Oregon State Football Notebook: Beavers Ready To Take On San Jose State

With the Oregon State football team taking on the San Jose State Spartans on Sunday, BeaversEdge gives you the latest news and notes about the Beavers in this in-depth notebook...

Scouting San Jose State's Defense

When Oregon State football begins the 2023 campaign against the San Jose State Spartans on Sunday afternoon on CBS, the Beavers will have the benefit of having game film on SJSU as they faced the USC Trojans a week ago.

USC rolled to a 56-28 win over the Spartans, but it wasn't until the second half that the Trojans were able to ultimately create some separation. USC's defense is still very much a work in progress, but the offense, led by reigning Heisman winner Caleb Williams, tallied 501 yards of total offense.

Despite SJSU allowing 56 points and over 500 yards, Oregon State offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren says the Beavers will have to be ready for the Spartan defense, which is unique and throws a lot of different sets at opposing offenses.

"They're very sound in what they do defensively and they're really stout up front," Lindgren said. "They give you a lot of different looks and in that USC game, they gave the USC offensive line a bunch of different looks they hadn't shown last season. Our offensive line is going to have to do a great job of communicating and trusting in their base roles.

And in the secondary, they don't give up a lot of big plays. They're disciplined in their coverage and they make you earn it. They did some good things and really made USC work for a few quarters. We'll need to be ready to roll."

DJ Uiagalelei Ready To Run Oregon State's Offense

After an offseason full of excitement and anticipation, quarterback DJ Uiagalelei will be making his Oregon State debut against the San Jose State Spartans on Sunday.

The 6-foot-4, 248-pound Clemson transfer lived up to his former five-star ranking this fall camp as he thoroughly impressed in winning the Beavers' quarterback job over 2022 season finisher Ben Gulbranson and the highly-touted freshman four-star Aidan Chiles.

"(DJ's) body of work throughout, he just continued to get better and better," head coach Jonathan Smith said. "The separation was the two big scrimmages and he played the best. I do think we have other guys in that room that can compete and win games, but the separator in our mind was really those two scrimmages."

After learning the offense and roughly playing even with the above-mentioned duo in spring, Uiagalelei seized control of camp with strong, strong play in the scrimmages, and that impressed Smith and offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren.

Lindgren spoke on what stood out the most with DJ as the coaching staff was looking to make their decision...