BeaversEdge - 5 Takeaways From Oregon State's 38-28 Loss To Washington State

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With the Oregon State football team (0-1, 0-1 Pac-12) dropping its season-opener against Washington State (1-0, 0-1) 38-28, BeaversEdge.com gives you five important takeaways.

MORE: WATCH: Beavers Break Down WSU Loss

1. New year, same defensive results

If you thought Oregon State’s defense had turned the corner in the offseason and was going to make a statement to open the 2020 season against the Cougars, you were flat out wrong.

The Oregon State defense looked like the defense that they had been fielding for the better part of the 2010’s decade rather than the defense we’ve heard all about this offseason.

The Beavers had been talking up their unit across the board for the better part of a month now that they had experience, depth, and talent, but none of it mattered as they let true-freshman quarterback Jayden de Laura do just about anything he desired.

While the defense had their moments, it wasn’t even close to good enough as the Cougars racked up 456 yards of total offense and were able to settle into a nice rythym against the Beaver defense. It seemed like WSU’s coaching staff really had defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar’s number for the majority of the contest and that’s why de Laura was able to help lead the upset.

But what stings perhaps the most on defense was the rushing yards allowed and the number of missed tackles along the way. Oregon State has one of the better linebacker groups in the country, yet they let WSU rack up 229 yards on the ground, 147 by Deon McIntosh in his first career start in place of Max Borghi.

All in all, this is a flush game for the Beavers across the board, but particuarly on defense. They’ve got to look in the mirror and figure out how not to let this season slip away on that side of the ball…

2. The 3rd Quarter was BRUTAL

If you want to look to a part of the game where the contest was won and lost, look no further than the third quarter. Coming out of the halftime break, the Beavers were slated to get the ball on the kickoff, trailing just 14-7.

What ensued certainly cost the Beavers the game as they proceeded to have two-three and outs on their opening drives of the second half, while Washington State was able to score two touchdowns and effectively put the game out of reach. To add insult to injury, the punts on those two three and outs were awful, setting the Cougars up in perfect scoring position each time.

While quarterback Tristan Gebbia was able to find his rhythm as the game went along, throwing for 329 yards and a score, he can’t have those two drives to open the second half when you’re right there go for nothing.

You’ve got to be ready to go coming out of the halftime break, especially when you’re down, and even more so when you’re down at home to open the season. Coming out so flat and not being effective in the second half right away and losing that crucial momentum is just as much on the coaching staff as it is on the players…

3. Jermar Jefferson rounding into midseason form

If there was one glowingly bright spot in the Beavers’ loss to Washington State, it was the re-emergence of running back Jermar Jefferson.

After being hampered by injuries and then splitting the backfield duties with Artavis Pierce once he did return to the field, Jefferson looked every bit like the Freshman All-American he was in 2018 against the Cougars.

‘Munchie’ as he’s called by the coaching staff and his teammates, carried the ball 21 times for 120 yards and three touchdowns, while also adding five receptions for 50 yards.

At times where the offense didn’t even look like they belonged on the field, Jefferson was the gift that kept on giving as he was nearly able to will the Beavers back into this ball game.

Given how the offensive script of this game played out, I’d look for the Beavers to circle the wagons in the next week and really look to establish Jefferson early and often to set up the play-action passing game.

Oregon State has a special running back in Jefferson, now they’ve just got to figure out how to utilize his skill set to keep the offense humming on a consistent basis this season.

4. Oregon State didn’t rise to the occasion

From the perspective of someone who was in the press box watching the game live, it just didn’t seem like the Beavers were able to match the intensity that the Cougars were playing with throughout the game.

I wouldn’t necessarily say that the Beavers weren’t ready to play, but rather that the Cougars were able to punch them in the mouth several times, on both sides of the ball, and really zap their positive momentum.

The Beavers had their moments and were able to string together good drives on both offense and defense throughout different portions of the contest, but all their negative-type stuff came at the absolute worst time and the Cougars capitalized.

Credit has to be given to Nick Rolovich and Co. because simply put, they were able to come into Reser Stadium and completely dictate terms.

Once the Beavers had a few drives and got behind, there was nothing they could do to slow down the Run N Shoot as the Cougars knew the Beavers would be pinning their ears back trying to force a turnover or get a stop.

Without fans in the stadium, you’re really going to have to make your own energy out there and I didn’t like what I saw from the Beavers. You could tell that they were missing that extra juice on both sides of the ball and perhaps the lack of fans had something to do with it.

5. The road ahead won’t be any easier

Given that Washington State on paper was supposed to be one of the “easier” opponents, this loss brings real question toward whether or not the Beavers will be able to find any sort of measurable success when it comes to wins and losses.

I’d been saying for the past couple of weeks that if the Beavers didn’t win week one that it could be a really, really long season, and until we see some dramatic improvement, that’s exactly where this season is heading.

Up next is a matchup with the Washington Huskies in Seattle and given that they weren’t able to start their season this weekend, they’ll be plenty motivated to start off the year strong against the Beavers.

While it’s important to remember that this is just one game, the Beavers had an eternity to prepare for this game, and the fact that they couldn’t slow down a true-freshman QB making his first career start tells me that they’ve got some serious issues that need to be corrected.

The Beavers fought till the bitter end against the Cougars and I’ve got to tip my cap to them for never giving up, but the bottom line is that the Beavers 100 percent should have been more prepared for this contest.