Home Football LA Bowl Oregon State vs Utah State (Game Thread)

LA Bowl Oregon State vs Utah State (Game Thread)

By
angry
-
578

I’m going 42-35 good guys.

Let’s have some early fun. List your pre-game ritual and a bizarre prediction or two for the game.

Pre-game: Ordering Italian subs from a local shop.

Bizarre predictions: Colletto scores 3TDs, kisses a milf in the stands after the 3rd one. The game features no punts or field goals, leading Jonathan Smith to jizz in his pants on the sideline!

578 COMMENTS

  3. 2
    5

    Beavs overwhelmed by bright lights, big city plus Smith misuses analytics again to cause a 31-28 loss. Sorry still don’t believe the Beavs have fully arrived.

    Happy Holidays to all of you and your families.

    Reply
  5. 2
    1

    Pregame: I get a growler, quickly consume it before the game to numb the pain. Most games i tape and start watching 30-60 minutes later to avoid commercials. Won’t today.
    Prediction: I’ll be buzzed and watch the Beavs win 37-31. Colleto throws a TD,and there will be a pick six for one team.

    Reply
  6. 2
    1

    PREDICTION: OSU 34, Utah St 31
    CONFIDENCE: Low
    GAMETIME MEAL: Steak
    BIZARRE: Smith will go for a 4th and 2 on our own 42 and not make it early in the 2nd half. A Colleto 4th and 2 from our 48 is successfully in the 4th quarter and sets up our go-ahead and winning drive.

    Think Chance will throw one pick and came is mostly back and forth and pretty close. Beavs will definitely be well served by scoring first if they want to win. Baylor needs to have some breakout runs of 10-15 yards and get over 110 yards total for a Beav win. Have Beavs making 2 FGs this game so can’t be missing the 30-43 yard variety.

    Reply
  8. 1
    1

    Pre-game: Homemade jalapeno/veggie burritos washed down with Deschutes Red Chair…(chilled glass!)

    Bizarre predictions:
    Lindgren, signaling likely departure, snatches JS analytics chart and tosses it to Simon Sandberg who rips it in two and eats it, followed by his imitation of Kimmel’s vomiting camel.
    Champ part of a KO return for TD; laterals to Colletto after bowling over two Utah St defenders.

    Reply
  9. 10
    2

    Bizarre Prediction: GA runs onto the field right before kick-off and screams “I’m the fucking coach of both these teams”. The start of the game is delayed 10 minutes while he is put on a gurney and pushed off the field. Suspiciously one cheerleader from each team runs over and gives him a quick kiss goodbye.

    I can’t eat during the broadcasts, too nervous. I may occasionally sip lukewarm water and mutter “luck o’ the beavs”

    Reply
  10. 2

    Listen to the future: Josh Worden sitting in for Ron Callan today. I like Callan a lot, he’s in Hawaii with WBB, but Worden needs a place on the broadcast team, watch out Jon Warren! And, down the road Mike Parker!

    Reply
  12. 3

    Beavs overwhelmed by slow start and specter of GA. JS with the shakes by halftime has his gambling begins to takeover going into halftime. Halftime show is GA and Urban Meyer “dancing” with the cheerleaders — MILFs rush the field, and Colletto joins in mistakenly making-out with JS’ wife, all delaying the start of the second half by 20 minutes.
    USU 37 – Beavs 33

    Reply
  15. 4
    1

    Home smoked pork butt pizza and Red Chair beer.
    Beav’s 37-28. I found a Beaver Believer sticker cleaning out a closet today….has to be a good sign.
    Beav’s take advantage of the hyper aggressive D with tons of screens and then go smash mouth.

    Reply
  28. 1

    Are they supposed to be good? I’m not sure they even put a defense out there on the first drive lol

    Sample size, long game, etc etc etc…that was 0% resistance.

    Reply
  32. 1

    We’ve been in a base dime 4-2-5. Interesting approach to this offense. Like to see that Bray is adapting to the offense vs trying to force a square peg.

    Reply

    • Yeah he transferred last year. He could never break through the depth chart. He got a shot starting when JJ and Baylor were hurt and got shutdown pretty bad.

      Reply
    • 1

      It’s not really that bad. Offense is rough. Defense is alright considering how dynamic their offense is. Refs are pretty shit.

      Reply
  109. 2

    Backup QB so they’ll go to Tyler more than usual, allowing him to have a revenge game. Most defense would go after a QB with no experience and challenge him to make plays. Guess we aren’t interested in that.

    Reply
  116. 1

    I notice we’re not getting the usual holding calls tonight. I also notice the line is getting blown right by every play. Coincidence?

    Reply
  118. 7
    1

    Can we stop calling a loss before halftime. People do it in here every game and they are wrong more than 50% of the time this year. It’s so dumb

    Reply
    • 1

      Last drive more pressure bull rushing their lineman and closing in the pocket. I’m fine if lindgren leaves. Offense has become worse. Kipper can leave for the draft early and I’d be fine with that too.

      Reply
  126. 1

    Disappointing that the Beavers haven’t seemed to get any better over the last several weeks, and haven’t figured out how to play on the road. They peaked about 5-6 weeks into season?

    Getting to a low tier bowl game and struggling against a non-P5 team w/a backup QB is absurd.

    Reply
  127. 1

    Penalties screwed up our offensive flow. Coach M better be chewing em out at halftime.
    Absolutely need a three and out after halftime.

    Reply
  128. 3

    Really miss having a star receiver. Watching them
    Reminds me of how nice it was to have Hodgins, Cooks, Wheaton, Rodgers, Stroughter, Hass and Newsome. Practically 15 years of reliable excellence.

    Reply
  129. 1

    So all of a sudden JS goes completely conservative? 19 seconds, not bad field position, two time-outs, and that weird play? God, I hope he’s not given up on the line being able to protect Nolan. More than enough time to get into field goal range.

