Oregon State Football Sunday Stock Report
It's the morning after Oregon State's slight 35-32 win over FCS school Portland State, and BeaversEdge.com is a bit "edgy" this morning in the Sunday Stock Report.
Stock Up
Inside Linebacker Manase Hungalu
After having a head scratching performance against Colorado State where the senior leader was struggling to make plays all game, Hungalu bounced back on Saturday with a solid performance. When I was taking notes for my Stock Report article during the game, Hungalu's stock was already going up before he had his interception returned for a touchdown. He sat in the middle, read the quarterback's eyes, and took the interception back for a much needed Oregon State touchdown. Hungalu recorded nine total tackles and two tackles for loss as well.
Quarterback Jake Luton
Luton had an up and down performance in his first game as a Beaver last week, and he bounced back nicely with a fairly consistent performance against Portland State. His pass intended to Artavis Pierce deep over the middle was simply a poor decision, but other than that, Luton was solid. He completed 72% of his passes and averaged 13 yards per completion. Obviously, Luton orchestrating the two-minute offense to lead the Beavers to avoiding an embarrassing loss was huge.
Wide Receiver Isaiah Hodgins
Luton found No. 17 for the 17 yard game winning touchdown with 1:08 left in the ballgame. Hodgins had four of his five catches in the fourth quarter as he finished with five catches for 59 yards and the all-important touchdown reception. The true freshman is stepping up in the Beavers' offense as potentially Luton's favorite target. Luton threw to Hodgins more than any other receiver on Saturday with six targets.
Safety David Morris
It was a game of hot potato at the safety position with players being taken out and re-entering the game on Saturday. Morris made his first collegiate impact by recording six solo tackles and a tackle for loss. The hype in the true freshman from Sherwood is real. This guy is going to be darn good.
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Greaves' Grades for the OSU running backs
VID: Andersen reacts to 35-32 win
Singer, Greaves review OSU's win
REACTION: Beavers slip by PSU, 35-32
OSU players following PSU game
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Stock Down
Defensive Coordinator Kevin Clune
We're not going to pretend to know more about X's and O's of football than Clune, but his defense was just GASHED by a team supposed to finish in the cellar of the Big freaking Sky. Portland State quarterback Jalani Eason threw a couple of interceptions and wasn't all that impressive throwing the ball downfield (unless he had wide open receivers), but he and running back Za'Quan Summers were running the ball at will against the Beavers' defense. Oregon State was able to make a number of nice stops for either a loss or a gain of just a couple of yards, so it was clear that they were the more talented football team in the trenches, but the Beaver defense was constantly missing assignments. It was a very poor showing by the Oregon State defense. They allowed 515 total yards to Portland State. Ouch.
Outside Linebacker Bright Ugwoegbu
Ugwoegbu has yet to record a tackle for loss or sack this season. Well, Oregon State's defense as a whole has yet to sack a quarterback, and the Beavers haven't even played a Power Five conference opponent yet. Ugwoegbu has way too much talent to not be making more plays out there for a front seven that desperately needs him to disrupt backfields.
Oregon State rushing attack
32 rushes for 154 yards isn't bad, but against Portland State, the Beavers should have been able to control the game with their rushin attack. Drives were stalled because of OSU's inability to convert on third downs behind the legs of Ryan Nall and ability to create space for him by the offense line. The offensive line didn't allow a sack against PSU, but the run blocking, much like against Colorado State, left more to be desired. Sure, a big part of that is because defenses are stacking the box against the Beavers, but these coaches get paid a lot of money to out scheme their opponents.