Oregon State hoping to snap Pac-12 skid
The losses are piling up, but first-year Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith remains optimistic that his struggling team is only a few plays away from getting things on the right track.
Better put, the Beavers are a few tackles away from doing so, since that’s been one of their biggest issues this season.
“We’ve got to be able to tackle better,” Smith said Monday during his weekly press conference. “I do think the effort continues to show up, I think these guys are working. But it still comes down to our execution, for a longer period of time, that we keep working on.”
In losing 52-24 at Arizona State, their 11th straight Pac-12 Conference game and 15th in a row to an FBS school, OSU (1-4, 0-2) again showed flashes of a much-improved team but also one that still has a ways to go to be truly competitive.
The Beavers were once again torched on the ground, allowing 396 rushing yards (including 312 to one player) a week after they yielded 442 to Arizona. For the season, OSU is giving up 303.4 rushing yards per game, third-worst in FBS.
Thankfully the opposing rush attack won’t be nearly as strong this week. When OSU hosts Washington State (4-1, 1-1) on Saturday it will be facing a team that ran for zero yards in its last game.
But while the Cougars average just 66.2 rushing yards per game they lead the nation in passing, throwing for 410.4 yards per game with 15 touchdowns. Quarterback Gardner Minshew has thrown for 1,992 yards and 14 TDs on 67.8 percent passing.
With WSU so adept in its Air Raid passing game, the onus will be on Oregon State to get pressure on the pocket. That has been an issue this season, registering only five sacks and five quarterback hurries.
“I think it’s a work in progress. It’s not where we want it,” Smith said of the pass rush. “I think we’ve had some flashes of when we get pressure on the quarterback.