    Reply
    • 1

      Well, hard to predict since bray is an unknown. If I was calling it I would go 1 high safety and double cover Thompkins and then rush 5-7 every down to shut down the run and rattle the bench warmer. On offense I would tear the whole OLine a new asshole and then run hb dive 30 times in a row.

      Reply
  171. 2

    Hayes hitting that 60 yarder was the worst thing that could have ever happened. Now Smith seems to think he’s going to make it every time. He’s proven to be extremely inconsistent. Big leg, horribly inaccurate.

    Reply
    • 2

      Hardly anyone would have wanted a Bray hire after this bowl game. Back to back times he has not showed up and been pretty awful.

      Now we are stuck with him when he didn’t earn it on the field. I hate decisions like that where we are stuck with something for years because a decision maker couldn’t wait a few more days and let the game be a Final Interview. If this was a final in college it would be a D or D- effort so far tonight.

      Reply
  183. 1

    This staff has some clear perks but serious problems. Going to be handicapped every season. Confidence interval might be more than Riley’s cap. Probably +/-3 instead of 2. Higher highs, lower lows.

    Reply
  184. 1

    My concern with this team is there aren’t a lot of holes there’s just a really low ceiling. Need some of these guys to graduate or get out of the way and upgrade the talent.

    Reply
  185. 6

    The secondary is poor and the offensive ine is dominated. Not sure Bray is why Grant gets smoked all day and Wright thinks he is playing street ball.

    Reply
    • 2

      Exactly. We’re blitzing on close to 50% of snaps, but the guys rushing aren’t good and the secondary isn’t good enough to make up for it. This isn’t on Bray.

      Reply

  187. Called it for he second half…out coached, out played and just fucking out classed. I’m predicting as the beavers now get pass happy that we will see a pick six. I called 31-20 above but I think it will be worse.

    Reply
  188. 3

    Beavs need an attitude adjustment and some D linemen…Bray is puking all over the field. How do you watch USU bring 7-8 each snap and then play a 2 deep zone with no pressure against a first time qb?

    Ridiculous. Probably 20 guys on this site that could scheme better in game than what we’ve seen all year form this defensive staff…

    Reply

  190. That look to the sideline fake play is something I mentioned several weeks ago. Been waiting for that, had hoped the Beavs would be the one to spring it.

    Reply
  202. 2

    I’m still enjoying it because it’s the last football I’ll see until September. That’s about all this has going for it.
    Big takeaway from this game is more bad decisions and management. Players come out flat too often, too.

    Reply
  233. 1

    You need 17 and you go for a short screen…4th and 12 and didn’t get it. Go fucking forward not lateral to the Los. Game over. 31-13.

    Reply
    • 1

      Who gives a crap. This game was over at half time like I commented earlier. How effing bad is the pac12 anyway. The conference might get shutout in bowl games.

      Reply
  239. 6

    What am embarrassing loss 13 effing points, that’s 13! I’m out of here. Effing beavers piss away a game they should have been jazzed about.

    Reply
    • 7

      It was over when USU went up 24-10.

      Didn’t like the matchup and had it as a loss anyways.

      Credit to Utah St. They are/were clearly the better team

      Reply
    • 3
      3

      Bray called a good game. Huge blitz variety and we held a good offense to 24 points while constantly fighting a losing field position battle.

      Reply
      • 1
        1

        RU kidding me. The beavers were dominated at the LOS on both sides of the ball. and 24 with a backup QB who’d never taken a snap or thrown a pass before tonight’s game.

        Reply
      • 1

        Was 31 points until ball fumbled on 1 inch line and a scrum in end zone luckily went Beavs way. How many yards of offense did we give up? Had to be around 450 yards. Was nothing special on D. Bray got more aggressive in 2nd half when game was pretty much already going to be very hard to win. Offense was stagnant and lots of dumb penalties on both sides of the ball. D grade is pretty generous for the overall coaching job done by OSU tonight.

        Reply
  257. 4
    1

    JS is self described as not a rah rah guy. He seems really bad at getting his guys ready to play if they can’t win without the home atmosphere and we can all reliably call when they’ll come out flat in games where they’re favored or evenly matched.

    Another example of him being a good program manager but a bad gameday coach.

    Reply
  258. 13

    What an an absolute collapse this season has been. 4-1, playing with confidence and poise in all phases. Where did it all go wrong? Was it just fool’s good because USC and Washington weren’t good? Did the media coverage get to the player’s heads? Talks about Rose Bowls and winning the North were getting way too heated way too early in hindsight. 2022 is a massive season. If major disappointment comes again we are in serious trouble.

    The biggest questions that have to be answered this off-season:

    1. What’s the plan on defense? I’m not sure I love the Bray hire. The scheme has got to change. I’m really tired of watching RBs slice through our 3 men down line with ease every single game.
    2. QB battle. I’m out on Nolan. Inaccurate, indecisive, and not a leader. Who can step up and take that job and be solid in that role?
    3. This team’s toughness. Throwing punches in the last two games, not looking ready to play in almost every road game this year, failure to adjust and fight back against adversity. These are alarming things that feel like they fall mostly on the coaches.

    I would not have imagined 2 months ago I would end up being overall really disappointed with this season, but here we are.

    Reply
  260. 9

    This loss was almost completely on the OL, which is crazy because they pretty much made this season for us. Tons of penalties, terrible pass pro, drives where they got dominated on running plays. It was very uncharacteristic.

    If our typical OL showed up, we would have won.

    Reply
  262. 8

    My kid says ‘I spent 30 hours on a bus for that?’

    Lame effort by the beavs.

    Not impressed with our new DC

    There’s always next year, again

    Reply
  263. 1
    2

    As usual totally nailed it! Yea me!

    $2,000,000 a year just doesn’t go as far as it used to.. pathetic effort.

    O…S….U….!!! Wave arms in the arm as letters until; tired, embarrassed or bored.

