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Oregon State focusing all attention on Nevada

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Prior to the start of fall camp, first year head coach Jonathan Smith surprised many when he stated to the media that he felt he had the talent to win in right away.

Oregon State had just gone through one of the worst seasons in school history in 2017 and there wasn’t much external optimism about what Smith and the Beavers could do in year one.

After two weeks of the season, offensively it appears that the Beavers can hold their own with anyone if they continue to improve. OSU has scored 79 points and racked up nearly 1,000 yards of total offense against Ohio State and Southern Utah, lending credence to the notion that the Beavers have made a significant jump on that side of the ball.

Through the first two games of the 2018 season, a group of offensive players who arguably looked lost in 2017, now look like they could wield one of the most exciting offenses in the Pac-12. Behind Smith and offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren, the Beavers have completely flipped the script this season, proving that all they had the talent to compete, but just needed the proper guidance and coaching.

One of the reasons why the Beavers have newfound offensive success has come with largely the same group of players from last season simply comes down to better coaching and fundamentals.

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Despite the early success, OSU still has a huge offensive hurdle to clear in the next several weeks, and that’s learning how to play without arguably their best offensive player in running back Artavis Pierce. With Pierce on the shelf for at least the next four weeks with a left elbow injury, the Beavers will have to turn to Jermar Jefferson, Kase Rogers, BJ Baylor, and Christian Wallace.

“I’m excited,” running backs coach Michael Pitre said. “There was a lot of juice out there at practice today and those guys are excited knowing that they’ll have an opportunity to help this team win. Having a healthy competition and watching these guys get better is going to be exciting to see.”

One of the many reasons for OSU’s newfound offensive success comes from the threat of an explosive rushing attack waiting to happen. Behind Pierce and Jefferson, OSU has been perhaps the best rushing attack in the Pac-12 through two games.

“There are still some things we have to get better at,” offensive line coach and run game coordinator Jim Michalczik said. “We got exposed with some things against Ohio State and we didn’t get them fixed fundamental and technique wise (against Southern Utah). So are we there? No. But we’re working at it. We have pretty high expectations and goals and are we on track for that? I don’t know. We have to continue to improve and get better every week. ”

Luckily for the Beavers, they’ll be able to lean on Jefferson, who happened to break out and have the game of his life just before he would be asked to carry the load for the next few weeks with Pierce out of commission.

“It was fun to see, but more than anything, I think if you were to ask him, when we went in on Sunday, it was what can we do better so we can perform better," Pitre said. "We didn’t spend too much time talking about the good things, but rather continuing to fine tune the details.”

While Smith and the Beavers have already checked off several boxes in the first two games of the 2018 season, OSU will have the opportunity to break a nearly four year road losing streak if the Beavers can manage to best the Wolfpack.

Nevada boasts one of the most intimidating environments on the west coast, similar to Fresno State in the aspect that they’re always looking to knock off Pac-12 teams at home.

The Wolfpack are tricky to scheme for defensively, as they run a 3-3-5 defense, which causes plenty of challenges for the Beaver offense to prepare for.

“It’s a very different defensive front,” Michalczik said. “It’s a 3-3-5 defense that you really don’t see that much. (Nevada) is very well coached and their kids play very hard. One of the things they’re good at is that they create confusion and can get your players to slow down and stop instead of attacking and staying aggressive. It’s a different challenge for us, and we’re going to have to put more work in to understand it and put ourselves in a spot to get the job done.”

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