CORVALLIS — Oregon State football struggled through a 34-15 loss to California in its season opener. The Beavers’ offense was mostly stagnant, and its defense got beat over the top on multiple occasions in the first quarter.
Coach Trent Bray addressed those and other issues in his postgame press conference Saturday night. Here is a transcript:
Opening statement:
“Defensively, got in a hole, had the ball thrown over our head too much. You can’t do it. So that was an issue. I was happy with the way they responded. And we did some good things in the last three quarters of game, but we dug yourselves a hole, so, it was hard to dig back out against a team like Cal.”
On the struggle to run the ball:
“Yeah, I think, but we had some ball handling issues from quarterback to center. Just not clean. Same thing in the block. We had guys running through the line of scrimmage too much. This just wasn’t a clean game, not what we were looking for.”
On whether he can share more about Exodus Ayers’ status:
“No, I’m not going to do that.”
On the first penalty:
“That was very disappointing, because it wasn’t the player’s fault. We start the game out three-and-out, make them punt, that’s a different game. But unacceptable, that’s really all it is. Changed the whole momentum of the game. Can’t happen.”
On Nikko Taylor’s performance:
“Nikko’s a good player. And he’s going to make more plays. But he wasn’t alone. There were times where we were in the backfield and had a chance to make tackles for loss, and we didn’t. So we got to go back as players, coaches and teach how to make those plays better and then execute how to make those plays better, because there was some production in the backfield as far as hitting those guys behind the line of scrimmage.
On going for two, down 24-9:
“That’s just analytics, when you have to go for two and when you don’t. That’s what the analytics called for there.”
On Maalik Murphy’s debut:
“I’m going to have to watch the film to give you a correct answer on that one. Right now, the emotion of just being done with it, I’m not very happy with anything. I don’t want to grade a guy without seeing why.”
On the biggest lesson or takeaway from today:
“We talked about it before the game, it was about us and our execution. They didn’t do anything that we weren’t expecting them to do. They did a lot of the things we practiced against our own offense, and the same on defense. It’s just a lack of execution, for whatever that reason was. Making the game too big, I’m not sure. That’s what we need to really dive into, and it’s going to take great teaching and coaching to get those things so they don’t victimize us in the next game. That’s the challenge to the coaches and players moving forward.”
On Trey Glasper’s performance, and him getting beat over the top:
“That’s gonna happen to freshmen. He got forced to play when he did, and he did some good stuff. Early he got the ball thrown over his head, and that’s just going to be a lesson learned. That’s the thing about corner. You’re going to get beat at times and you’re going to have some games where it’s not great. You’ve got to be like a goldfish and just forget about it. Learn from it, how can I have been better on the line of scrimmage so that didn’t happen? But the good thing about those is he was in position to have a chance to make a play. Now, he has to finish that play. And that’s where his game will jump. He didn’t feel like he was beat just being run by. It was contested catches. Credit to the Cal receivers for making it difficult.
On flushing this game and preparing for Fresno State:
“You put it to bed tomorrow, and see what we did well and what we’ve got to do better. What we learn that can make us better. Those are the three questions we have to ask ourselves every day, and we’ve got to ask ourselves that tomorrow when we watch the film.”
Next game: Oregon State (0-1) vs. Fresno State (1-1)
- When: Saturday, Sept. 6
- Time: 12:30 p.m. Saturday
- Where: Reser Stadium, Corvallis
- TV: CW Network
— Ryan Clarke covers the Oregon State Beavers for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at RClarke@Oregonian.com or on Twitter/X: @RyanTClarke. Find him on Bluesky: @ryantclarke.bsky.social.
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