1. Thoughts and prayers out to Jake Luton. That was a scary, scary play. Reports right after the game are that Luton is able to move his arms and legs, which is excellent news. There are those who thought Luton should be benched for Garretson, and then there are those that are Luton supporters. I have to say that I have bias for Luton and have been pulling for him to be the guy since he committed last fall. I really do believe that he's the best quarterback on the roster and gives OSU a better chance to win - even more than McMaryion. But anyways, thoughts and prayers out to Luton during this time. You can't argue about the passion and leadership that he brings to this football team.
2. Washington State is just much better than Oregon State. The Beavers just aren't there yet. Washington State is a much more poised, seasoned, and complete compared to Oregon State. The scoreboard shows that OSU lost by 29, but this OSU team has talent. But the problem here is that this is year three of the Gary Andersen era, and this team should be further along than they are in the Pac-12. The blame there goes on the coaching staff.
3. Offense: It's about execution, not identity. After practice on Tuesday, offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven said this:
“Personally, I think identity is an overused term. The last two games, we’ve had nine three and outs, and whether you call that an identity crisis or not able to execute. I don’t think we have an identity issue. I think it’s an execution issue.”
After watching this game, I have to agree with him. When OSU can run the football like they did today, this offense flows well. Luton can spread the ball around and throws well on the RPO and play action passes. But moving forward, it's likely that Luton will be out for some time... So having Garretson back in there could give the Beavers a spark and a new offensive gameplan.
4. Ryan Nall is back. His 45 yard TD run was vintage Ryan Nall. He finished with 15 carries for 118 yards and 2 TD's. In the first couple of games this season, we've seen Nall bottled up for the most part and he wasn't able to break away. Today, he was able to get enough wiggle room to break off three runs of more than 10 yards, including the 45 yarder. I really liked what I saw from Nall tonight.
5. Bye week is coming at a perfect time. With the Luton injury and the Beavs looking so poorly this season, Oregon State being able to lick their wounds (quite literally and figuratively) before the UW game is huge. This team needs a "come to Jesus" moment.
6. Personnel notes.
Brandon Arnold: I do not remember him seeing him at all.
Jalen Moore: See Brandon Arnold. My guess is that the plan for him was to come back in the game, but Austin Hudson had a really good game, and Morris has established himself early this season.
Timmy Hernandez: He played in garbage time tonight. He was showcased in the CSU game - had the sweet TD catch against CSU.. He started in the slot against PSU, but didn't play after the first quarter on offense. I didn't see him last week and he played in garbage time tonight. I don't get why he doesn't play more.
Andrzej Hughes-Murray: Did anyone see him play? He didn't record a stat. He went from starting ILB to starting left bench. That big of a fall makes me question the coaching staff's ability to evaluate talent and use their personnel correctly.
Thomas Tyner: Didn't play last week with the hamstring issue nor did he play tonight.
Artavis Pierce/Tre Johnson: The Beavs used Pierce a lot in the short passing game early in the game. They actually went to Johnson in the run game before they did Pierce. Pierce started getting carries in garbage time.
Noah Togiai: He was targeted once tonight. Not sure if that was OSU's plan or if WSU just shut him down.
Cornerbacks: Again, confused by the defensive personnel this season. Kyle White was the guy opposite of Crawford most of this season, and he didn't record a stat tonight. Irvine and Crawford (which was a surprise as he was ruled out earlier this week) started at corner. Shawn Wilson played all of the game in the nickel and did well.
