Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up now!
Darell Garretson’s body language told the story.
As OSU’s senior quarterback walked into the media room inside the Valley Football Center, it was obvious and apparent to everyone that the Beavers had just gotten their teeth kicked in.
The Beavers’ new starting quarterback couldn't get his offense going, and the Beavers appeared to be dejected, exhausted, and frustrated after their worst offensive performance of the season (albeit against the toughest defense they've faced this season).
Washington 42 Oregon State 7.
The score doesn’t tell the whole story. OSU’s defense, which had been called out all season, played their best game of the season, holding Washington to just seven points at the half.
It appeared that the Beavers were putting themselves in a position to pull off an upset against the Huskies. However, there was one major issue standing in the way of OSU’s Giant Killer bid - OSU couldn’t do anything on offense.
After the game, a media member noted to Andersen that it didn’t appear that the offense could get it done all night. Andersen didn’t sugarcoat his response.
“Yeah, that is being nice,” Andersen said. “That’s being extremely nice. We were dysfunctional. You have to be able to get some first downs and get some points on the board.”
In my mind, Oregon State needs a fresh start. They need to get back to the basics on offense. They need to improve in all aspects. Their passing game was supposed to be much improved this season, and they’ve arguably gotten worse. OSU’s strength this season was supposed to be their bevy of running backs, yet the Beavers haven’t found a way to consistently use them.
They’ve been less than impressive this season in all components offensively through five games; the exclamation point came against the Huskies who nearly shut out the Beavers. Washington took out all of their starters when OSU mounted their late scoring drive.
Look folks, there is no way to sugarcoat this. In my opinion, OSU’s offense lost them the game against Washington. Not their defense. Defensive coordinator Kevin Clune had a tremendous game plan for Chris Petersen’s Huskies, and if the offense would have been able to get anything going, the Beavers may have just had a chance to win this game.
However, Kevin McGiven’s offense couldn’t muster anything. And because of the lack of execution on offense, OSU’s stout defense floundered because they were on the field for nearly the entire game.
McGiven and Co. had an extra full week of preparation time for Washington and that extra time should have led to more than just one touchdown.
Plain and simple, the Beaver offense was as anemic as I’ve ever seen in my lifetime.
When I asked Andersen about who this falls on, he noted that it falls on him 100 percent because he hired the coaches.
“I’ll say it falls on me,” Andersen said. “I’m the head football coach. I’m the one who brought them here. Every bit of criticism should come my way because I hired those guys.”
As a head coach, you have to make tough decisions that are best for the team.
Right now the Beavers are lacking an identity and don’t seem to be moving in the right direction. That’s why Andersen must make a tough decision that’s best for the team.
