Former RB now JuCo DT Jordan Whittley is looking at Oregon State

Sandberg recaps Oregon State official visit

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Oregon State played its ninth game of the season this past Saturday, and in the 38-21 loss to USC, it was the first time all season the Beavers' starting quarterback finished the game.

Senior Jake Luton had a strong outing, as he threw for 301 yards, a touchdown, and no interceptions.

"I thought Jake did a lot of nice things," offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren said. "It was good to see him execute, especially early."

In the second half of the Colorado game and in the USC game, while Luton was quarterbacking the team, OSU used Jack Colletto in a Tim Tebow-esque role as a short yardage quarterback in the run game. It seems that he will continue in that role moving forward, but it will be a week-to-week situation depending on the matchup.

"I really like the way Jack prepares and practices -- whether he's the starter or third string guy going into the week," added Lindgren. "It doesn't change the way he practices ...He's a strong, physical guy that's tough to bring down. I think, we look and it's per week what we think."

Lindgren added that Conor Blount, who went through concussion protocol last week, was available to play against the Trojans and would have been inserted into the game at quarterback if Luton had to come out of the game.

The rushing game didn't go quite as planned, as Jermar Jefferson and Artavis Pierce combined for just 65 rushing yards.

"Their front -- where they're a little bit young -- those guys are pretty good players," Lindgren said of USC's front seven. "I think they came out with a mindset that they were going to do what they could to take Jermar away.

"I felt like we got it going a little bit there in the second half, but they did a lot of things to take it away. There were some mistakes we made early and things we could've done differently to get it going sooner in the game to take pressure off of our pass game."

Next up for the Oregon State Beavers is Pac-12 North foe Stanford, who limp into Saturday's matchup losing four of their last five contests.

Stanford is No. 5 in the Pac-12 in scoring defense (23.7 ppg) and No. 9 in the conference allowing 411.4 ypg.

"I have the greatest amount of respect for Lance Anderson," Lindgren said of Stanford's defensive coordinator. "I've called a lot of games against him. They're a very sound defense. I always think they do a really good job against the run. They want to make the game physical. Every week in the Pac-12, you're going to have your hands full. We have to have a great practice and get going from the beginning of the game."

Wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins echoed his coach.

"I think they're very smart," said Hodgins. "There's not going to be busted coverages ... I feel like they're going to do the same that a lot of teams have done with us -- kind of stacking the box with Jermar at running back and bringing blitzes. It's going to leave one on one opportunities for us and we're going to have to make plays."

Hodgins is No. 4 in the Pac-12 in receiving yards per game (82.6), and it's no secret that the Beavers' sophomore wide receiver thrives when Luton is under center. Hodgins has had back-to-back games going over 100 yards receiving, and Luton is the first OSU quarterback to throw for 300+ yard games since Sean Mannion did so against California and Washington State in 2014.

"I think Isaiah is a really talented player," Lindgren said. "Him and Jake, even since fall camp, we've noticed that those guys have that chemistry. You can just see him have added confidence when he gets in there with Jake. It's been good to see the last two weeks him going."

"He knows what page I'm on, and I know what page he's on. We can click just like that," said Hodgins.

According to Pro Football Focus, a partner of BeaversEdge.com, Luton had an NFL QB rating of 118.8 when targeting Hodgins.

Hodgins had an offensive best grade of 73.3 and had 39 yards after catch.