    Reply
  267. 8

    The only thing that makes sense about the team is that we lose when we shouldn’t. Packages, personnel, schemes, decision making, analytics, staffing and perpetration are all just shit. Is it just a rule that the beavs have to always fail? Fuck

    Reply
      • 3

        Lolol! The thing that makes zero sense is why isn’t Gould in every play. The guy is a massive mismatch at this level. He has the speed to get open on any crossing route unless they play a heavy zone. If they play a heavy zone run game rips teams to pieces. Makes zero sense and it drives me nuts.

        On the defensive side we lack talent so we should call the game recklessly. Yes you get burned more but you apply pressure by sending more dudes. Yeah great nfl teams and bama don’t have too but they have the damn talent.

        I’ve never played a snap in my life and I could design better scheme and packages.

        Reply
  268. 11
    1

    The best part of this game was the first 3 plays – it was all downhill after that. Nolan cannot be the starter next year – that’s a fact. Normally you would expect the QB to improve through the season – if anything, this guy regressed. As far as Bray, can we rescind the DC tag after that performance? The THIRD STRING QB beat us! What a shitty way to end what was a somewhat promising season – how we even went 7-6 is anyone’s guess.

    Reply
        • 8
          1

          I’ll give bray a year to make changes. Nolan should probably go if he wants to play. It would actually be in everyone’s best interest if he just moved on. It would force Smith to develop the younger QBs sooner.

          Reply
          • 2
            1

            With regards to Nolan, I agree. He has reached as far as he is going to go in this league – he knows it too, and you could see it in his eyes on the sidelines after he threw that last pick. He has done some things okay, but in the PAC 12, you need to be successful in all phases. I want us to have the shifty QB that the defense can’t defend against.

            Reply
  270. 5
    1

    This disaster reminds me of the 1999 season, all the excitement of ending the 27 game losing streak and then losing to the Quacks and ending with an uninspiring bowl performance against a very mediocre Hawaii team to finish the season on a serious down note. Can we hope for another leap forward next year? I don’t know, maybe that’s where the similarities end.

    Reply

    • Don’t forget about Riley jumping ship too, so he can go coach the Chargers and ‘tutor’ Ryan Leaf – ’cause he is a good QB coach and all! Well we got Erickson and went and beat Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl the next year. I’m not so sure we get the ‘happy ending’ after this loss, though.

      Reply
      • 3
        1

        Hey, maybe Smith gets the Jacksonville job and DE comes back!

        Riley left after the 1998 season. DE coached the first winning season in 27 years.

        Reply
        • 1

          That’s right – the farther out it gets, the more hazy my memory is. I DO remember the year that Riley ‘almost’ had a winning season, I think we went 6-6, the Athletic Dept. automatically took it upon itself to raise season ticket prices – dramatically. The BASF was developed and it was then I had to give up my season tickets.

          Reply
          • 1

            Smilin’ Mike went 5-6 in 1998 but beat the Quacks. They also had two one-point losses. OSU football was so bad back then that Riley’s two-year record of 8-14 got him a head coaching job in the NFL!

            Reply
  272. 6
    1

    I know everyone wants to gut the defensive staff, but the offensive staff was just as bad, if not worse. Bray only had 3 games to be DC this year, not even a real offseason. Our OC has been here for years, and he scored…6 unscripted points.

    (for those that don’t know, the first drive of each half is scripted/practiced before the game, which gives it a much higher scoring ratio than the rest of the game).

    6 points is atrocious. And literally every thread for every game this year was filled with complaints about bad playcalling. Maybe that’s endemic, no matter who the coordinator, what the team is, everyone hates playcalling. But the playcalling on offense was bad, period, and that’s not on Nolan. With that line, and that running game, play calling should have been an afterthought.

    I’d be gutting the offensive staff before the defensive one. Makes me wonder if JS was more involved in the scripted drives, since he wasn’t playcalling. And maybe he should be.

    Reply
    • 1

      lindgren needs to finds some hobbies or something to do when he needs to burn some energy rather than just calling whatever plays. Totally agree with your thoughts. And often times the offense out the defense in tough spots through out the year.
      There are so many “weapons” on offense that none could get in a rhythm. Need to focus on a few guys to be on the field as receivers for most of the game.

      Reply
  273. 7
    2

    How do you win the turn over battle, gain more yardage, time of possession, and still lose??? — penalties baby!!!! Reminds of the 2005 Seahawks mopping the floor with the Steelers and still lost.
    This coaching staff needs a serious reevaluation of players and personnel. I would take the slower smarter player who actually learns from his mistakes at this point. The dumb 3-4 star athlete may look the part , but he makes mistakes/penalties all game costing valuable yardage and field position. What you saw tonight was a collective shitshow of idiots, from the coaching staff to the players, to Jimmy Kimmel, and myself the fan for watching this loaf of shit.

    Reply

    • First downs: U.State, 27, Beavs 23….but, first downs by penalty: U.State 6, Beavs 2
      Average per pass attempt equal, 8 apiece; average per rush: U State 2.5, Beavs 4.2

      Reply
    • 2

      OSU has slower players?!?

      This team better to hope there are some RFR or true FR coming in to make a difference in terms of both speed and intelligence on D next year. Otherwise, its a 4-5 win season.

      Reply
  274. 4

    Thoughts from the game here in LA.

    Defense was ok, Wright is not near ready for the nfl. He and grant got burnt a lot. Austin seemed to play really good. The lack of real speed up front is a glaring weakness

    Offense had a really bad night. Play calling had no rhythm and beating the dead horse, but switching out receivers every play is not beneficial. It does not allow the qb and receivers to get in any sort of a groove. I have no idea why we do that, drives me crazy. Nolan needs to work on deep balls, seems like he lacks arm strength, as everything is so rainbowed in.

