9/12/2017 football Edit

Oregon State turns attention to Washington State

Brenden Slaughter • BeaversEdge

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Prior to OSU’s 2nd half offensive collapse against Minnesota last week, I wrote a story saying that the Beavers were close to being an elite offense in the Pac-12.

From all aspects, it truly did appear that the Beaver offense was well on it’s way to scoring 30-40 points per game and therefore would be able to somewhat cover up the Beavers’ defensive problems.

However, that train of thought came crashing down like a douglas fir tree in the month of December. The Beavers managed only 14 points for the entire game, and if it hadn’t been for a short field due to a Minnesota turnover, it very well could have been only seven points scored by the Beavs. The Beaver offense managed just 35 yards on 18 plays in the second half.

Ouch.

There is no way to sugarcoat this one folks. The Beavers just didn’t have the offense coming out of halftime. The play-calling was subpar at best and it didn’t appear that OSU had any answer for Minnesota’s tough, physical front line.

So what’s next you might ask?

Well, the show goes on. OSU still has nine games left this season, and their next matchup is this weekend against Mike Leach and the Washington State Cougars on the Palouse. The Beavers haven’t been very successful against Leach and Luke Falk as a tandem, and the challenge will only be more difficult without cornerbacks Dwayne Williams and Xavier Crawford in the fold.

“Coming into it, we know that they have a pretty prolific offense,” quarterback Jake Luton said. “They’ve typically put up big numbers every week and hopefully our defense can prove otherwise. I believe our offense is ready to go and put up points.”

One of the issues surrounding the Beavers over the first few weeks is their lack of apparent urgency coming out of the locker room at halftime. In losses to CSU and Minnesota, the Beavers were in close games and came out flat in the third and fourth stanzas. Is lack of effort from the Beavers? Luton puts that theory to bed.

“People say that maybe we aren’t coming out with fire or effort and I don’t think that’s it,” Luton said. “Everyone here has the drive to win ball games and be great, but we aren’t executing when we need to and it’s something we will get fixed.”

One bit of good news for the Beavers offense is that receiver Seth Collins is listed as probable and appears to be making progress towards playing on Saturday as he practiced on Tuesday. With Collins in the fold, the Beavers are a much more complete team.

One of the many question marks about the Beavers' offense is their somewhat lack of an identity. Sometimes they look like an Air-Raid team, sometimes they look spread, other times they look multiple. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what the Beavers are on offense, but offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven notes that the Beavers are still working towards an identity.

“Personally, I think identity is an overused term,” McGiven said. “The last two games, we’ve had nine three and outs, and whether you call that an identity crisis or not able to execute. I don’t think we have an identity issue. I think it’s an execution issue.”

Defensively, the Cougars present a handful of challenges to a struggling OSU offense as defensive coordinator Alex Grinch has become one of the top up and coming coordinators in the country. His defense is led by star defensive lineman Hercules Mat’a’afa who could pose problems for the Beavers with his unique blend of size and speed.

“They are fundamentally sound and don’t do a whole lot of different things, but they are good at what they do,” Luton added.

With the Minnesota game now well behind them, the Beavers now hope they can find magic in Pullman and get their team back on the right track. It’s a long season full of up’s and down’s and if the Beavers are going to salvage this season, the improvements as a team have to start this weekend against Mike Leach and the Cougars.