By Brenden Slaughter
After struggling to stop Stanford’s ground and pound rushing attack last week, the OSU defense now faces a reeling UCLA squad. The word that the coaches and players have said about UCLA all week is that they are extremely athletic.
After Josh Rosen’s season ending injury, redshirt senior quarterback Mike Fafaul has taken the reins of the Bruin offense. Since the change UCLA has moved from a pro style look, to now a spread offense.
“They have a great committee of running backs and receivers,” cornerback Xavier Crawford said. “At any time they can make big plays. With Josh Rosen, they have more options in their playbook, and he knows the offense better than (Fafaul). I feel like their playbook isn’t as open with (Fafaul) in there.”
Regardless of OSU’s record this season, the Beavers still believe they can make a bowl game. There is definitely a buzz amongst coaches and players that the Beavers can win out and have a shot at a bowl. There are times where a 5-7 team is eligible to make a bowl game. The most recent example is Nebraska last season as the Cornhuskers were 5-7 and made a bowl game.
“It would mean everything (to make a bowl game),” Crawford said. “All the seniors we have on the team, it would be big to send them to a bowl game. We have been working the whole offseason grinding together and I feel like it would only be right to send them out with a bowl.
After struggling to stop Stanford’s ground and pound rushing attack last week, the OSU defense now faces a reeling UCLA squad. The word that the coaches and players have said about UCLA all week is that they are extremely athletic.
After Josh Rosen’s season ending injury, redshirt senior quarterback Mike Fafaul has taken the reins of the Bruin offense. Since the change UCLA has moved from a pro style look, to now a spread offense.
“They have a great committee of running backs and receivers,” cornerback Xavier Crawford said. “At any time they can make big plays. With Josh Rosen, they have more options in their playbook, and he knows the offense better than (Fafaul). I feel like their playbook isn’t as open with (Fafaul) in there.”
Regardless of OSU’s record this season, the Beavers still believe they can make a bowl game. There is definitely a buzz amongst coaches and players that the Beavers can win out and have a shot at a bowl. There are times where a 5-7 team is eligible to make a bowl game. The most recent example is Nebraska last season as the Cornhuskers were 5-7 and made a bowl game.
“It would mean everything (to make a bowl game),” Crawford said. “All the seniors we have on the team, it would be big to send them to a bowl game. We have been working the whole offseason grinding together and I feel like it would only be right to send them out with a bowl.
Practice Nuggets
- Seth Collins was back at wildcat in practice today. He was throwing and running and looked really good doing so. I am still waiting for the Beavers to truly unleash the dynamic athlete, and it very well could be this week against the Bruins.
- The Beavers wore orange helmets today, so look for them to rock those orange clad chrome helmets this Saturday against UCLA.
- Conor Blount looked really good today. By my count he took slightly more reps than Marcus McMaryion in the session open to the media. He had really nice footwork and presence in the pocket. I’m still a firm believer that he has the best deep ball on the team.
- With Ryan Nall out of practice again today, Artavis Pierce worked with the first unit. He continued to impress me with nice footwork and speed. If Nall is unable to go against the Bruins, Pierce will be counted on heavily.
- One thing I did notice about Blount, he wasn’t afraid to keep the ball on the zone read. Sometimes after injury players are slightly hesitant to put themselves back in harm's way, but this is not the case for Blount as he ran full speed downfield.
- Trevon Bradford and Xavier Hawkins were both with the first team taking reps with the first team with Victor Bolden not practicing in the portion open to the media.
- McMaryion didn’t garner a whole lot of highlights today, but there was one play where he had an amazing shoulder shake to look off the safety and hit Jordan Villamin for a big gain.
- Both of these quarterbacks looked very good this week. If I had to say in terms of this week who did better, I would give a slight advantage to Blount. However, I still believe McMaryion starts against UCLA. Seeing both of them play significant time against UCLA seems like a sure thing.
Injury Notes
- Ryan Nall was still in a boot after suffering a foot/ankle injury against Stanford.
- Victor Bolden was in a red no contact jersey.
Final Word
“Nebraska went 5-7 last season and went to a bowl game,” Treston Decoud said. “There is still a chance, it's a slim chance but there is a chance for us to go to a bowl game. We just gotta win. That is what it all comes down to. We have to execute.”
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