Advertisement
football Edit

Oregon State Beavers Football: Tuesday Notebook

Despite suffering a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of Nevada last weekend, Oregon State (1-2) finds themselves in a very good place offensively heading into Pac-12 play against the Arizona Wildcats (1-2).

Column: Oregon State hits the transfer jackpot

Monday with Smith: Oregon State still planning on two QB's

Stover talks senior season, Oregon State commitment

PROMO: 50% off first year of annual subscription

Advertisement

QB situation still up in the air for Saturday

As expected, Jonathan Smith and Co. played both Jake Luton and Conor Blount against Nevada and are looking to continue that trend for the foreseeable future.

While in a perfect world the Beavers would like to have both QB’s available against Arizona this Saturday, that may not be the case.

Luton suffered a high-ankle sprain against Nevada, as was seen on Tuesday sporting a walking boot and moving with a noticeable limp. Luton offered his thoughts on his availability this weekend.

“It’s feeling okay. I’m trying to rehab it and try and get it back up to where I can start moving on it again,” Luton said. “I hope (to play Saturday), but I’m taking it day-by-day and hour by hour and try and get in the training room as much as I can and trying to get back healthy.”

Offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren was pleased with what both Blount and Luton did against Nevada in the 37-35 loss.

“There were a lot of good things from both guys. I was really pleased with the way Conor (Blount) started the game and we had a good drive with score right off the bat,” Lindgren said. “We asked Jake (Luton) to come in during the second quarter and he kept us in the game and made some good decisions and throws and really got us back in the game.”

With Luton on the shelf again, albeit temporarily, frustrations have started to rise, but he’s keeping a positive mindset at all times.

“It’s frustrating,” Luton said. “I have to stay up, stay positive, and keep battling to stay healthy and be out there helping my team.”

continue reading below

Offensive explosion

Perhaps one of the brightest spots of the Smith era through three games has been the drastic improvement on offense in just one offseason. OSU went from scoring just under 20 points per game in 2017 to 38 points per game in 2018.

“We still have a lot of games left to play,” Lindgren said with a smile. “First off, Coach Smith did an awesome job surrounding himself with a great coaching staff that get the players ready to play and have them buying in. They’re starting to see that what they do during practice can translate to Saturdays. We’re not there by any means, but I like where we’re headed.”

How did the Beavers make such a quick and dramatic turnaround? Look no further than the Beaver coaching staff for putting the team in a place to succeed.

“There’s a lot of things that go into that,” Luton said of OSU’s newfound offensive success. “(Brian) Lindgren and (Jim) Michalczik have done a great job of giving us the right plan and getting the right calls in at the right time. It comes down to execution as well. The receivers have done a really good job when the ball is in their hands and are making a lot of plays.”

Recapping Reno

Against the Wolfpack, both Luton and Blount found success in the passing game largely due to the breakout performances from receivers Isaiah Hodgins (14 rec, 200 yards, 2 TD) and Timmy Hernandez (11 rec, 116 yards). Despite the Beavers falling to Nevada by way of a last second field goal miss, Luton was extremely impressed with the breakout play of Hodgins and Hernandez.

“That’s a quarterback’s dream,” Luton said of his receivers,” Luton said. “The offensive line gave us time to throw and the receivers made a lot of plays. Every quarterback wants to be in an offense that has a lot of success passing and we’ve had a good amount of success in the first few weeks, we just have to keep improving.”

While the Beavers didn’t go into the Nevada game thinking they’d lean on the pass as much as they did, Lindgren noted that Nevada was doing a lot to take away the Beavers ground attack which forced more passing situations.

“They were loading up the box and doing some things to take away our run game,” Lindgren said. “We told our guys, if they’re going to take away one element, we’ve got to be ready to step it up in another area and Timmy (Hernandez) and (Isaiah) Hodgins did a nice job and made some plays. That was the best we’ve seen our passing game.”

Hodgins, who had his best game as a Beaver against Nevada, piling up nearly half of his total yards from the 2017 season in just one game in 2018, echoed Luton’s comments saying that he was indeed living his dream as well.

“That’s a wide receivers dream to be the centerpiece and focus of the game,” Hodgins said. “Anytime it’s a shootout like that, it’s definitely fun. I’m glad the coaches are putting us in positions to make plays and giving us freedom to make plays and go be athletic and do what we came here to do.”

Advertisement