These Are The Games Jonathan Smith Envisioned When He Took The Oregon State Job
By STEVEN VAUGHAN, 750 THE GAME
When Jonathan Smith took the head coaching job at Oregon State, there was not a lot of hope. The Beavers were coming off of a Gary Andersen era where the Beavers were 7-23 under his tutelage.
There wasn’t a lot of hope, but at least the Beavers were in the Pac-12. Now it’s a different story.
Jonathan Smith has turned the program around and the Beavers are ranked No. 11 in the latest CFP rankings. Oregon State is one of the best team in the nation, but the Pac-12 is falling apart right in front of their eyes.
On Tuesday, Oregon State and Washington State got good news regarding the Pac-12 in court. The court in Whitman County has ruled in favor of Oregon State and Washington State to be the sole members of the Pac-12 Board of Governors moving forward. That should mean more money comes in to Corvallis to maybe try and keep Jonathan Smith.
Oregon State says they have a plan and have talked to Smith about it. Smith joined John Canzano on the Bald Faced Truth where Canzano asked Smith if the head coach likes the plan he has been presented with.
“Yesterday (Tuesday) was a big day to continue to progress on putting this thing together,” said Smith on 750 The Game. “A competitive schedule next year. It’s not finalized yet, but the people we’re talking to and the teams we’re considering. We feel like that will be a competitive schedule. The funding part. We are going to continue to fund at a Power 5 level and that was a huge decision yesterday (Tuesday) to continue to be able to do that.”
On the field the Beavers have their toughest game to date against the No. 5 Washington Huskies. Jonathan Smith knows that the Washington offense is very explosive. It’s going to be about how the players handle those situations.
“They’re going to make some plays,” Smith said. “They’re going to score some points just like each week. It happens. We talk about it the same way. Say we take a little bit of a lead. How are we going to respond to being in the lead? Are we going to get comfortable? Are we going to get a little cocky? These games are long. Four quarters, a lot of momentum swings and we got to be the bet to handle that.”
The goal was to be able to play big time football games once Jonathan Smith got to Corvallis. It may have happened sooner then most thought. But Smith knows this is why he was brought to Oregon State.
“I wanted meaningful stuff,” said Smith. “Really good opponent. Home field advantage yes, but these guys haven’t lost a game all year. These are the kinds of games you want to play or coach in. The excitement leading up. Then you got to kick off and play.”
Oregon State is a 2-point favorite at home over Washington according to betonline.ag.
Listen to the full interview with Oregon State head football coach 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.
