Oregon State Football: Tuesday Notebook

With the Oregon State football team (2-4) looking to wrap up the 2020 regular season on a high-note Saturday against Arizona State (1-2), BeaversEdge.com gives you the latest on the team in this in-depth notebook.

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Jefferson questionable for Saturday, big decision looms

After suffering an ankle injury against the Stanford Cardinal that kept him sidelined in the games' final stretch, running back Jermar Jefferson is taking a wait and see approach as far as his availability goes for Saturday's matchup with Arizona State.

"I've been rehabbing every single day," Jefferson said. "I'm just waiting until Thursday or Saturday to see how I feel."

The 5-foot-10, 217-pounder has been a critical part of Oregon State's offense this season and the Beavers have really gone as he's gone throughout the year. He's tallied 750 rushing yards on the season (2nd in the Pac-12) and is averaging 151 yards per game, which is fourth-best nationally.

Beyond this Saturday, an even bigger decision looms...

The multi-talented back will certainly consider the possibility of turning pro after this season, but at the moment, that isn't something that's at the forefront of his mind.

"I haven't really been thinking about it too much. I haven't really made a decision, I'll have to wait until after the season to talk to my parents."

Offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren, who recently had a tailback protegé of his reach the NFL in Phillip Lindsay, said that Jefferson has initially had some discussions but that he'd have a big decision to make after the season concludes.

"I know he and his family have had those conversations with (Jonathan) Smith and (running backs coach Michael) Pitre," Lindgren said. "He's got to look at his situation and ultimately make the decision he feels is right. Selfishly, as the coordinator, I'd love to have him back."

Tre'Shaun Harrison Making The Most Of His Opportunities

One of the bright spots that emerged from the Beavers' loss to Stanford was the arrival of former Florida State wide receiver Tre'Shaun Harrison.

The 6-foot-1, 191-pound Washington native was denied immediate eligibility by the NCAA after transferring from FSU following the 2019 season and only became eligible because the Beavers' final two games against Stanford and Arizona State came after Oregon State's fall quarter ended.

That meant that Harrison, who had then completed a full academic year at the university, was good to go against the Cardinal.

"It was really fun to be out there and playing in a game again," Harrison said. "I can't even really describe it, it just felt amazing to be out there with my guys after waiting this whole time."

Playing in his first game in over a year, Harrison showed why he was a four-star recruit coming out of high school as he hauled in five passes for 91 yards, averaging 18.2 yards per catch.

"It was awesome and I was really happy for him," Lindgren said. "It was awesome to see him make those plays that we've seen him make in practice and we're really excited about what he's going to do for us the next couple of years."

As far as what he brings to the table that's unique amongst the group? Lindgren says he brings a big-play ability that the receiving corps has needed.

"His explosive-play ability and the ability to get downfield really stands out," Lindgren said. "That's not to say some other guys can't do that, but he brings more length and height than some of our other guys. His ability to stretch the field showed up on Saturday and we're hoping to continue it."

While Harrison knew that there was a chance that he would only get to play a couple of times late in the season, the thought of opting-out never crossed his mind as he saw those two games as opportunities to get to where he wanted to be.

"I was motivated because I want to play at the next level," Harrison said. "Practices are a huge part of the process and If I would have opted out, I wouldn't have been prepared to play in the game this past week."

Defense Continuing To Build

While the Beavers weren't able to earn a win against Stanford this past weekend, one thing that may have been forgotten was that the defense played one of their better games of the season.

Against the Cardinal, defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar thought that the Beavers had their best run-defense performance of the season, but said there are still areas that need to be tightened up, most notably pass coverage.

"I think the Stanford game ranks up there with one of our better performances of the season," Tibesar said. "We did a good job on the run game, holding them to just over 100 yards. From the run defense perspective, that was the best we did all season. We still got some work to do in the pass defense as (Davis Mills) completed around 70 percent of his passes, and that's not a recipe to win games."

As far as putting pressure on the quarterback, Tibesar feels good about how they were able to make Mills work for everything.

"We got some pressure, were able to force some fumbles, got some sacks, tipped passes, and stuff like that. It was a much better game for us from a pressure standpoint as we were able to put some hits on him right after he released it."