Oregon State Beavers Football: Tuesday Report
After breaking a 22 game Pac-12 road losing streak and earning its first conference win since 2016, Oregon State (2-6, 1-4) will now turn its attention to the USC Trojans (4-4, 3-3). Optimism and excitement surrounded Valley Football Center on Tuesday and BeaversEdge.com senior writer Brenden Slaughter has all the info.
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After suffering through perhaps their worst offensive performance of the season against Cal two Saturdays ago, and not doing much better in the first half against Colorado, the Beavers made a bold move to insert Jake Luton with the Beavers trailing 31-3 with just over 14 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
What he and the rest of the Oregon State team did from then on, will forever go down in Beaver history as one of the greatest comebacks in school history.
"It was great to get back in game action and see things start to roll for us in the second half," Luton said. "It was an amazing feeling... something I'll never forget.
Offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren, who had spent the previous five seasons as Colorado's OC under Mike MacIntyre, said that Luton's performance was like no other he's ever seen.
"I haven't," Lindgren said. "He played an unbelievable half of football, got really hot, and made a lot of great decisions. It was great to see him do all that considering that he had limited reps all week. He had a really nice game and he was a big reason as to why we completed the comeback."
The turning point for the Beavers against the Buffaloes perhaps came on Luton's first offensive drive as OSU drove 75 yards in 17 plays, capped with an Isaiah Hodgins one-handed touchdown catch that managed to make its way to being the No. 1 play on College Football Live.
"I didn't actually see it on the field," Luton said with a smile. "He went out of my field of vision but then I saw the ref put his hands up and I was like, 'cool touchdown.' Then I looked up at the jumbotron and looked at Isaiah and was like, 'Dude you're going to be SC No. 1... That was crazy.'"
"It's funny because a couple weeks back, Isaiah Smalls, Trevon Bradford, and myself were working on deep one-handed catches with Conor (Blount) in the corner of the end zone. We would always say that it's going to happen to one of us this season and that we needed to be ready to make a big-time play. It's become more of a thing in this day and age to try and catch passes one-handed. It was a huge play."
Perhaps the only thing that Luton and the Beavers weren't able to do right in the second half was when the Beavers called a version of the Philly Special near the goal line with Timmy Hernandez taking the ball on a reverse trying to throw back to Luton for what would have been a wide open score.
Luton, who just kept on rolling after nearly getting a receiving touchdown, didn't think too much of it at the time, but after watching the play, he wanted to give Hernandez a hard time.
"Today was actually the first time I talked to him about it," Luton said with a chuckle. "I wasn't really that upset about it at the time, because I was ready for the next play... But now that I've had some time to think about it, I let him know that I was a little upset with him."
All jokes aside, there's no longer any doubt that the Beavers are a much better team with Luton at the helm. His vertical passing ability, leadership, and pocket poise give Oregon State the best chance to win games as long as he stays healthy.
After missing the last four games with a nasty high-ankle sprain that was the worst he's ever experienced, Luton was able to give it a go against Colorado despite not being 100 percent. The good news for the Beavers and Luton is that he feels great moving forward and is going to be ready to go against the Trojans Saturday night.
"I would anticipate him being more healthy than he was against Colorado," Lindgren said. "When he got in the game and got some adrenaline running, we realized his ankle wasn't as bad as we thought. He looked good at practice today and we'll tweak a few things for him for Saturday."
Perhaps no other Beaver has had more success on the field this season with Luton at the helm than Hodgins. The sophomore wideout had tallied just six catches for 87 yards in the four games Luton was sidelined before exploding for 11 catches for 146 yards and two touchdowns against the Buffs.
There seems to be a real connection between Luton and Hodgins as it's now undeniable that the two have a chemistry that is unmatched.
"I love having Jake in the game," Hodgins said. "I've been waiting and pushing for him to be back out on the field because we definitely have a lot of chemistry. He knows the offense very well and trusts his receivers. He does a great job of putting the ball in positions where we can go get it and make plays."
"Those guys are real comfortable with each other and you can see it on the practice field everyday," Lindgren said. "Jake seems to really know where Hodgins is going to be and he gives him chances down the field to make plays."