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Oregon State Beavers Football: Monday Notebook

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Retro Benny

The Retro Benny makes an official return Homecoming weekend Oct. 20 when the OSU football team will wear a specially designed Nike uniform when it hosts the California Golden Bears at Reser Stadium. In addition, Retro Benny will appear on the team’s helmets for only the second time in history; initially was part of the 1973 team’s helmets under the leadership of OSU Hall of Fame coach, the late Dee Andros.

“Retro Benny is a cherished emotional connection by generations of Beaver Nation and our student-athletes, coaches and staff are excited to represent the rich history of this university on a national stage,” OSU Vice President and Director of Athletics Scott Barnes said. “The reintroduction of Retro Benny also aligns with our strategic plan in creating brand awareness and fan engagement opportunities, and supports the OSU 150 celebration.”

Benny Beaver (Retro Benny) was an official active mark of OSU’s intercollegiate sport teams from 1951-98.

5 thoughts on Oregon State's analytics at the halfway point of the season

1. Kaleb Hayes is Oregon State's highest graded defender. With a season defensive grade of 72.0, Hayes is OSU's best defensive players in the eyes of Pro Football Focus. He's third on the team in snaps (362), trailing just Jalen Moore (376) and Dwayne Williams (378). His coverage grade of 76.2 is by far the best on the team.

2. Pass rush is a major, major concern. Oregon State could really use Jeromy Reichner to help the defensive line and the Beavers need better pass rush from the linebackers too. Washington State and Cal are tied for 10th in the Pac-12 in sacks with 9. Oregon State has just has five sacks this season, obviously ranking dead last in the conference and ties for second to last of all FBS schools. And OSU's pass rush grade for this season has been abysmal, which led to me discover my next point...

3. This hurts me to say, but of all Power Five schools... Oregon State has the worst grade in the country in the following areas: overall defense (59.3), run defense (58.7), tackling (53.8), pass rush (52.1), and coverage (63.1). Those are all of the major defensive category grades and OSU ranks dead last in all of them.

4. Even after a bye week, Jermar Jefferson is still No. 2 in rushing yardage of all P5 players. That's not an analytic, but I wanted to highlight it because it's amazing. Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor surpassed Jermar Jefferson in rushing yardage, but Jefferson's 859 rushing yards is good for second best of all Power Five players. He also has 31 avoided tackles, which ranks No. 3 in the country. Jefferson has ran for 46 first downs and that ranks No. 1 in the nation.

5. Timmy Hernandez has quietly been a workhorse for the Oregon State offense. Oregon State's key skill position players have been dinged up this season, but Hernandez has stayed healthy (knock on wood). Of Oregon State's offense, the top four players who have played the most snaps are offensive linemen (Moore, Lavaka, Brandel, Houston), and No. 5 is none other than Hernandez. He also leads the team in receptions (32) and receiving yards (371).

Next Up: Cal

Before the season started, only the biggest sunshine pumpers were talking bowl game for this 2018 Oregon State team. For the rest of us, we knew this would be a complete rebuilding year. But halfway through the season, Oregon State is 1-5 and their schedule just keeps getting tougher.

With road games at Colorado, Washington, and Stanford (three of the toughest teams in the Pac-12) on the horizon and home games against emerging USC and the hottest team in the conference in Oregon, the Beavers' best chance to win another game this season is this Saturday against Cal.

After starting off the season with wins against North Carolina, BYU, and Idaho State, the Bears have dropped three straight contests in Pac-12 play, falling to Oregon, Arizona, and UCLA.

The loss to the Bruins was an embarrassing one, as UCLA came into Berkeley with a winless record and put a whooping on Cal, 37-7. This Cal game is a winnable one for Oregon State.

Stay tuned for more coverage of the Cal - Oregon State matchup throughout the week at BeaversEdge.com.

A look at the Pac-12 standings and schedule for this weekend

Pac-12 North

Team, Overall record, conference record

Washington (5-2, 3-1)

Stanford (4-2, 2-1)

Washington State (5-1, 2-1)

Oregon (5-1, 2-1)

Cal (3-3, 0-3)

Oregon State (1-5, 0-3)

Pac-12 South

USC (4-2, 3-1)

Colorado (5-1, 2-1)

Utah (4-2, 2-2)

Arizona (3-4, 2-2)

UCLA (1-5, 1-2)

Arizona State (3-3, 1-2)

Pac-12 schedule this weekend

Stanford @ Arizona State (Thursday, 6pm, ESPN)

Colorado @ Washington (12:30, FOX)

Cal @ Oregon State (1pm, Pac-12 Network)

Oregon @ Washington State (4:30 pm, FOX, College Game Day in Pullman)

USC @ Utah (5pm, Pac-12 Networks)

Arizona @ UCLA (7:30 pm, ESPN2)

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