Oregon State showing improvement after second scrimmage
With the season opener against Ohio State just under two weeks away, the Oregon State football team lead by first year head coach Jonathan Smith is starting to find their stride in fall camp.
Smith and the Beavers held their second official scrimmage of the season on Friday as OSU continues to develop and grow under their new coaching staff. While the scrimmage was closed to the media, OSU’s players offered some insight into how they believe that their starting to find their stride on the field.
Quarterback Jake Luton, who has found his stride in the past week of fall camp, said that OSU’s second scrimmage was much improved compared to the first.
“The scrimmage was really good,” Luton said. “There was a lot of improvement from the scrimmage we had in week one on both sides of the ball, we executed and there was a lot of energy.”
Offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren echoed Luton’s thoughts on the scrimmage adding that he was pleased with the teams improvement.
“There were a lot of good things. It was quite a bit cleaner than our first scrimmage and our quarterbacks made some good plays during the two minute drill,” Lindgren said.
One of the biggest unanswered questions left for Jonathan Smith and Co. to answer in the next two weeks is who’s going to be under center for the Beavers come September 1st.
While it appears that the derby will continue to linger for a bit longer, the time is now for the OSU coaches to see which quarterback will separate himself now that Lindgren’s offense is fully installed.
“We’re pretty much finished with our install and now it’s a review,” Lindgren said. “The guys are starting to feel more comfortable and while we still need improvement, I’m pleased with where we are at.”
Luton has been the most consistent QB for the past week and feels very good about his command of the Beavers’ new offense.
“I feel good,” Luton said. “We’ve been hammering away at it all summer. There have been some new wrinkles into fall camp, but I feel comfortable with it and I’m ready to play.”
Coming into camp, one of the bigger question marks offensively for OSU was who was going to provide depth at running back behind Artavis Pierce. OSU lost three running backs to graduation and the NFL and the only other running back that has game experience, Calvin Tyler is out for the start of the season with a left leg injury.
With Pierce taking limited practice reps for precautionary reasons and Tyler out, OSU’s freshman running backs have stolen the show in recent weeks. Jermar Jefferson looks like he’s a capable Pac-12 backup just two weeks into fall camp, and Kase Rogers is showing his versatility as a playmaker in both the run and pass game. BJ Baylor, who redshirted last season, has also emerged as a potential playmaker.
“A lot of talent,” Luton said about the running back group. “Having Kase Rogers and Jermar Jefferson step in with the older group that’s already talented is huge. An abundance of talent in the backfield.”