College football is about resilience and bouncing back from tough games. Tomorrow, Oregon State has a shot to get a victory over an opponent that’s beaten a power five team this year. While they have a capable offense, the Golden Hurricane also have quite a few vulnerabilities on both sides of the ball.
Put last weekend in the rearview
First and foremost, Oregon State need to be able to put the past behind them,
The loss to Sam Houston was bad, but nothing can be done about it now. Fact of the matter is that there are still two opportunities left for this group to go out and battle together. On Tuesday, Oregon State linebacker Tyree Blake told reporters that the vibe in the locker room has been positive this week, and that guys are looking forward to the next opportunity. That opportunity comes tomorrow, with a chance to get their first road win of the season.
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Make Life Difficult for Baylor Hayes
Tulsa is not good at protecting the quarterback. The Golden Hurricane have allowed 11 sacks over their last three games, and the Oregon State front seven has played well the last few weeks. The Beavers held SHSU to under 100 passing yards last weekend, and some of this can be attributed to the steady pressure that they were able to get on on the Bearkat QB. It can certainly be frustrating for a defense when their counterpart isn’t producing, as was the case in last week’s loss. However, Oregon State’s defensive unit should be playing with a lot of confidence after their performances against WSU and SHSU. If they can establish a feisty defense in the first quarter, it should help motivate the offense.
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Receivers Need to Get Open
This might seem like a fairly obvious take. But after the passing game was shut down by the lowly Sam Houston State secondary last week, I don’t think there’s a better way to phrase it. So many times last Saturday, Johnson dropped back and had solid protection up front, but just didn’t have guys open down field. The one big bright spot for the OSU offense last week was David Wells Jr., who had over 100 receiving yards. But the Beavers are going to need more than just one wideout to be effective tomorrow.
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