Oregon State Beavers Football: Wednesday Report
Following a disappointing performance against Stanford, the Oregon State defense will be looking to right the ship against head coach Jonathan Smith's former team... the Washington Huskies. UW doesn't have the same offensive firepower compared to years past, but they still posses a ridiculous amount of talent. Huskies QB Jake Browning and RB Myles Gaskin will certainly have the attention of defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar and the Beaver defense on Saturday.
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With a matchup on deck with the Huskies in Seattle this weekend, there's no doubting that if the Beavers want to be competitive in head coach Jonathan Smith's return, it will have to start on the defensive side of the ball.
Simply put, the Oregon State defense just needs more.
More depth. More production. More talent. The list goes on and on, but the reality of where the Beaver defense stands right now, isn't a pretty picture. After showing signs of improvement against Colorado and USC, the Beavers took a step back in the Stanford game and it's something that Tibesar and the Beavers are trying to get corrected before facing off with the Huskies.
"It's going to be a heck of a challenge because (Washington) has had a really good football team for the past few seasons," Tibesar said. "They have a lot of talented players that have played at the highest level and have won a lot of games. They're coming off their bye, and they're getting healthier with Gaskin back in the lineup."
Safety Jalen Moore, who made his first career start against the Huskies in Seattle two seasons ago, is excited to return to one of the most unique environments in college football.
"It was my first start and UW was like No. 5 in the country, so I remember being really nervous," Moore said. "It was an experience that I'll remember for the rest of my life... it was loud and an awesome atmosphere. But at the end of the day, it's football and we've got to be ready to come out fast."
While a lot of OSU players and coaches didn't have much to say regarding coach Smith's return to Seattle, Moore added that there is some extra motivation for the Beavers to play well for coach Smith against the Huskies.
"It's a lot of motivation for us, and I feel like there's a lot of motivation for (Smith) too," Moore said. "We're just trying to go out there and get a win for him... That's it."
Tibesar added that coach Smith's familiarity with the Huskies has helped in the Beavers' preparation this week.
"Coach Smith is familiar with their offense and was able to give us a little more insight," Tibesar said. "Every year, a team takes on a new personality based on the personnel they have. Their scheme hasn't changed dramatically from last year."
Against the Cardinal last weekend, the OSU defense was shredded the the size and physicality of the Stanford tight ends and receivers. Tibesar noted that the Beavers didn't really have much in the way of options for defending when an opposing player is routinely beating double and even triple coverages.
"We had some tough matchups against Stanford that we weren't able to execute the way that we wanted to," Tibesar said. "There are some things we feel we're getting better at, and some things it's one step forward and two steps back. I didn't feel that we tackled as well as we did in the previous few games and not being able to matchup against big receivers and tight ends really hurt us."
When asked about what the Beavers might do in the future in regards to when matchups are so heavily skewed in one direction, Tibesar noted that the Beavers simply need more size and more bodies in the back end.
"You've got to try and recruit some larger people," Tibesar said with a smile. "You've got to be able to have options in those matchups. There were times when we had them double or triple covered and still went and caught the football."
Secondary coach Greg Burns echoed Tibesar's comments, noting that the Beavers are just simply limited with what options they have.
"There's not much you can do because we can't make our guys longer," Burns said with a grin. "The biggest thing we were trying to do was get under them and as big as they were, we weren't able to achieve that. We were able to get on top of them, so they were able to box us more. Ideally in a situation with a height mismatch, we'd like to be under them so they're forced to literally jump over us. These guys were taller and thicker than most we'll play in the Pac-12. Longer defensive backs in the future will definitely help us."