    Utah state offense is fun to watch. They remind me of wsu. Really good play calling and defensive very aggressive. I like their coaching.

    There is no way that the oline should win the best line in the country after this game. Such a large size advantage for Beavs. They looked physically so much bigger but somehow they were the ones being physically dominated.

    Reply
  275. 6

    If JS doesn’t care to win at WSU, why should the rest of the tema care to win in the games that also matter? I agree 100% with Angry on his diagnosis of the turning point for the year. It is no surprise that Beavs lose this one I guess. WSU and USU play very similar styles of offense and defense.

    The undersized wreckless aggressive attacking defense full of attitude seems to not be a trait the Beavs can mimic or defeat. How we beat Utah is now mystifying actually. Utah is asking themselves the same question.

    So many things to be frustrated about with this program. Of course they hire the wrong guy for DC too soon, give JS an extension too soon.

    4-1 start ends with a 3-5 end. JS has returned to his average over the last 2 months of the season. I’m not convinced he is a winning coach at this point. Beavs are a punchline again.
    I would be sad for the players, but they looked just as disinterested as the coaching staff apparently was. It looked like the coaches were still on their recruiting trips and didn’t arrive back for the game.
    How do you know you will lose? If it is a first time qb.
    How do know the Beavs will collapse? When the game is nationally televised.

    Reply
    • 2

      Cheer up! Look at the schedule for next year; two MtnWest teams to start (both likely better than USU) then the likely FCS champ, followed by USC and then Utah in Salt Lake City. See any wins there??

      Reply
      • 3

        Yes Beavs should win the first 3. Utah state is a good team and a lot better right now than boise or Fresno will be next season, especially weeks 1&2.

        Usc is a tbd but going to be tough, and @ Utah is definitely the most likely loss of the 5. Never know though until you see the product on the field

        Reply
  276. 11
    2

    This is about as good as its going to get under Smith. We laugh at Cristo being a win cap when he was at UO, but Smith is a win cap of 3 games, plus he has a less talented roster. 7 wins is about mean+ for Smith. Give it more time (the AD will) and see.

    I don’t mind OSU losing if they get play well and get beat by a team that outperforms them. But showing up under-motivated, always getting torched by FR or back up QBs (really!?!?), and having their coaching staff take them out of games by either going away from their strengths or stupid gambling calls is just unacceptable when there are alternative uses of a viewers time. The scattershot approach with WRs is maddening, and I won’t blame the talented ones for entering the glory hole.

    This was THE year to do something special. Don’t forget, its been 20(!) years since OSU’s had a meaningful bowl win. 20. It remains an outlier on the program’s record.

    OSU might want to take WSU’s approach in the future after Smith’s Riley-esque, drawn out exit. WSU has actually had a much better modern history of of success than an OSU team with arguably fewer recruiting disadvantages.

    I’m not watching this team next year (which should feature 5 wins max, 6 with some lucky breaks). Fall days are incredible and there’s too much to do. If this site is still going, I’ll continue to check in and monitor here. Really, the people on this site are the only reason I continue to follow OSU sports. I enjoy the perspectives, insight, and humor.

    Reply
    • 2
      2

      We met some friends down at the brewery tonight and the second half of the game was on. That’s the first OSU FB I’ve watched in two seasons and I’m glad I didn’t pay for it, or anything else related to this program. It’s a shit product and it’s not worth any of my money or a second of my time that could be spent doing something more productive or entertaining.

      Like you’re planning, I follow this site and maybe glance at the game tracker if it’s convenient.

      Reply

    • Already got my hunting license for ID and a tag, so I know what I will be doing for a couple of weeks in OCT. Unless the games are aired over shortwave, I won’t have a clue what is going on – probably better for the blood pressure this way; I get way too over-invested in this crap and it has been that way since ’79. At my age, I have a vision of myself with a Beaver pennant in one hand and beer in the other, stroked out in my leather chair with the PAXC 12 network blaring in the background! That’s not really how I want to go….

      Reply
  278. 6
    1

    Okay guys, this is a guy that is going to bare his effing soul right now at 12:33 on Dec 19, 2021. After that piece of shit performance, I went to one of my preferred watering holes where live music was playing, danced with some nice women, took four shots of tequila, smoked some weed, and could give a horse shit about the beavers right now. I’m fucking fucked up at the moment and they can kiss my royal a$$ over tonight’s pussy a$$ performance. That was effing embarrassing. When someone challenges your manhood and you just.lay down and just take it up…..,well, you get what you deserve. If you can’t man up when it’s needed, when can you stand up under real adversity in real life? It’s one thing to put out your best effort and lose, but when you fail to respect yourself enough to do that, you’ve already conceded to failure. I’m embarrassed for the beavers bc I know they are much better than that. You guys let yourselve’s down tonight and that should be motivation for next year. Post script….i know some of you might not appreciate the tone, but please remember that I’m wasted right now and I might not even sure I’ll remember making this comment tomorrow. I think I have to go puke right now bc 4 shots of tequila on an empty stomach and weed on top of it, my head is effing spinning. Good effing night my beaver brethren.

    Reply
  279. 1

    Well, I guess it’s on to basketball season. I love watching a coach who is able to conjure a little magic every 3-4 years but other than that has been extremely underwhelming.

    Reply
  280. 10
    1

    Everyone calling for Bray’s head already is way off. By just about every measure the defense has been better the last 4 games:
    -Opponent points per game
    -Opponent yards per play
    -Sacks per game
    -Tackling percentage
    -PFF team defensive rating (including our two best individual game scores of the season outside of Idaho)
    -There was more blitzing and more variety of blitzing.

    This was all without our best defensive player.

    Reply
    • 4

      I agree. Time will tell if he’s the right guy or not but already he’s done more to shake things up in his few games than what Tibs did in 4 years. Also, 2 games on the road where the entire team and coaching staff in general have shit the bed all year outside of USC. We knew there were deficiencies on defense and there’s not much he can do with limited time to address that but he was at least doing things Tibs never tried.

