Oregon State Beavers Midseason Superlatives: Offense

We're halfway into the first season of the Jonathan Smith era at Oregon State and with a bye week on tab this weekend, BeaversEdge.com senior writer Brenden Slaughter is breaking down the OSU offense and the defense with mid-season superlatives. Today, we dive into the offense.

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What’s to be said about Jermar Jefferson that hasn’t already been said...

There's little room for debate on who is Oregon State's MVP through six games, as the Beavs’ dynamic freshman earns that nod going away. Jefferson has not only been the OSU's best player this season, but he's doing it all as a true-freshman. Jefferson ranks second in the NCAA in rushing yards (865) is tied for second in touchdowns (12) while ranking fourth in yards per game at 144.

Perhaps the most impressive part of Jefferson's breakout freshman season is that coming into the season, no one saw it coming. Even Jonathan Smith said on Wednesday that he was surprised to see this from Jefferson.

He was poised to be the backup to incumbent starter Artavis Pierce for the season, but once Pierce suffered an injury, the door opened for Jefferson and he's ran with the opportunity.

It will be interesting to see how the Beaver backfield distributes carries moving forward with the return of Pierce, but there's no doubt that Smith and the Beavers have the makings of an elite running back in Jefferson.

There were several players who could have earned the nod of most improved on offense six games into the 2018 season, but wide receiver Trevon Bradford's name stood out with his individual improvement from last season.

During spring practices and fall camp, it appeared that Bradford's starting job was perhaps in question as Aaron Short and Kolby Taylor both routinely took reps with the first unit in addition to Bradford, and particularly, Short looked poised to at least split time in the slot with Bradford.

But Bradford had other plans. He showed everyone why he's firmly entrenched as the Beavers go-to speedster as the made an instant impact in the Ohio State game, catching six passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns.

While Bradford missed the Nevada game with a shoulder injury and didn't make a lot of waves statistically against Arizona and Arizona State, he found his groove against the Cougars last week, tallying eight catches for 68 yards, and making several critical third and fourth down conversions. On the season, Bradford has 24 receptions for 263 yards and four touchdowns.

Seeing Bradford make such a huge leap this season under Smith, offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren, and the offensive staff has been extremely nice to see, given that Bradford is an Oregon City native and only had one other power five offer (Washington State) coming out of high school.

Coming into the 2018 season, Smith and offensive line coach Jim Michalczik said that they thought had the talent to compete up front right away, and through six games, that's certainly proven true. While the Beavers do sit at 1-5 and 0-3 in Pac-12 play, the offensive line has hardly been the issue that's cost the Beavers opportunities to win.

While there are still plenty of strides to make, particularly in pass blocking and playing fundamentally sound to avoid penalties, I don't think anyone could have predicted just how good of a run blocking team the Beavers would be in 2018. Pierce stole the show early in the season with a pair of impressive runs against Ohio State, before Jefferson stepped in and ran with his opportunity in Pierce's absense.

As a team, the Beavers are averaging 211.8 yards a game on the ground, good for 31st best in the country. It’s a promising statistic to have given that coming into the season, OSU was expected to be one of the nations worst teams.

If you ask Smith or Michalczik, OSU's line is still work in progress, but the biggest surprise of the season on offense has been the run blocking and if OSU continues to perform at this level, Jefferson and Pierce will be breaking a multitude of records by seasons end.

Two of the most talented players on the field at any given time, wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins and tight end Noah Togiai earn the nod of the players with the most left to prove in the final six weeks of the season.

Hodgins, who was one of the highest ranked receivers to ever come to Oregon State, hasn't found a consistent groove this season partially by ineffective QB play, injuries, and the nature of OSU's run first offense. After starting slow through the first two games, Hodgins exploded against Nevada with 14 catches for 200 yards and two touchdowns, but only tallied two catches against Arizona before suffering a hamstring injury that kept him out of the WSU contest.

The performance against Nevada is what Hodgins is capable of doing on any given Saturday for the Beavers given his talent, and when he returns to the field, he should also have the benefit of having quarterback Jake Luton throwing to him, as Luton and Hodgins have one of the best rapport on the team. I don't think it's a coincidence that Hodgins had his best game of the season when Luton had his, and once the Beavers are able to utilize both Luton and Conor Blount together, Hodgins should thrive and have a strong finish to the season.

As far as Togiai goes, these final six games will be critical for him in a multitude of ways as he's getting more comfortable on the field each week. After making his season debut against Arizona, Togiai caught his first touchdown pass of the season against ASU and is getting more and more comfortable with the offense and system each week. The aspect of Togiai's game that needs to see an uptick is pass catching and being a consistent threat in the passing game.

As a run blocker, Togiai and fellow tight end Teagan Quitoriano have become among the Pac-12's best and with the run game being the Beavers' bread and butter, there haven't been too many opportunities for Togiai to get involved. However, like Hodgins, Togiai has a very strong rapport with Luton going back to last season, and they have yet to play together this season, which bodes well for Togiai's invovlement in the passing game when Luton returns.

Perhaps one of the most disappointing story lines plaguing the Oregon State offense this year has been the health of Luton. Luton, who earned the starting spot coming out of fall camp, is OSU's most complete quarterback in terms of vertical passing ability and poise in the pocket and hasn't gotten the opportunity to showcase himself with the exception of the Nevada game where he had his best game of his OSU career by far, going 23-of-35 for 284 yards and a touchdown.

Luton's injury past has certainly been documented, and at this point it's almost as if he can't catch a break. After fighting back from a thoracic spine fracture in 2017, Luton played just one series against Ohio State before suffering a concussion. Luton then played in the second half of a blowout the next week against Southern Utah, before coming on in relief of Blount against Nevada. He nearly lead the comeback before suffering a the worst high-ankle sprain he’s ever experienced and it’s kept him off the field since.

Luton needs the Beavers and the Beavers need Luton, as they are a better team with him and Blount complimenting each other on the field. Luton’s strength and strong arm unlocks Hodgins and Togiai in ways that Blount hasn't been able to find with enough consistency in the vertical passing game. If Luton can stay healthy for the final six games of the season, the Beavers will not only be a better passing offense, but also a better rushing offense as the defense will have to respect Luton's ability to throw the deep ball.