Quick Hits From Oregon State HC Trent Bray's Press Conference

With Oregon State head coach Trent Bray meeting the media on Monday to recap the loss to Oregon and look ahead to Purdue, BeaversEdge writer Ryan Harlan recaps the info!

Quick Hits

Oregon State head coach Trent Bray said that looking towards Purdue, they are a big, physical team that can run the ball well and play sound defense. He added that It is another good challenge with talented skill players and a quarterback.

Bray mentioned a lot of self-inflicted mistakes, particularly on defense, like playing too soft in coverage and missing fundamental techniques against the Ducks. He added it wasn't anything of Oregon having their number out there on Saturday and stressed the importance of going out and executing their game plan in big games like the one against Oregon.

Bray added that the physicality that Oregon brought last weekend will help them prepare for what Purdue will bring on Saturday; given this being the first game, many new faces on the team are getting to experience that level of competition for the first time this season.

Bray said everything happens week to week in a season, whether winning or losing a game, and you have to flush the last week but take the things to learn from to move on. He stressed it's about improving from what you saw in the game for the next week.

Bray mentioned that after the first half, the Beavers dictated how the game against Oregon would be played and was on the script for what they wanted to do, being right there with one of the top teams in the country. However, the game got away from them in the third quarter when they went three and out, and Oregon scored to start their first two possessions of the second half.

Bray said he has been impressed with what Gevani McCoy has done every week and his constant improvement, but he still needs to do some things to have the playbook more open.

Bray mentioned that when things fall apart in-game, it doesn't matter how talented a team is; losing track of fundamentals will expose you to a game. He mentioned that it's looking at the tape and what can be done to make sure that doesn't happen against Purdue.

Bray said the team moved on quickly from the loss against Oregon and has been impressed with how they've handled this adversity.

Bray said the areas that they fell short on defense were not challenging receivers, being physical, and not making every throw by opposing quarterbacks contested. He mentioned that they can't have free-access throws and have to challenge opposing teams to make plays on them.

Bray said he's not worried about the loss to Oregon dragging over into this week. He mentioned that last year, the Washington State game wasn't as good as they could play but bounced back against Utah. Ultimately, it comes down to learning from those things so it doesn't happen again.

Bray touched on the conference realignment news that broke last week and mentioned that it provides no bearing on anything this season, but he said it gives a lot of certainty for many things, such as recruiting down the road.

Bray said they cut guys loose too many times on defense, mentioning that it wasn't that opposing players beat them at the point of attack but relatively self-inflicted mistakes on forgetting fundamentals.

Bray mentioned that Oregon State WR Darrius Clemons is expected to make his season debut against the Boilermakers on Saturday. Clemons has missed the first three games with an undisclosed injury but participated in practice on Sunday.

Bray added that he's excited to get Clemons on the field with the tools that he brings and what he can do to opposing defenses.

Oregon State OL Van Wells and DB Skyler Thomas are also expected to play on Saturday. However, Jacob Strand is questionable because he suffered an undisclosed injury against the Ducks.

Bray did not provide an update on the statuses of DB Noble Thomas, OLB Olu Omtosho, or Tyree Blake ahead of Saturday's matchup against Purdue.

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