      D Line needs to improve and the secondary…ouch. Wright isn’t that good and I’m actually torn on him leaving or not. He clearly needs more PT if he wants to go pro but I don’t know if him staying truly benefits the beavs but I guess from a pure experience level it would be hard to replace and perhaps he makes a big leap like his brother did with a 2nd year of starting play. We definitely missed Julian and Arnold looked much improved this bowl game so perhaps that position is going to be OK. As much as Grant is a great person, teammate, etc he seemed like an avg college player.

      Will be interesting to see how many players hit the portal now that the bowl game is over. Just spit balling here but my guess is 4-6 and I could see a few of them being players that should’ve garnered more PT this year. Someone like Gould and I wouldn’t be surprised to see an RB or 2 xfer.

      Reply
      • 1

        Gould led all WR’s in snaps last night and he’s in line to be #1 with Bradford leaving. It would be weird to see him leave.

        Fenwick’s probably gone after not seeing any time in the bowl. He has NFL aspirations and it’s clear he’s not going to be #1 here.

        Reply
    • 2

      It’s the offense that drives me crazy. Considering we have a top offense statistically watching it is frustrating. It’s inconsistent, personnel choices are all over the place and the play calls often ignore our strengths and the situation. I don’t get the Lindgren is great thing. His offense play calls are reminiscent of a good NFL team and completely ignores the fact that we don’t have the caliber of player to pull them off.

      The wide receiver rotation madness reminds me of the ducks rb rotation under chip so that they always had fresh legs. The difference is chips offense was very simple. Lindgren got fresh legs but the wideouts are running technically challenging routes and have no feel for what the defenders are capable of. If it’s an innovation it’s a dumb one.

      Reply
      • 2
        1

        Lindgren is creative, not obsessively committed to one system and has done a pretty good job utilizing the variety of personnel weapons we have. I give him a lot of leeway on play calling because so much of that is subjective. You can make an argument for all sorts of different calls in any given situation.

        The Noyer decision is the biggest strike against him, but he reversed course quickly, and who knows what they were seeing in camp. Nolan looked just as bad in the limited fall scrimmage time we saw.

        Really the only things that held back the offense this year were Nolan’s inability to throw deep balls and the OL’s Jekyl and Hyde act. We still had a top 20 offense. Nolan played close to his ceiling, Baylor was 1st team all-PAC, and the OL was one of the best in the country. I feel pretty good about that.

        Reply
        • 6

          Took the entire season to run a bubble screen. Didn’t run a draw all game despite the massive outside pressure, no adjustment to get the rb outside the DE’s. Over 400 yards and 13 points. That’s not good play calling and none of those issues were limited by Nolan.

          Where are the simple crossing routes? They were playing man to man most of the night and the only routes he used to combat it was deep balls and bubble screen. His offense is great when the defense does what he wants but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that you can get open with limited arm strength if your receiver is faster than the defender guarding him. Where’s the underneath routes? Delays? Double moves to the inside?

          The adjustments are too complicated and don’t fit the qb. I will say he did a decent job considering Nolan was probably our 4th string qb starting the season barring injury.

          Reply
          • 2

            If you have the guts go back and watch some of Goulds Routes. He had one catch in the first quarter on an in route where the db read the route and played it perfect but Gould just absolutely torched him. If the ball had been delivered up and ahead he may have taken that 9 yard pass 50 yards. He’s an incredible weapon but we’re just not utilizing him correctly. He’s running hodgins routes when he should be running crossing, posts and streaks.

            Reply
          • 2

            Coaches just are asking him to do the wrong thing. He is on lots and lots of complicated routes where his speed is actually a problem. He had one out/in route (kinda looks like the top of Oklahoma) where he runs up the field does a stutter move to the outside then cuts in across the field about 12 yards deep. He blew right past the corner and got back to the safety before he had back peddled more than 4 strides. He did his stutter and cut in and by then the db has recovered and crash’s the inside route underneath. That route typically takes 5 seconds to develop and the key is that the db stays infront of the wide out and bites on the stutter to the outside giving the wideout a free run to the inside across the field. The safety isn’t even involved when that route is ran correctly because you typically have a slot or TE streaking or doing an inside post that the safety has to respect. Gould does the whole damn route in about 3 seconds and somehow ends up double covered. It leaves the streaker on a good 1 on 1 but Nolan can’t hit a deep ball so the whole thing is fucked.

            So why bother with that shit? Do the exact same play and put Gould on a deep slant. He runs 7 yards, db is already shitting his pants trying to cover a deep route and he cuts inside wide open until he hits a lb zone. The whole route would take about 2 seconds before he’s open and the only way to stop it is to have a lb or safety doing an outside tight zone across the route.

            It’s a very fast and simple read for a qb. All you do is look for a lb or safety crashing down across the route, if they don’t then you throw it hard to Gould and watch him run. Plus the streaker then becomes a blocker. I like the odds of Gould wide open 9 yards deep with TQ introducing himself to the safety.

            Reply
          • 1

            Definitely needed more screens, but they did run more as the season went on. We averaged 3 per game, which is around what UCLA ran, a little less than Utah, and about half of what Nike ran. We’re on the low end with the talent we have on those kinds of plays. Not sure I trust our OL to run many draw plays with as questionable as our pass blocking was at times.

            An honest question because I don’t know: at what point have you maxed out the number of plays in your playbook? We do a lot of different things and it may be Lindgren feels like he has the weapons he needs for different situations they’re going to face.

