Oregon State Beavers Football: Wednesday Report
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Following a heartbreaking loss against Nevada to round out the non-conference slate, Oregon State will be looking to get back to an even 2-2 record against the Arizona Wildcats.
Both teams enter this game 1-2 in non-conference play but with a chance to start Pac-12 play 1-0. While the Beavers do have the benefit of being in the friendly confines of Reser Stadium with the return of students to Oregon State, the Beavers know they’re going to get a very good challenge from a solid Arizona squad.
Despite coming in Corvallis with a 1-2 record, the Arizona Wildcats boast one of the most dynamic offensive players in college football in quarterback Khalil Tate.
“They’ve got some extremely explosive players,” defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar said. “With what Khalil did running the football as a quarterback has never been done before in the Pac-12 and so he’s extremely explosive and is a guy you have to account for every single snap. That presents some unique challenges in how you handle the run and the pass with how aggressive you can be pressuring the quarterback.”
Arizona opened the season with back-to-back losses to BYU and Houston and while Tate and the Wildcats hasn’t met the Heisman like expectations that were placed on the team coming into the season, Arizona’s offense found it’s stride last weekend in a 62-31 win over Southern Utah.
“We’re focused on containing the quarterback,” outside linebacker Kee Whetzel said. “They have good athletes across the board on offense, and so we’re going to focus on containing (Tate). I met (Khalil) at Pac-12 media days and he’s a really good athlete. He can run the ball, throw the ball, and is very elusive. We want to keep speed on the field, so I expect to get a lot of reps.”
Defensively, the Beavers have their work cut out for them as Tate, who was primarily more of a run first, past second quarterback last season, has vastly improved his throwing ability this season to the tune of 887 yards and six touchdowns in three games.
“We have to be sound, play with good leverage, and play to our help,” linebackers coach Trent Bray said. “There’s going to be tackles in space and we have to understand where the leverage is and where our help is to make sure we make two on one tackles instead of one on one tackles.”
Kevin Sumlin and his staff have been instilling the mindset that Tate needs to be a great quarterback and not just a great athlete, and while the Wildcats have started slow this season, Tate is more dangerous and more difficult to stop than ever.
“In the run game, he’s got the option to pull it out every single time and run it or get on the perimeter and try and throw it,” Tibesar said. “It truly is old school, 11-on-11 football and we have to have a defensive guy accounting for him which makes it tougher to play coverage because you don’t have that extra guy.”
With Oregon State looking to come out strong and finish strong defensively, Bray notes that the the Beavers will have to dig deep and play sound football throughout the contest, even when they’re fatigued.
“We have to do a good job of rotating guys and keeping them fresh so they’re not as worn out, and still stay disciplined” Bray said. “That’s what has to separate us from other teams is our willingness to be disciplined when we’re tired late in the game.”
This will hardly be the first dual threat quarterback the Beavers have faced this season as Ohio State, Southern Utah, and Nevada have utilized their quarterbacks ability to be able to extend plays and move the chains. While the Beavers did a so-so job holding Nevada’s Ty Gangi in check on the ground (eight carries, 69 yards), there’s still plenty of room for improvement, particularly coming out with a fast start and not playing from behind.
“The second half of the game was really good for our guys. The way we fought back was really important to our growth” Bray said. “We have to come out fast against Arizona because we won’t be able to dig that kind of a hole.”
Linebacker Andrzej Hughes-Murray, echoed Bray’s comments about the defense needing to come out with a spark at all times moving forward.
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“It took us too long to get settled down and that’s something we have to work on heading into this weekend,” Hughes-Murray said. “One thing we preach around here is that we start fast, make good decisions, and finish strong. We finished strong, but at the end of the day, if we start fast, it will help us win the game.”
As the Beavers look to start the Pac-12 slate with a win at home, one of the most important aspects of the team this season has been the drastic turnaround with a team largely made up of players who endured a 1-11 season in 2017.
The low ego, high output phrase has been coined by Jonathan Smith for what he wants out of his staff while rebuilding this program, and just three games into the Smith era, we’ve started to see flashes of where this team is headed in the near future.
“We’ve wanted to change the culture and belief that you can come back and win and the belief that if you keep fighting and swinging, things will happen that go your way and eventually that ball is going to turn in your favor,” Bray said.
In today’s viral college football world, often times it’s the little things that make a difference on the field and get your team noticed. Oregon State’s defense had a shining moment after the Nevada game despite the loss as word emerged from Reno that the Beavers had a turnover chainsaw.
“When we unveiled it in the defensive meeting room, the guys went nuts,” Tibesar said. “They were fired up about it and ultimately, that’s what it’s about. We want the guys to have fun when they’re playing and if that gets them excited, I’m all for it.”
“When I found out that they play the chainsaw noise on third downs, is when the idea first came,” Tibesar said. “We said, ‘What if we have a turnover chain-saw?’ We sent out to get one made and designed to look Beavered up and had it ready to go, and fortunately we were able to break it out this weekend.”
Yes, a chainsaw. Miami started the trend with a turnover chain last year, which was to be brought out and worn by the player on defense who forced a turnover, and since then, nearly every school in the country has tried to create some unique form of it for themselves.
The Beavers are no different as Tibesar was the mastermind in getting a custom chainsaw that is fully operational with OSU logos and other swag mixed in. While the chainsaw doesn’t physically have a chain and is “child proof” according to Tibesar, it can still be turned on revved up, which has every OSU defender desperately seeking a turnover to claim the chainsaw.
“It’s dope,” Whetzel said with a big smile. “I saw on Twitter that we got props from Miami who started the whole turnover chain and they really liked it. I can’t wait to get it. You know I’m going to go out there and get the chainsaw because it’s one of our main goals on defense. It’s a real chainsaw without the chain, so I’m going to turn it on, get on the bench, and rev it up.”
