9/8/2023 football Edit

Oregon State Football Notebook: Beavers Reser Ready For UC Davis

Brenden Slaughter • BeaversEdge

Publisher

PROMO: Join BeaversEdge.com and get 30 DAYS FREE!

With the No. 16 Oregon State football team (1-0, 0-0 P12) set to host the UC Davis Aggies (1-0, 0-0 Big Sky) at the newly-renovated Reser Stadium on Saturday evening, BeaversEdge gives you the latest with the Beavs in this in-depth notebook...

New-Look Defense Passes First Test

Defensively, Oregon State allowed just 279 yards of total offense, and a big chunk of those yards came in garbage time when the Spartans put together a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Another score was also set up for SJSU when the Beavers had a blocked punt that set up the Spartans in plus territory.

So when you strip away the garbage time touchdown and the blocked punt (on the OSU 22), Oregon State's defense really allowed three points and less than 200 yards of total offense.

"I thought we played really well," defensive coordinator Trent Bray said. "We wanted to take away the deep ball and the quarterback and they did well. For 58 minutes we kept them almost completely in check. Very happy with the discipline we played with."

As far as what stood out for improvement, Bray highlighted the underneath routes and fine details, two things that the Aggies will test this week...

"There were times we could have been a little tighter on the underneath routes," Bray said. "It's really the fine details that we need to improve on, but it was a great start."

The new-look secondary also passed its first big test as the Beavers were replacing three high-end starters Rezjohn Wright, Jaydon Grant, and Alex Austin entering this 2023 campaign.

Tyrice Ivy and Jaden Robinson were thrust into full-time starting roles for the first time at cornerback in their OSU careers and for the most part, played great football. Ivy had a trio of penalties, but that's something you can live with in his debut from JUCO to D1...

"I was very pleased (with the secondary) on Sunday," Bray said. "They've got good receivers at SJSU and a good quarterback, so I was pleased to see them play well against a good QB and receivers."

Ryan Cooper Jr., one of the major returnees in the secondary who played significant snaps last year, feels that the leadership and strong play from the above-trio last season was a huge inspiration and motivation to maintain a strong level of play.

"We learned behind those guys, so when it was our time to play we stepped up to the task," Cooper said. "They held the standard, and we're trying to hold it even higher. Our whole defense stepped up (against SJSU) and we did what Coach Bray asked of us."

Cooper also highlighted the Beavers' tackling against the Spartans, noting it's a huge point of emphasis from DB coach Blue Adams...

"We work on tackling every day and that is Coach Blue's (Adams) big thing in the DB room, playing physical," Cooper said. "That's something we gained as a room, and guys last year tackled well too, so we just took that to the grass this year."

Offensive Line Pleased With Week 1, But Improvements Needed

Oregon State's offensive line was impressive in week one as the Beavers opened up holes for Damien Martinez and Co. to rush for 197 yards on the ground, while also giving DJ Uiagalelei plenty of time to throw and make decisions in the pocket.

"We came off the ball really hard and came out there with an attitude and a mindset to dominate the line of scrimmage and I think we did that," offensive lineman Heneli Bloomfield said.

Diving a little deeper, Bloomfield felt the new OL group consisting of him, Joshua Gray, Jake Levengood, Tanner Miller, and Taliese Fuaga did a lot of good things against the Spartans but also said that there were some noticeable little things that need to get cleaned up.

"We played really physical and did a lot of things well, but we also have things to do better," Bloomfield said. "The biggest focus this week is on respecting our opponent and working on improving our technique with the execution of the game."

Additionally, the Beavers were able to get some backup experience against the Spartans with Jacob Strand, Grant Starck, Tyler Voltin, and Tyler Morano all seeing action.

Bloomfield talked about the importance of staying healthy but added that he really likes the depth in the OL room...

"The key for us is to stay healthy," Bloomfield said. "We have a lot of guys in the room who can play and obviously had guys rotating in vs SJSU. Outside of the starting five, you've got Grant Starck, who could start for any team any time we needed him. We have a lot of guys behind us who we know can play even if we can't."

While it may be tough to nitpick an offensive performance like the Beavers had against SJSU, there are always things to improve upon and OL coach Jim Michalczik holds his players to an extremely high standard.

Offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren offered his thoughts on the O-Line from game one and talked about the good while also highlighting the "little things" that need to be corrected.

"There were some good things, but I know Coach M is pretty hard on those guys," Lindgren said. "There's a lot of things technique-wise that you really stress and have been trying to get across on the practice field, yet not all of it made it to the game. Sometimes guys would revert back to old habits in live action and that technique more than anything else is what we have to get cleaned up. I really liked how they came off the ball, playing physical, and did a great job of pass protection."

PREMIUM CONTENT

You must be a member to read the full article. Subscribe now for instant access to all premium content.

Members-only forums
Predict prospect commits with FanFutureCast
Exclusive highlights and interviews
Exclusive coverage of Rivals Camp Series
Breaking recruiting news