Oregon State Beavers Football: Wednesday Notebook

With Oregon State's first Pac-12 win of the season now behind them, defensive-coordinator Tim Tibesar and the Beaver defense will be looking to keep up the momentum and constant improvement as they welcome the USC Trojans to Corvallis.

Things have been far from perfect in L.A. as Clay Helton recently fired his offensive line coach and relieved play-calling duties from offensive-coordinator Tee Martin. Tibesar and the Beavers met with the media on Wednesday to discuss everything from the Colorado win, to what they might expect from USC's new look offense.

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After struggling to find any sort of consistent rhythm throughout the season on defense, Oregon State took a big step forward in the rebuilding process with a solid showing against Colorado.

It's been a difficult start to the season for defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar and Co., but last week, following the disappointing loss to Cal, he told the parable that that the Oregon State defense was like farmer trying to clear a giant rock in the field with a pick ax and that the team had to continue to believe, buy in, and eventually, that rock will crack.

"We're still swinging," Tibesar said with a smile. "We probably played our best game defensively, but it's still not at the level we want to be at. The second half was better, but we started out lousy again with the first play of the third quarter being a 75 yard touchdown. We have to continue to improve and get better at our reads to play consistent football for four quarters."

While the Beavers did allow 536 yards and 34 points, they were a different team after the half with the exception of the long touchdown run to open the second period. Despite trailing 31-3, Oregon State's defense continued to believe that things were going to break their way.

"The biggest difference between the two halves is that we played much better run defense in the second half," Tibesar said. "Our defensive line was able to get some knock-back at the line of scrimmage and get into the backfield for the first time this season. It was our best game as far as tackling goes. We're still a work in progress, but we showed glimpses of what we can be on defense."

Safety Jalen Moore, who is from Denver and is a Colorado native, said the win for him was extremely special given that he grew up a Buffs fan and was disappointed when they didn't offer him coming out of high school.

"It was awesome," Moore said. "I grew up in Colorado and wanted to go to Colorado, but they didn't offer me a scholarship and so playing there meant a lot to me. For our confidence as a team moving forward, having that win on the road, in overtime, was huge for us."

With the Beavers having newfound confidence and momentum following the win against Colorado, Tibesar sees this game as an opportunity for the team to turn the corner.

"The coaches and the players were elated," Tibesar said. "It had been a long time since this program had won a road game and it had been a long time since we won a conference road game especially. To do that and get the monkey off our back was big and we're hoping to build on it for this weekend."

A little bit more drama and intrigue now surround Oregon State's #Pac-12AfterDark matchup with USC this weekend as the Trojans made several heavy personnel changes after falling to Arizona State at home last weekend, which snapped a 19-game home winning streak. Head coach Clay Helton has taken over the play calling duties from offensive-coordinator Tee Martin moving forward and Helton dismissed offensive line coach Neil Callaway.

With so many shakeups from Helton as he looks to perhaps save his job in the latter half of the season as the pressure is mounting in L.A., the Beavers know that regardless of the shakeups internally, USC is still arguably the most talented team in the Pac-12 and pose many challenges with dynamic skill position players and two emerging quarterbacks.

"They're a very talented football team," Tibesar said. "They've got skill guys all over the field that can run and catch. They've got two quarterbacks in J.T. Daniels and Jack Sears that are very young, but very talented. Obviously we're expecting J.T. since he's cleared concussion protocol, but they've also got really talented backs and receivers that can do a lot. We're going to have our hands full this weekend and it will take our best effort to come out with a win."

So how do the Beavers game plan for a play-calling style that they haven't seen on film?

"There's really no way to account for a change like that, so you try and build off the tendencies they've had, but when you change who's calling the plays, tendencies change," Tibesar said. "We've got to try and adapt to the situation during the course of the game and try to get a feel for what Helton's plan is and what he's going to emphasize."

With many new wrinkles and gadget plays expected from Helton and Co. as they look to right the ship in Corvallis, Moore knows that the Beavers will have to play fundamentally sound football and build off their second half against Colorado to keep the intensity against the Trojans.

"They have talent everywhere," Moore said. "They like to throw it to their receivers and let them make plays in space and their running backs are very physical. We've got to be physical and match their energy because they're going to come in here and try and get a win. We're Oregon State and we're the underdog who has to come in with a chip on our shoulder to get that win."