            Reply
          • 1

            The thing with the screens is we are a run first offense so teams are going to load the box. We faced 6-8 in the box all year. When you have that much pressure focused on the run you need to do things to put them on their back feet. We do play action but Nolan’s arm lacks the accuracy and strength for that to work with the routes we run. You are totally right that a big accurate arm would have been absolutely devastating down field because we got a TON of 1 on 1 coverage deep all year off play action. If you don’t have the player to pull that off then you need to be creative with screens. A more telling stat would be rushes/screens per game. We also had very few designed screens to wideouts and tight ends. TQ can be a devastating weapon on a shovel or inside screen. He doesn’t like getting tackled and will happily let a safety or LB know all about it.

            Our offense should be closer to what Nick Foles did at Arizona or Colt Brennan did at Hawaii when Nolan is back he QB. Granted both of those guys were more accurate than Nolan but they also thrived in the 3-12 yard passing game where timing and design can be devastating if you have a strong run game. Instead we have been pretty stubbornly asking Nolan to hit outside deep posts, streaks and double moves which he simply does not have the ability to be consistent with. That’s why Lindgren bothers me, he isn’t adjusting for the biggest cog to the offenses ability.

            Nolan can be very effective in short timing routes, screens, roll outs and he has wheels. His drawbacks are slow/incomplete reads and arm ability. So give him simple routes are here he has some space so he gets 2-3 reads max and then runs for it. If they start spying him then all the better, hand it off and roll him out to confuse the Spy and take a man out of the run defense.

            I just don’t see how this is hard to figure out or execute.

            Reply
        • 7

          And I appreciate all of that, but here we are on national television just stinking it up in front of a national audience! No question that the play-by-play folks were hard for USU – that’s all I heard about other than we had the “best offensive line in the country”. Where was it? It’s not a good look. Have to believe some of the ‘early signers’ may be having buyers remorse. This team has to make it count when it counts. A little emotion out of JS wouldn’t be bad, too. I get the under emotion, heady coach with arms folded schtick, but I wouldn’t mind seeing him jump around a little on the sidelines as if he was really into the game – I think players feed off that – “Hey, coach is pissed, maybe we should kick it up a notch!”.

          Reply
          • 3

            He needs to (a) figure out the flaws and limitations of statistics and (b) figure out how to get his team ready to play on the road, from the opening kickoff. Figure both out and you have an elite coach. Figure neither out, and you have an average coach with a +/-3 confidence interval (higher highs, lower lows).

            Reply
  281. 4

    Good news about last night’s loss, we have MBB and off to a blistering hot 1-10 start. I’m not sure it could be worse right now for beaver nation…i got drunk last night but at least I didn’t crap my big boy pants unlike the beavers did. I don’t drink very often but watching the beavers all year long put me in the drinking mood…im glad the season is done bc last night’s loss makes it feel a lot like a losing season record.

    Reply
  282. 5

    Morning after Grades for LA Bowl:

    Smith: D- (62/100)
    Lindgren: F (58/100)
    Bray: D (65/100)
    Oline: F (59/100)
    QB: D+ (67/100)
    RB: D (63/100)
    Receivers: D (64/100)
    Dline: D+ (69/100)
    Linebackers: D (64/100)
    Secondary: D (66/100)

    Reply
    • 3

      W/a QB who apparently hadn’t thrown a pass in a game all season. Pathetic. He apparently knew the offense and could throw the ball to receivers. What a concept. Whenever OSU faces a FR or backup QB, they act like that player has some unique skill set that cannot be accounted for by a defense with more experienced players.

      Smith post-game last night: “Now here this! We’re done.”

      The coaching staff should have had to take the bus back, the band should have got to fly.

      Reply
      • 2

        Did their qb look at all confused or unsure? Beavs made him look like Aaron Rodgers

        But you have to give that kid credit, he played well.

        Anyone here confident that a beav qb sitting on the bench in that game would have performed as well?

        Reply

        • “Anyone here confident that a beav qb sitting on the bench in that game would have performed as well?”

          No. I expect the staff would dumb down the plays and essentially cede the game.

          I do suspect Vidlak would be a gamer, but I suspect he’s too light right now and needs to gain some weight and perhaps some arm strength.

          Reply

        • Well, what we had on the bench was a 5th string true freshman and Noyer who is 1st string but should probably just be given velcro shoes causes strings ain’t his thing.

          Gubranson/Gebbia as starter we might be in better shape off the bench for a 3rd string.

          Reply
        • 1

          No, but’s not like we will ever find out either…I wouldn’t have minded if Noyer came in for a series or two just to see if someone else could light a spark with these guys. What could have been the harm?

          Reply
  284. 3

    Too bad we can’t get all three phases to show when it counts, either on the road or neutral site — ASU probably the best played game all season, but a home game. This loss isn’t as bad as the Alamo bowl, but it is up there. USU’s defensive end had 5 tackles for loss and three sacks — reluctance to run or shift the ball away from this guy just shows lack of in-game innovation by the coaching staff — serving up the meat on a platter with long developing passing plays we all know haven’t worked for most of the season. Like many here have commented, WTF are they thinking???? Where were the fly sweeps, or option fakes, HB toss/sweep, etc. — not playing to the teams strengths and forcing the ball into the opponent’s strengths. USU showed some innovative play calling with the trick plays, etc. Gotta give Bray some credit as there has been level-up improvement, but clearly not enough to swing important games in the Beavs favor — with Jimmy Lake on the table, the administration missed a huge opportunity to go from a D-C grade defensive coordinator to a B-A grade hire. I will be about as emotionally invested in the next season as JS was standing on the sidelines with his arms crossed and vanilla look on his face.

    Reply
    • 1

      “USU’s defensive end had 5 tackles for loss and three sacks ”

      And they TELL you they’re coming for that! They don’t hide it a bit.

      I think not getting Lake was a potentially missed opportunity to see eventual upgrades in Dline and Secondary talent (where he seems to excel). Maybe Lake wouldn’t want to come to OSU, maybe he just wants to cruise on his buyout money a while, but FFS, try.

