Ahead of the Numbers: Breaking Down the Beavers, Digit by Digit
The Oregon State Beavers, by the numbers, come off a loss to Washington State to face Washington.
5
The Beavers ran 80 offensive plays to WSU's 63. However, only 5 yards separated the teams. In a statistical oddity, the Cougars had two running plays of more than 40 yards but had just two passing plays of more than 20 yards. On the other hand, the Beavers had just three passing plays of more than 20 yards and no rush greater than 18 yards.
4
OSU's Tristian Gebbia completed 70 percent of his passes against the Cougars, going 34-of-48 for 329 yards. The Nebraska transfer, making just his second collegiate start, threw to eight different receivers. His favorite targets were Trevon Bradford and Kolby Taylor, who had 7 receptions each for a combined 128 yards. However, Gebbi was sacked 4 times and had one punt for 40 yards.
3
With his 3 rushing touchdowns, OSU tailback Jermar Jefferson looks to be back to pervious levels, when he finished third in the conference with 1,380 rushing yards and yards per carry at 5.8, and ranked fourth with 12 touchdowns, all in 2018; and he finished second in the conference with 1,527 yards from scrimmage that year.
Against WSU, Jefferson carried the ball 21 times for 120 yards. The rest of Oregon State's offense was limited to 2 yards on 10 carries.
2
After pulling within 31-20 on a Jefferson's 7-yard TD run, Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith curiously chose to attempt a 2-point conversion. It seemed unnecessary at the time and forced the Beavers to attempt another 2-point conversion on Jefferson's third TD shortly thereafter.
1
The Beavers looked like a well-coached team after committing just four penalties, not turning the ball over and managing down and distance by going 8-for-16 on third down and 1-for-1 on fourth down. The Beavers won the turnover battle 1-0 but lost the game.
