Oregon State Looking To Fix Some Mistakes On Offense Against Washington State

Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith throws during warm ups prior to an NCAA college football game against Colorado on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in Corvallis, Ore. Oregon State won 42-9. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

By STEVEN VAUGHAN, 750 THE GAME

Oregon State is 3-0 but nothing is perfect. In the Beavers latest 26-9 win over San Diego State, DJ Uiagalelei was only 14-30 passing with two interceptions. The Beavers also ended up attempting three field goals.

Head coach Jonathan Smith joined John Canzano on Wednesday and contextualized some of the issues he saw from the Beavers offense.

“We left some meat on the bone after watching the film and some of that was a missed throw or two,” Smith said on 750 The Game. “Miscommunication where we’re a couple of choice routes where a guy has a choice to go different directions, and it wasn’t the right choice by the route runner and we’re throwing incompletions right there.”

With the Pac-12 being so deep this season, converting touchdowns on offense will be incredibly important. Coach Smith knows that field goals might get it done against a team like San Diego State, but when you get into Pac-12 play, not scoring touchdowns will be a problem.

“Ultimately when you score 26 points, we left a lot out there on some drives where we kicked a couple of field goals,” Smith said. “We had some opportunities for big plays to separate the thing earlier than we did.”

Washington State is also 3-0 and is playing at home at Martin Stadium – a place the Beavers haven’t won in their past four meetings. The Cougars are one of the most improved teams from last season led by their quarterback Cam Ward. Jonathan Smith knows a thing or two about playing the quarterback position, and he told Canzano that Ward is much better from last season.

“This quarterback is better I think from last year. You can see how confident he is. The ball is coming out. They got a couple of guys on the outside that can make you miss in space and create space offensively with their formations and their tempo they go with. So this is a good team.”

Fox will be in Pullman covering the Oregon State vs. Washington State game on Saturday. It may be the most competitive Pac-12 game this weekend. And it may be the only “Pac-12” game next season. But Smith isn’t worried about next season — he knows that this game will be huge for this year and he needs his offense to be great.

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