The Oregon State Beavers resume their season this week after a bye allowed some rest following a 5-2 start to the campaign. JaMarcus Shephard’s group will make the trip south for a date with the 4-3 Fresno State Bulldogs. It will be the first matchup between the two teams with both playing as members of the Pac-12 Conference.
During his media availability this week, Oregon State head coach JaMarcus Shephard noted that some of the things his team must improve before they face the Bulldogs, particularly after reviewing the film from their previous win over Washington State.
“Offensively, we wanna attack the drops, we’d been better over the previous few weeks than we were against Washington State. That also speaks to third down conversions and everything like that,” Shephard noted.”And on defense, it’s making sure we have an answer to make sure that the quarterback doesn’t get out of the pocket.Against the Cougars I actually felt like we had an answer, we just didn’t execute it to the level that we needed to. I think that when you watch the Boise State vs Washington State game, Boise did a really good job making sure the quarterback stayed in the pocket. He snuck out of there a couple times, but a couple times is a lot better than what we experienced against that team.”
Defensive coordinator Mike MacIntyre echoed that evaluation of his unit when asked about their growth since the month of September.
“I think against the run, we’ve been good against running backs running the football.You know last game we got hurt by the quarterback scrambling, but if you take that out they really didn’t have very much rushing,” MacIntyre said
Shephard also praised this week’s opponents for their success on both sides of the ball. Specifically, he noted quarterback Jayden Mandal, linebacker K’vion THunderbird, defensive back Kiontre Harris and defensive end Dylan Hampsten as names from Matt Entz’ team that could create issues.
“Coach Entz has done a really good job of helping these guys understand that those things lead to winning,” Shephard said of the Bulldogs’ culture.
MacIntyre also noted the different challenges posed by the more prominent members of Fresno State’s receiving corps. The depth of that receiving corps is another reason, MacIntyre noted, that the Beaver defense needs to improve their containment of mobile quarterbacks.
“Their quarterback, he reads things well, but they’ve also got some excellent receivers. Number five Josiah Freeman, he’s big and athletic. Then Jahlil McClain, who I think came from Louisville, he’s a really excellent player. And Ezekiel Avit, they use him a lot of different ways. I think all three of those receivers are explosive, powerful. So they just get the ball to them quickly a lot of times, and those guys are able to really run after the catch,” MacInyre said.
Offensive coordinator Mitch Dahlen, who spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons as an assistant coach at Fresno State, noted how his experience there shaped his respect for the program.
“Knowing that place really well…having a really good relationship with Pat Hill, and obviously I was there two years with [Kalen] DeBoer. So just knowing the culture of that program, it’s built on toughness and hard work, they are always gonna get the under-recruited guy who plays to a higher ceiling,” Dahlen remarked. “You know the environment there is a college football environment, I think that’s my favorite thing about the place. This is why you play college football.”
Even for a team that’s riding a two-game losing streak into this weekend, Dahlen expects a rowdy crowd on-hand to support the Bulldogs. However, he also expects his team to be ready for it. The Beavers and Bulldogs kick off Saturday at 8 PM from Valley Children’s Stadium.
“We’ll be ready for the crowd noise, and we’ll be ready for the walk past the ropes and down the hill, the guys will be ready for it. Halloween when you’re in orange and black, you can’t beat it, man.”
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