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Nevada vs. Oregon State: Get To Know The Beavers

Wolf Pack looking for a P5 win

Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

Nevada hosts Oregon State this weekend and to get to know the Beavers we chatted with Mike Singer who covers Oregon State for Rivals.

1. First off, how odd is it that Nevada is favorite over Oregon State, and is this a must-win game for the Beavers?

1. It’s not too odd, honestly. It’s been a few years since Oregon State has won a road game. Even though Nevada isn’t a great team, neither is Oregon State. Both teams looked good in a win against an FCS team and got blown out by a P5 team (although Ohio State > Vanderbilt). If Oregon State were at home, I’d imagine they would be a three point favorite in this contest. As for the game being a must-win, absolutely it is.

A win against Nevada would give the Beavers a ton of momentum and belief around the program. They host Arizona on September 22, and that’s now a winnable game with how bad the Wildcats have looked this season. A 3-1 start to the season would be so incredibly huge for this OSU team.

2. Jake Luton and Conor Blount are still battling it out to be the starting quarterback this week. Who do you think will get the edge and what does that player bring?

2. It’s been a very interesting year as this has been a hot topic since spring football, and that discussion continues heading into week three. I’ve been a big believer of Jake Luton from what I’ve seen from him and heard about him from those inside the program, but I have to go with Conor Blount as the starter.

I think Luton is the better quarterback, especially in the pocket, but Blount just has that “it” factor. He’s a gamer, is mobile, and the team just seems to have really good success with him at quarterback. Oregon State won for the first time in a year last Saturday with Blount starting at quarterback, and I think he should start against Nevada but should have a short leash. If he struggles, throw out Luton.

3. This Nevada offense has the potential to go off for a lot of points and yards What will the Oregon State defense try to do to make sure that does not happen?

3. Oregon State’s defense hasn’t been very impressive through two weeks, but I do think they’ve been mostly pretty vanilla scheme-wise. We know much more about the Beavers’ offense at this point than the defense.

The linebacking corps is pretty good in my mind, but the defensive line is not very good and the secondary can be suspect to allow big plays. Both Oregon State and Nevada don’t have strong defenses, it seems, so I tend to think this will be a high scoring game. It will be really interesting to see what defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar throws out against Nevada.

4. Who are the key players that Nevada must pay attention to?

4. Oregon State’s star running back Artavis Pierce will be sidelined due to injury for the Nevada game, but backup Jermar Jefferson had a monstrous performance against Southern Utah, rushing for 239 yards and four touchdowns. He is a very exciting, dynamic running back and is certainly one to pay attention to.

At receiver, Isaiah Hodgins is emerging as the go-to receiver in the intermediate passing game, whereas slot receiver Trevon Bradford is the big play guy but he is questionable for Saturday. Defensively, Kee Whetzel is a playmaking outside linebacker — strong tackler and very smart football player.

5. What is the outcome of this game?

5. In an article at BeaversEdge.com where we predicted every game before the season started, I had this Saturday down as a loss for the Beavers. Despite Oregon State being banged up offensively and having questions at quarterback, I think the Beavers’ offense will still have a solid day and be able to outscore Nevada. Call me a homer because I cover Oregon State for a living. That’s fine. But I’ll take Oregon State 34-33

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