Jonathan Smith Knows Bo Nix And The Oregon Ducks Offense Is Elite

Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith looks up at the scoreboard during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023, in Corvallis, Ore. Washington won 22-20. (AP Photo/Mark Ylen)

By STEVEN VAUGHAN, 750 THE GAME

The final Civil War game is coming up on Black Friday — the final game for now, as the Oregon State Beavers will be traveling to Autzen Stadium for this year’s contest.

On the field both the Beavers and Ducks have a lot to play for. But off the field both schools are trying to figure out the future of the rivalry game.

Head coach of the Oregon State Beavers Jonathan Smith joined the Bald Faced Truth and was asked if he would be open to playing the Ducks in the future. Smith says he wants a competitive schedule with Power 5 teams coming to Corvallis.

“You want to play Power 5 games at home,” Smith said on 750 The Game. “There’s a lot of logistics that go into it. You want to play a competitive schedule. There’s a lot for (AD) Scott (Barnes) and whoever else is on the other side to sort out changing schedules. In particular to Oregon, but in general I think we want to play Power 5 games and get them at home the next few years.”

The Beavers are coming off of a tough loss to Washington. But it wasn’t the fault of the Beavers defense. The Oregon State defense only gave up 20 points in the game. Smith was very complimentary of the defense in the loss.

“They played really well and even out of that 20 (points) we gave them great field position twice. And one time the defense holds them to no points and the other you practically gave them the ball in the red zone and they punched that in. It was a performance on that side that gave us a chance.”

It doesn’t get any easier for the Beavers going from facing Michael Penix Jr. to Bo Nix. The Oregon Ducks are the No. 6 team in the latest CFP rankings and Smith knows that the Oregon offense is going to give the Beavers a real challenge.

“They (Oregon) have multiple guys that are making big time impacts. The quarterback, just the command that he plays with, understanding what they’re trying to do, getting them in and out of plays, the tempo part, he’s accurate, doesn’t make bad choices with the football, but they also have a potent run game. So you complement that with a balance of pass to run. Bucky Irving is a big time player and they got more guys then just one carrying the ball.”

Oregon State is a 13 1/2 point road underdog on Friday against the Ducks according to betonline.ag.

Listen to the full interview with Jonathan Smith by clicking the podcast below. Catch the Bald Faced Truth with John Canzano weekdays 3-6 p.m. in Portland exclusively on 750 The Game.