Brenden Slaughter is the senior editor for BeaverBlitz, Oregon State’s 0N3 site. He exchanged five questions with Colter Nuanez.
1. What is the general perception and opinion of the Oregon State fan base about the erosion and rebuilding of the Pac 12 and Oregon State’s place within that conference and within Division I athletics?
It’s been quite the journey… Most Oregon State fans would tell you it was tough sledding when the Pac-12 fell apart, and even tougher with the Beavers largely struggling on the football field in those two quasi-independent seasons… That being said, the narrative now is that the darkest times are behind them, and they’re very optimistic about not only the football program, but the athletic department as a whole, with a semi-changing of the guard, with not only a new football coach in JaMarcus Shephard, but also a new AD in Kevin Griffin and a new MBB coach in Justin Joyner. The Beavers feel they’ll be one of the torch-bearers in the new Pac-12, and it’s certainly the most I’ve been excited about the Beavers in many years.
2. How would you describe JaMarcus Shephard and what made him the choice to be the Oregon State football coach?
Charismatic, Smart, & Energetic. Having served under some legendary coaches such as Mike Leach, Jeff Brohm, & Kalen DeBoer, Shephard is looking like a superb hire for the Beavers, and he hasn’t even won a game yet. Entering the season, the narrative was largely that the Beavers would have two really lopsided losses to Houston and Texas Tech to start the year, and just the opposite happened, with perhaps Shephard and his staff having the rebuild a little further ahead than expected. He’s really built for today’s NIL world of college football, and I expect him to find a lot of success in his coaching career. His players play extremely hard for him, people want to run through a wall for him, and that’s imprinting across the program.
3. Oregon State has had it rolling a few times – under Dennis Erickson, sometimes under Mike Riley (2006-2008 comes to mind) and under Jonathan Smith. When Oregon State does have it rolling, what’s the formula?
That’s a great question… I think it speaks to how if you don’t have a specific plan to win at Oregon State, in Corvallis, it can be a tough place to win. Dennis Erickson had the national championship cache, Mike Riley was one of the underrated coaches of his time, and Jonathan Smith was really able to tap into the multi-year rebuild with strong results on the back end. While I do think all those coaches share some similarities, each has had their own unique path toward finding success. All three believed strongly in how they were building the program and knew that the process would yield results. I think Shephard is already showing some signs he could be in that mix as well, but ultimately we’ll see how this inaugural season plays out.
4 – Oregon State is throwing for nearly 390 yards a game through two games. Tell us about the passing attack, quarterback Braden Atkinson and WR Jesse Legree.
The passing offense has seemingly exploded for Oregon State in the first two games of the JaMarcus Shephard era… Credit to offensive coordinator Mitch Dahlen as well, but to say it’s been surprising would be an understatement. We knew from talking to the coaches that Braden Atkinson had the “it” factor and some swagger and the respect of his teammates, but then seeing it as a true sophomore against two top-25 teams has been impressive. He’s a risk-taker and not afraid to really push the ball downfield. The guy largely catching the majority of his throws is true freshman wide receiver Jesse Legree, and he currently leads the nation in receiving with 376 yards. We heard good things about Legree in the offseason, but seeing this sort of arrival from an 18-year-old has been nothing short of outstanding. Considering he tallied all these receiving yards against top-25 competition, there’s a lot of excitement for what he can do this year.
5 – What is your evaluation of Oregon State up front on offense and defense? Montana head coach Bobby Kennedy said that’s his biggest worry this week. So how big of an advantage is that for the Beavers?
Good question… I’d say both the offensive and defensive lines have really improved since the Houston game… Starting on offense, that group still hasn’t quite figured out how to effectively run block, but they’ve delivered a very clean pocket for Braden Atkinson and have some solid veteran leadership and experience amongst that group. On the defensive line, there really wasn’t much push or winning those one-on-one battles in the trenches against Houston, but the group went toe-to-toe with Texas Tech’s standout offensive front, and there were some really good things to build upon there. I think entering this matchup with Montana, there are certainly some advantages in the trenches, but the Beavs have given the proper respect to Montana’s OL & DL as well…
BONUS – the spread is Oregon State -14.5. What do you think of that number, what do fans think of that number?
I think the spread is highly indicative of Montana being 3-0 and having a pretty solid squad this season… That being said, I expect Oregon State to be more in the 17-21-point range for margin of victory and see Oregon State winning this matchup 42-21…
