Oregon State's Top Offensive Performers against Fresno State
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Oregon State suffered a tough home loss to Fresno State on Saturday. Despite the result, there were a lot of positives on the offensive side of the ball. These were the Beavers' top offensive performers against the Bulldogs.
Trent Walker
The Oregon native turned in another stellar performance on Saturday. It wasn't only that Trent had seven receptions for 99 yards; it was more about the timeliness of his catches. Proving his ability to step up when it matters, he made numerous catches past the sticks on third down, and kept the Beavers in a game where they made a lot of mistakes. One moment in particular that stands out was a third and five in the fourth quarter with OSU trailing, where Walker carved his own path and picked up a crucial first down with yardage after the catch. Walker now has 16 receptions for 235 yards through the first two games, and has again proven to be a staple of the Oregon State offense.
Taz Reddicks
After the injury to star wideout Darrius Clemons, a lot of Beaver fans were hoping that sophomore Taz Reddicks could step up. After a rather quiet performance in the opener against Cal, Reddicks exploded for 158 receiving yards on 11 catches in Saturday's loss to Fresno. Getting himself open on all different types of routes, he demonstrated good chemistry with Quarterback Maalik Murphy, with great timing and overall coordination on routes throughout the game. If Reddicks can establish himself as a second star receiver in addition to Trent Walker, this Oregon State passing attack could continue to put up big numbers like they did on Saturday.
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Maalik Murphy
The highly-touted transfer quarterback showed why in Saturday's loss. Despite having a couple of misfires here and there, Maalik showed off his tremendous armstrength and kept the Beavers in the game with his performance under center. After a shaky opening performance against the Golden Bears, Murphy looked much more comfortable running the offense against Fresno, despite facing heavy blitzes throughout most of the game. In what has to be a good sign for Beaver fans, Murphy showed his toughness under pressure when he orchestrated a go-ahead TD drive when the Beavers were behind with less than two minutes left. Maalik finished with 371 passing yards and four TDs in the loss, and with improved protection from the offensive line, this could be a big season for the OSU quarterback.
Anthony Hankerson
Hank was a workhorse on Saturday, taking 25 of OSU's 29 halfback carries and finishing with 136 yards rushing. Like the Cal game, he didn't have a lot of big holes to run through against Fresno State, but he still managed to average over five yards a touch and burst out some first down runs. Although the Beaver running game hasn't been quite what people expected to this point, it's still early in the season, and Anthony will continue to be one of the key pieces of this offense.
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Ben Pahl is a sportswriter and broadcaster based in Portland, Oregon. His work covering college and professional sports has been featured by the Orange Media Network at Oregon State University as well as KBVR.fm. His other career stops in sports include the Portland Pickles baseball club and the NBA G-League's Rip City Remix.