaughter wrote postgame about how impressed he was with Conor Blount. The PFF grades reflect Slaugher's thoughts. Blount had the Beavers' second highest offensive grade of players (only behind Trevon Bradford) who saw 20 or more snaps with a 76.8 grade.

3. Blount was solid throwing the ball downfield. Take a look at Blount's passing chart vs Washington State. Here is how to read the chart:

Completions/attempts

Yards

TD/INT

NFL Passer rating

Top right of each box is Blount's offensive grade for that specific part of the field throwing the football

My first thought when I saw the chart was "wow, he's having great success in the middle of the field." But that's not necessarily true. The chart says "between the numbers" not "between the hashes." It is clear though that Blount threw the ball better downfield than we're used to seeing (although he only threw once down the field more than 20 yards).

That's good to see, but it's bad to see those ugly yellow, average grades on what should be easier completions. On his short throws between the numbers, he went 4-of-5 for 38 yards, which seem to be solid statistics, but the PFF graders thought he didn't do anything impressive. Remember, the grades aren't just based on stats.

4. Jaydon Grant was the Beavers' highest graded defensive player. He was also the Beavs' only defensive player with a grade over 70, which is sad. Grant played 23 snaps and his overall defensive grade on the evening was a strong 77.1. He finished with two tackles and a pass break up. He had a coverage grade of 75.2.

5. Some really bad tackling statistics. When you look at a simple box score, you won't see the stat of "missed tackles." But BeaversEdge.com has access to that stat through Pro Football Focus. The last time I wrote about a specific player and his tackling issues, I got a respectful but upset message from someone who let's just say is close to the player in question. So today, I won't call out any specific players. However, four Oregon State players accounted for 11 missed tackles; the Beavers had a total of 14 missed tackles against WSU. Of every Power Five conference school in the country, the Beavers have the worst tackling grade at 53.7.

Some statistics and analytics to take in on the Beavers' freshman star running back:

- Jefferson leads the Pac-12 in rushing yards per game (144.2), rushing yards (865), and touchdowns (12).

- Of all Power Five conference schools, Jefferson is No. 1 in the country in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.

-The PFF "Elusive Rating" distills the success and impact of a runner with the ball independently of the blocking in front of him by looking at how hard he was to bring down. Jefferson has an Elusive rating of 81.9, good for 22nd best in the country.

- The PFF "Breakaway Percentage" shows which runners earn the highest (and lowest) % of their yardage on big plays (any designed runs of 15 yards or more). Jefferson has a breakaway percentage of 51.7%, which is No. 14 in the country.

- In 1968, BIll Enyart ran for 299 yards vs Utah, which is the Oregon State record for single game rushing yards. Jefferson's 254 rushing yards vs Arizona State is No. 2 in school history.

- Jefferson is third in Oregon State history in 200 yard rushing games in a career with two, only behind Steven Jackson with four and Ken Simonton with three. (Incredible stat to put Jefferson's dominance in perspective)

- With 12 rushing touchdowns through six games, Jefferson is on pace to break Jacquizz Rodgers' school record of 21 rushing touchdowns in a single season in 2009. If Jefferson scores just four more touchdowns this season, he'll rank 6th in school history in that category.

- Jefferson is on pace for 1,730 rushing yards, which would break Steven Jackson's school record of 1,690 rushing yards in 2002.

- Jefferson has tied the school record for rushing touchdowns (4) in a single game, twice.

The bye week comes at a great time for the Oregon State Beavers. They'll get an extra week to prepare for Cal, which is homecoming in a very winnable game, and the Beavs will be rocking the retro Benny gear.

Conor Blount, who suffered a shoulder injury later in the WSU game, will need the rest to get healthy, and it's possible that Jake Luton will be healthy enough to play.

Other players such as David Morris, Jeromy Reichner, Omar Hicks Onu, Isaiah Hodgins, and Isaiah Dunn will look to get healthy enough to play.

Matchups this week in the Pac-12

October 12

Arizona @ Utah

October 13

Washington @ Oregon

UCLA @ Cal

Colorado @ USC