      Reply
  285. 8

    What a shit show last night. Team looked like they could show up and win. Scoring first was the worst outcome for that mindset.
    The team was undisciplined and demonstrated a maddening lack of focus. They needed an ass chewing on the sideline by the HC. We got MR vs DE.
    Actually we got the DE penalties w/o the fire and talent to overcome them. JS looked like the captain of the Titanic last night. Hopelessly resigned to his fate.
    Lindgren is good overall, but he has called some turd games and last night was a mighty steaming pile! I was amazed they did not go hurry up in the 2nd half. That would have prevented the D from subbing and allow our bigger OL lean on their smaller but quicker DL and eventually turn their advantage into a disadvantage. Wright was a one man wrecking crew with his penalties. WTF is he thinking?
    Bowl game losses suck so bad. Kills all the enthusiasm for the next season. Once again another “what if “ for Beav sports. Hopefully my Gophers can deliver a bowl victory…

    Reply

    • Concur on all points except Wright, dude has played like that all year. He is allowed to because coaches a) have no one better behind him, b) hope he will learn to play less handsy c) don’t care

      Reply

    • You get the sense that they know what is going on, but in-game psyche themselves out — too complicated on scheme or substitutions? Players can’t keep up? Coaches can’t keep up?
      I can see Lindgren thinking to himself, “The opponent knows we will try to combat this with play “X”, so I’m going to do the opposite….but that might be too obvious so we’ll do the opposite of that….to catch them off guard”….isn’t the opposite of the opposite just the damn vanilla play the team expects in the first place….like trying to out guess the opponent and coming full circle, probably some math behind it too….using a perceived “negative” play to outsmart the perceived oncoming “negative” play. “We’ll run right at that DE, he surly won’t see it coming this time since he got us for a loss last play….we’ll go right at ‘em!” The context of this link isn’t the same, but it gets into the same ballpark, reverse coaching and opposite think….you would think the coaches would say to themselves, “Nothing we are doing is working, so we have to do the opposite….or at least give another approach a fair chance to succeed”….and leave it there, KISS method for crying out loud!!!
      https://wgcoaching.com/reverse-coaching-coaching-in-reverse/

      Reply
  287. 5

    And when I say the limitations of statistical sheets, I’m talking about the fact there’s a big difference between Ohio State or Michigan going for 4th down conversions compared with Oregon State. Smith just sees the 4th down conversion rate and thinks it doesn’t depend on all those variables that go into being Ohio State or Michigan, including a usually much inferior opponent with undersized defenders, etc. Think how much Oregon under Chip skewed that conversation rate, for example. If he wants a more accurate representation of the actual rate, he should look at the bottom 50% schools and their rate of success going for 4th downs. That’s just one thing. There are many other problems with just going off a stat sheet. I should probably make a post about this because it seems lost on many here, despite AB generally being a smart bunch.

    Reply
    • 3

      100% correct. Their analytics are not based on their own average performance but averages that include other teams. This is fine if you are as good or better than most teams but we aren’t. Also the strengths of our offense don’t match up with great teams either. Our analytics should be showing that Jack gets 8 snaps a game just to soften up the DL for everyone else. Thats not going to show up on any sheet. Our stats should also show that Hayes has a great leg but can’t hit anything on an angle. So a 3rd and short should just be Colletto running over some linebackers to the center of the field to maximize potential outcomes. You aren’t gonna find that statistic on any national, conference, division or other sports stat sheet but anyone who knows the team should know its gonna either end up as a first down or a fg at about 90% rate.

      Its mind boggling for a school with a decent math department.

      Reply
  288. 3

    I didn’t expect Beavers to win. Too much Jimmy Kimmel, too many ads, too much blather. I tuned out at the beginning of the 2nd half. Earlier in the day MSU Bobcats are unexpectedly in the FCS championship. Snow piled high, rabid fans, a baby-faced freshman qb from Butte (where else?) who tore up the field. The first-year Montana State coach, Brent Vigen,, was an assistant at Wyoming. It was fun even on tv.
    Off topic. Is OSU ever going to acquire a President? Maybe someone who cares about the athletic department?

    Reply
    • 1

      Childhood buddy was at the game and said it was a blast. Told me about the QB and I warned him about the kid getting poached in the Portal if he plays like that next season.

      I am currently in negotiations to become OSU Prez. Seemed like a good time to break the news…
      My platform involves free beer at Reser.

      Reply
    • 1

      We’ll get to see all that and more up close and personal next year at Reser! I remember when Boise State beat the Beavs for their first PAC 10 win-ever and I’m sure Montana State will be able to remember what Montana did to the U of W this year, too. This transfer portal thing has brought parity to the football world. I could swear that most of USU’s players all started out “somewhere” else and transferred in; were there really any actual players recruited to USU starting last night?
      I’m already not liking the schedule for next year and can see us 0-5 or 1-4 early on, very easily. I hope we get some things figured out in the off-season.

      Reply
      • 2

        I think I read that Utah St had 40-some new players this season. That’s how you go from being non-competitive in the Mountain West and the coach fired mid-season to winning the championship one year later. Anderson brought several of Arkansas State’s best players with him, but ironically Bonner didn’t even matter against the Beavs pathetic effort last night.

        Reply

        • I’m really looking forward to the first college football team made up entirely of ‘mercenaries’ that were recruited by one school, but go on to play for ‘Mercenary U’ – you all know it’s coming!

          Reply
  289. 4

    Canazano called out the team for being uninspired for 59 minutes, and not playing on the road/neutral sites all year.

    I don’t care much for him, but hopefully Smith et al see that and are publicly shamed…

    Reply
  290. 8

    We held USU to 24 points. We outgained them in total yds and had the ball longer than them. We won the turnover battle. Any other game this year with those stats is a W. But then you look at our 13 points and it’s the lowest of the season. Add in the 91 yds in penalties and you’ve got a team that showed up undisciplined and unable to adapt the offense to complete drives. I would say Bray did a decent job with what he had. I would point the finger mostly at Lindgren and Smith for this loss. If we score close to our average for the year, we win that game.

