Oregon State Beavers Football: Tuesday Notebook

Oregon State (1-4, 0-2) is back in action this Saturday at Reser Stadium as the Beavers host Mike Leach's Washington State Cougars (4-1, 1-1). After failing to produce strong starts offensively in the last few games, OSU's aim against the Cougars offensively is to start strong and fast to keep pace with WSU offense that is going to put up points. BeaversEdge.com was in Corvallis on Tuesday for offensive players and coaches and here's the most newsworthy storylines.

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While the new look Oregon State offense has been one of the pleasantly nice surprises of the 2018 season, most of those points have come once the Beavers have been staring down large deficits with the exception of the Southern Utah game.

Whether it was Ohio State, Nevada, Arizona State, OSU's offense hasn't come out ready to roll out of the gates and it's costed them chances to seize control and be the aggressor in games.

""If you want to sulk after a loss and continue to feel sorry for yourself, you're just going to get continued to get rolled over," quarterback Conor Blount said. "None of us want to see that because it's embarrassing and it's not what we're about. All of us love to play football and every chance you have to step on the field and you've gotta go out and compete."

While the Beavers certainly had their chances against the Sun Devils in Tempe last Saturday, offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren noted that while his team showed a lot of determination and resilience fighting back, but having to climb out of a 24-3 deficit in the second quarter proved to be just too much.

"There were a lot of good things, but I wasn't pleased with how we started the game," Lindgren said. "We gave up three sacks and hurries on Conor Blount in just the first 10 plays. Starting fast has been a point of emphasis for us this week."

With Washington State having one of the most potent offenses in the Pac-12, the importance of coming out strong offensively is the number one priority for the Beavers this weekend. Lindgren added that the Beavers are placing a high emphasis on treating every practice like it's a game in terms of wanting crisp execution.

"When you come onto the practice field, we have to execute right from the first snap," Lindgren said. "At the end of the day, our guys have to come out and execute earlier in the game."

One of the biggest things the Beavers must continue to fight past is the losses. While the Beavers have improved drastically from where they were in the 2017 season, losing is still something that Jonathan Smith and Co. are having to deal with, and for every player, the frustrations are definitely there.

However, the key for the Beavers is to make sure they're not letting the losses get to them, and that they're keeping a positive mindset each and every week. If they do that, the fast starts will follow.

One positive for the Beavers in the bigger picture offensively against ASU was that they proved that the 14 point performance against Arizona was an outlier rather than a trend. OSU got back to looking like the offense we've come to expect in some ways and a large reason for that was the increasingly strong play of the offensive line.

Even though OSU is still looking for the fast start that's been eluding them on offense, there are some positives that are starting to show up in the box score, particularly the run blocking of the offensive line which opened up big holes for Jermar Jefferson against the Sun Devils.

"Our offensive line did an unbelievable job of opening up holes for Jermar," running backs coach Michael Pitre said.

Left tackle Blake Brandel notes that while the Beavers still have a ways in terms of getting to where they want to be, the Beavers increased run blocking success has come from a tight-knit camaraderie between all five guys.

"As you continue to play with one another, you build that chemistry and allegiance to better play and execution," Brandel said. "It's a special thing to build it together."

In order for the Beavers to achieve the fast start they've been searching for all season, they need to improve on an area that has plagued them at times this season. Pass blocking. Early in contests, the Beavers haven't been able to give their QB enough time to throw and it's still a work in progress for the line.

"We have to continue to improve on technique and communication," Brandel said. "I'd give us a C overall because we have a lot of room to improve. There's things to be proud about, but at the same time, until we're winning games, I don't think we've done any better than a C."

While Washington State is mostly known for its offensive prowess under Air Raid guru Mike Leach, the Cougars have one of the most underrated defenses in the Pac-12, largely due to the culture that former defensive coordinator Alex Grinch created before leaving for Ohio State.

Grinch was one of the most sought after defensive coordinators in the country after turning the Washington State defense from one of the conferences worst into one of the Pac-12's best. The Cougars play a physical brand of football on the defensive line that is anchored by pre-snap movements and stunts to make the opposing offensive line uncomfortable, all while having some very good cover corners.

The Cougars haven't missed a beat this season with former Minnesota head coach Tracy Claeys taking over for Grinch as defensive coordinator, as Washington State continues to prove they're more than just a high-flying offense.

"The movement up front (is impressive)," Lindgren said. "The move a lot before the snap and it makes things tricky for our offensive line. They are really aggressive and play very hard and that's something that really stands out on film. From talking to different coordinators around the conference, it's always a challenging week when you play the Cougs."

Blount, who will have to out-duel the Washington State offense, knows that the Beavers must score points against the Cougars because of how dangerously quick they can pile points on you.

"They've got a really nice offense," Blount said. "If we're not on our game, they can put up points quickly and things could get out of hand. So, we have to start fast for sure and it's something we're focusing on this week."