Practice Insider: Beaver passing game continues to struggle

BeaversEdge.com was live in Corvallis on Tuesday to cover practice and report on the latest news in the world of Oregon State football. Check out the practice report below!

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At the start of the season, many Beaver fans saw the Arizona game as a probable win due to Arizona’s 3-9 record last season. However, Oregon State has trended down and the Wildcats are one of the top teams in the Pac-12.

With Rich Rodriguez arguably coaching for his job this season, the Arizona Wildcats have rallied around their coach. This season they’ve been able to improve just enough on defense to keep themselves in games and put themselves in positions to win football games.

OSU offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven noted that the Wildcats have been playing more inspired football this season on defense compared to last year.

“They are playing with a lot more energy and have moved some guys around to get better use out of their personnel,” McGiven said. “They are more aggressive than we saw last year and they are going to be a tough challenge for us.”

While the Wildcats rank 11th in the Pac-12 in total defense, their scheme allows them to be aggressive and take chances, which is what McGiven believes the Wildcats are doing better this season.

“Sometimes improvement can just come with wins and losses,” McGiven said. “They’ve been feeding on the momentum from the other side of the ball. That’s a big difference in their offense from what Khalil Tate did and to me that’s when the defense starts to gain confidence and make good things happen on their side of the ball.”

UNDERCLASSMEN REPORT: Offense | Defense

Despite a few interesting trick plays here and there or a big gain, the Beavers passing game struggles has been exemplified over the past several weeks. Despite a dynamic ground attack with big time running backs, opponents are forcing OSU to beat them in the passing game.

Some of that is by design as the Beavers know that Garretson’s strength is running the ball, not passing it. Some of it is also that the Beavers best passer on the team, Jake Luton, is still out with a thoracic spine fracture.

For receiver Jordan Villamin, he hopes that the Beavers can get their passing game going against Arizona.

“Cal was one of the worst games we’ve had in awhile in terms of receiving,” Villamin said. “We didn’t execute well enough or make plays in the pass game. The gameplan was to focus on the run, but we have to take advantage of the opportunities in the passing game when they present themselves.”

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When USC defeated Arizona last week, they did it by having a complete offensive performance. USC racked up over 600 total yards and nearly had even totals when it came to rushing and passing. The Trojans knew that if they could keep Arizona’s aggressive defense guessing with their play calling that they would have a chance to win.

Despite the Wildcats surrendering all those yards to USC, they are still a very aggressive defense that likes to take chances, and the Beavers will have to use the same type of gameplan that USC did in order to keep them in the ballgame.

Villamin noted that the Wildcats are better than people give them credit for on defense, and that the Beavers will need to be on their A game to pull out a win.

“They are near the top of the Pac-12 in interceptions and that’s saying something,” Villamin said. “They obviously get the ball back to their offense, so we have to make sure that we don’t throw interceptions and give them easy turnovers. We have to keep executing and keep their offense off the field.”

- The Beavers broke out the black helmets with the Beaver logo on it today. These are the same helmets that they wore against Stanford and it continues to be a very good look. I would anticipate the Beavers going with black helmets, white jersey, and black pants.

- Ryan Nall and Darell Garretson were full speed on Tuesday. Usually, we see Garretson and Nall take it easy on the first full day of practice and give the other guys some reps, but today they were both going nearly the full time. Garretson looked poised and sharp in practice today, making solid throws on the run and pulling the ball on the read-option several times.

- Andre Bodden continues to rise up the ranks as a receiver. For many Beaver fans and media, it was surprising to see Bodden take the field with the offense during the Cal game. Clearly the coaches see something in Bodden as he was practicing with the first team today and made one incredible catch on the sideline as he was falling out of bounds. In terms of hands, Bodden has some of the best on the team.

- The Beaver defense was fired up today. It seemed like at times, the offense sort of went through the motions, while the defense was playing like their hair was on fire. That fire exploded slightly towards the end of practice when there was a scuffle for several minutes. Despite the Beavers being 1-8, the energy is still there and that has to be a positive sign for whoever the next Beavers’ head coach is.