    Reply
      • 2

        An average appearance by the O would have made this game a toss-up….possibly a win —you have to accept it all, or fall into the realm of just confirming your own bias.

        Reply
  291. 4

    Regarding Nolan, I thought it was interesting that McElroy mentioned two, maybe three times that if Nolan had delivered the ball up around the facemask there would have been good YAC possibilities for the receivers. It looks to me like Nolan’s ball sort of floats, it gets there but the receiver has to wait or go low to make the reception. Earlier in the season, I thought his arm strength was ok, but now I’m not sure. I like Gebbia to get his job back next season, but who knows with this staff.

    Reply
    • 1

      He also had wide open receivers at least twice on plays where he escaped a sack and threw it away toward a receiver. He found the open guy every time, he just made the conservative decision and sailed it instead of going for the completion.

      Reply

    • Or it’s badly overthrown.

      His best deep ball of the season was the 2nd play of the game. Hit the receiver in stride for once.

      Until that improves, there’s no reason for the opponent to have two deep safeties. They’ll dare Nolan/OSU to beat them deep because he can’t make those throws.

      I really hope Gebbia is healthy next fall or Gulbranson/Vidak can make a push for the starting job.

      Nolan is serviceable/average at best.

      He can light up bad defenses but so far that is his ceiling.

      Reply
  292. 3

    OlyBeav mentioned emotion up above. We’ve got one, maybe two, coaches who get fired up. And neither one of them is Smith.
    Bray and Blue seem to show that they care. Coach M, as great as he is, isn’t easy to figure out; but he allowed his guys to really let down last night.

    Scheming, analytics, going for it on fourth; they’re all interesting and important, but Dennis Erickson type of emotion (even with a few “effort/swagger” penalties) is sorely needed.

    Hope y’all recover quickly from whatever you did to settle down after last nights fiasco (lookin’ at you 2021), Christmas is coming, enjoy those you hold dear and take a break from FB.
    Oh yeah, WBB streamed by the school, 7pm tonight.

    Reply
  293. 5

    Another thing while I’m ticked off. Hayes needs to get his shit together. 10/15 does not cut it! With that kind of leg, he needs to hit 85% next season. I’m tired of his lazy misses. There was no pressure on that attempt last night. I’m not saying it made a difference, but 24-16 is a one-score game. And his miss in OT against CU did make a difference.

    Reply
    • 2

      66%. He would be in the bottom of the NFL, only better than two other kickers, one of which is named Chris Blewitt. Seriously? No one convinced that guy to consider a different profession with a name like that??

      Reply
  296. 4

    Smith’s record at OSU is 17-38. Winning only about 30% folks. What a stinker of a game when fanbase actually cared. So bad on so many levels across the board.

    Reply

  297. OOB asked about OL snap counts.

    Levengood was back and rotated with Brewer and Fuaga came in for either Kipper or Gray for a few snaps. I wonder if that was punitive for penalties?

    Reply

  298. Ended up missing the game because of family/holiday stuff.
    Planned to watch today, but maybe nor worth it?
    Whats the quick and dirty recap? Too pass happy? Cant stop a true frosh qv in his first game again? Too hungover frim partying all week up to game time?

    Reply
  299. 4

    I nearly threw my phone at the tv screen watching Musgrave’s boneheaded 4th down play.

    How long until they begin floating that Nolan hurt his shoulder around game 5 to explain some of his poor throws, but then why call deep outs the rest of the year…JS and Lindgren are on the hot seat, Bray is in the doghouse and has a lot to prove that he is the right guy.

    Reply
    • 1
      1

      He’s always been innacurate. Receivers routinely have to adjust since he rarely puts the ball in the numbers. I don’t know if he can get better. I’d like having him as a backup just because he clearly knows the offense – but Beavs starters have traditionally had pro potential and I don’t see it with Nolan.

      Better than Bo Nix though….

      Reply
  300. 2

    I’m kind of glad the Beavs feel unsatisfied with the season. They took a step, but still have work to do. They lost their first bowl game after the epic draught as well – and that was irritating. Not saying they’ll be in the Fiesta Bowl next season, but I think they’ll be hungry and won’t leave wins on the table like they did this year. They need fewer stupid plays.
    I was thinking of my golf game listening yesterday. I think of my golf game as being every great shot I hit and don’t understand the cruddy shots I hit. The truth is – they are BOTH my golf game. And until you eliminate the bad penalties and decisions and poor execution – you won’t be able to be that “good” Beaver team we saw at times this season.

    Reply
  301. 1
    3

    TQ headed to the draft.
    Kindof figured he was a possibility just because he’d be attractive for his frame and blocking, plus decent hands

    Reply
  303. 2
    2

    Speaking of quarterbacks, sounds like Gebbia is healing nicely and Gulbranson was throwing as of October. I expect one of those 2 to win the job next fall. Nolan is a solid backup, but a backup level QB nonetheless imo.

    Reply
  305. 2
    2

    WBB looking good tonight vs N Iowa and lead 38-24 halftime. Only 5 turnovers so far and playing solid defense. N Iowa is 7-3 on the season so they’re a decent opponent.

    Reply
  306. 1

    One last interesting note on the bowl game:

    “WORTH NOTING: Utah State had three first-half sacks, more than Oregon State had given up in a game this season. The Beavers didn’t give up a sack in the final three games of the regular season, and only 10 through 12 games.”

    I didn’t realize OSU didn’t give up a sack in their last 3 PAC games?

    I wonder if next year others will take the same approach until OSU can stop it?

    Reply
  307. 2

    Wonder how many Yuck fans trashed all over Bo Nix when they played auburn a few seasons back who now or probably saying he’s the best qb in the nation and will get them to the Ship next season? Why does I get the feeling that it’s probably all of them? Lol.

    Reply

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