Oregon State Football: Tuesday Report

Sitting with an 0-2 record, the Beavers' losses can't be solely blamed on the inefficient passing attack, but it certainly has been a huge reason why they've yet to win a game.

Offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren, whose job it'll be to get the Beavers started faster on offense and re-ignite the passing attack, feels that the lack of punch on offense against the Huskies this past weekend wasn't just quarterback play, it was a number of position groups on offense that didn't execute.

"We've got to be better in the passing game and that doesn't start with one position," Lindgren said. "We have to be better at QB, we have to better at receiver, and we have to protect Tristan better in the pocket. There were a number of reasons why we were frustrated with our pass game against UW."

Tristan Gebbia, whom head coach Jonathan Smith gave the ultimate vote of confidence on Monday, hasn't played at the level both he and the team know he's capable of, and that's been driving him to keep honing in his craft and getting better each day.

"Just gotta go back to the drawing board and get to work," Gebbia said. "I can't let one bad performance turn into two. I've been focusing on the little things and have been studying film a ton. I believe in my process and am going to keep working and trusting in my teammates."

As far as what Gebbia needs to improve on, Lindgren spelled it out like this.

"An area that we're focusing on with him is moving in the pocket. He's been getting pressure in the pocket that's moved him off his spot and he's got to be better at being able to finish with an accurate throw. That's an area he's struggled with a bit in the first two games."

While the passing game has struggled, one glowingly bright spot for the Beavers is their ability to be a big-time running team with Jermar Jefferson & BJ Baylor. Against the Huskies, the Beavers couldn't find anything working in the passing game, so they went full-steam ahead with Jefferson & Baylor.

"It's been our strength. The offensive line really came off the ball well and was really physical. We were running it well and started to lead on offense with our ground game. It would have been better if we could have complimented it with a better passing game. We had a chance under two minutes to drive down the field and we couldn't get it done."

An underrated aspect of the Beavers' ground game success early in the season has been the receivers' ability to be physical on the edges and really help spring big plays for Jefferson and Baylor.

"We challenged (the receivers) the week before (UW) to do a much better job blocking in the run game and I thought we did a really good job," Lindgren said. "We ran the ball really efficiently against a solid defense."