The Beavers (1-2) end up on the wrong end of a back and forth seesaw affair against Nevada (2-1) by way of a missed kick by Jordan Choukair. BeaversEdge breaks down the good and the bad from OSU’s tight loss in Reno.

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- OSU’s mix of two QB’s. While the Beavers weren’t able to come out on the winning side of this matchup with Nevada, there’s no doubting the ability of both Jake Luton and Conor Blount, who both had very solid performances on the day. Smith has been saying for the last few weeks that he feels the Beavers have two QB’s and today proved it as Luton (23-of-35, 284 yards, 1 TD) and Blount (12-of-20, 175 yards, 1 TD) turned in strong performances.

- Second half defensive effort. After allowing 30 points in the first half and missing numerous assignments and tackles, Tim Tibesar’s defense came out a completely different unit in the second half and showed massive signs of growth. OSU allowed just seven points after the halftime intermission and did so by putting pressure on the QB and being extremely physical at the line of scrimmage and in the secondary

- Time of possession. OSU controlled the clock in this contest as the Beavers held the ball for 34:47 compared to 25:13 for the Wolfpack. Winning the time of possession is something Jonathan Smith and Co. have placed a high emphasis on and the Beavers executed in that regard in this contest. Oregon State ran 96 plays compared to Nevada's 67 and outgained them 540-357 in total yardage.

- Timmy Hernandez and Isaiah Hodgins. One of the bright spots of this contest was the play of receivers Timmy Hernandez and Isaiah Hodgins, who both went wild against the Wolfpack. Hodgins (14 rec, 200 yards, 2 TD’s) and Hernandez (11 rec, 116 yards) exploded against the Wolfpack secondary and will be bright spot for the Beavers moving forward. If OSU can have an air attack like this with the ground game they’ve already established, watch out for this Beaver offense.

- 4th down conversions. OSU converted all three of its fourth down attempts, including the most important of the night -- late in fourth quarter when Conor Blount was able to extend a fourth and 10 play and find Hodgins for a big first down. Notoriously, the Beavers had been very predictable in previous years on fourth down plays and kudos to offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren for keeping the defense guessing on fourth downs.

- Jermar Jefferson. In his first start in place of the injured Artavis Pierce, freshman running back Jermar Jefferson turned in another impressive performance in just his third college game as he carried the ball 25 times for 106 yards and two touchdowns. With AP on the shelf for at least three more weeks, look the Beavers to continue to feed Jefferson.

- Kicking. Well there’s no way around this one. OSU’s kicking in this contest cost them a chance at the win. This will be a game to forget for junior kicker Jordan Choukair as he went 0-of-2, including a miss from 34 yards that would have won the game. This is disappointing on the kicking front for the Beavers as just several weeks ago, Choukair went 6-of-6 in the teams’ final scrimmage in Bend; this even prompted Smith to say that Choukair was a weapon the Beavers were very comfortable with from 55 yards and in.

- Sacks allowed. While the Beavers did a lot of good things on offense today, one of the more discouraging stats of the day is that the Beavers allowed five sacks. OSU’s offensive line didn’t do a great job of pass protection in this contest as both Luton and Blount were often times running for their lives in the pocket. The OSU run blocking has been very good this season, but the pass protection still remains an issue that offensive line coach Jim Michalczik will have to address.

- Turnovers. Often times, whoever wins the turnover battle usually wins the game and today that just happened to be the case. Despite the Beavers putting themselves in a position to win the game late, OSU coughed the ball up three times, including a strip sack of Conor Blount that the Wolfpack took back for a score. Take away the turnovers and the Beavers most likely win this game.

- 1st half defense. While the Beavers did end up coming back and nearly winning the contest, OSU’s defense in the first half was not good. Shades of 2017 showed in the first half as the Beavers missed numerous tackles and assignments en-route to allowing 30 points and 220 yards. The Beavers absolutely flipped the script in the second half, but it’s never easy to climb out a 30-7 hole. OSU’s defense has to come out ready to play next week against Arizona.