How Oregon State Improved in Year 2 Under MSU's Jonathan Smith

When Jonathan Smith got his first head coaching job at Oregon State before the 2018 season, the Beavers' program had been in serious disarray. Over the three seasons before Smith returned to his alma mater, Oregon State had gone 7-29, including a 1-11 season without a win over an FBS opponent in 2017.

This was all before a lot of the radical change in college football happened. Players transferring and becoming immediately eligible pretty much no matter what had not become normal yet, so Smith had to build Oregon State from the ground up.

Year 1 in Corvallis

Oct 27, 2018; Boulder, CO, USA; Oregon State Beavers head coach Jonathan Smith looks on during the second half against the Colorado Buffaloes at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Since Smith couldn't just load up his roster with a bunch of transfers; things were still very tough for the Beavers in 2018.

Smith's head coaching debut actually came against Ohio State, with the eventual Big Ten champs breezing past the Beavers 77-31.

Oregon State still only was able to muster two wins, one being against FCS Southern Utah and the other being an overtime victory at Colorado.

The main culprit for the Beavers' woes was the team's defense, allowing at least 34 points against every FBS team it faced and averaging a staggering 45.7 points per game, the second-worst mark in the FBS that year and dead last in the Power Five.

Year 2

Now, books probably aren't going to be written about the 2019 Oregon State Beavers, but the level of improvement that they had was pretty decent.

OSU went from a really, really bad 2-10 to a much more respectable 5-7. In Pac-12 play, the record improved from 1-8 to 4-5.

Defensively, the Beavers allowed 32.5 points per game. That's still not exactly amazing, but it's still a 13.2-point improvement from last year. Oregon State's scoring offense also improved by 5.1 points per game (26.1 to 31.2). That means that OSU's average scoring margin was 18.3 points better per game.

As a result, Oregon State was in competitive games all year. Only one of the team's seven losses was by more than two possessions (16 points or less), and three defeats came by a field goal or less.

While there really wasn't anywhere to go but up, being able to get three more wins in year two than year one is still a job well done for a head coach, especially when one couldn't overhaul a roster as much year-over-year like one can now.

Year 2 at Michigan State

Jonathan Smith | Aidan Champion, Michigan State Spartans On SI

Now, this doesn't mean MSU is going to waltz out there and go 8-4, since Oregon State won three more games in its second year under Smith's leadership. Going from two wins to five is easier than five to eight, especially since Big Ten schedules now are tougher than the Pac-12 schedules Smith generally had at Oregon State.

Still, Smith has a history of building programs from the bottom and getting some results relatively quickly. That's why MSU hired him, and it's a reason for optimism in 2025 for Spartan fans.

Keep up with all our Michigan State football content when you follow the official Spartan Nation page on Facebook, Spartan Nation, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be sure to share your expectations for MSU's game vs. Western Michigan when you join our community group, Go Green Go White, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.

Don't forget to give us a follow on X @MSUSpartansOnSI as well.