A little ‘friction,’ but Beaver offense keeps things in the Catbird Seat

AJ Newberry hurdles Washington State’s Jaylen Thomas en route to an 88-yard touchdown reception in Oregon State’s 48-30 victory (courtesy Karl Maasdam/OSU sports communications)

CORVALLIS — There were some overthrows by the quarterback, some drops by the receivers. Some problems on third down, a few untimely penalties. A botched fair catch on a kickoff return that resulted with a possession starting at the eight-yard line. And a lot of production from an opposing quarterback who hadn’t played a down of college football coming in.

The result of all of that was a 48-30 victory over Washington State Saturday before a sellout Reser Stadium crowd of 39,257, Oregon State’s fifth in a row in this season of Renaissance for the soul and enjoyment of Beaver Nation.

The Beavers lead the Pac-12 with a 3-0 conference record and have become a darling of the national press in JaMarcus Shephard’s maiden voyage as a head coach, a turnaround of major proportions after a 2025 season full of despair.

Yet such has been the standard of excellence this season that Shephard’s post-game comments carried a trace of lament and just a pinch of pique in his team’s performance against the Cougars, now 1-6 this season.

“We experienced some real friction,” Shephard said. “Some of it was caused by (the Cougars) and some of it was caused by ourselves. We needed it, though. Going into the bye (next weekend), this is a real good opportunity for our team to do some self-assessment. We can’t get caught up in the story line, because that’s just not the game itself.”

The primary source of the “friction” Shephard referenced was Owen Eshelman, a 6-3, 205-pound redshirt freshman QB. Eshelman was making his collegiate debut in place of sophomore Caden Pinnick, who had started Wazzu’s first six games. Eshelman started slowly but gained traction as the game wore on, finishing 32 of 49 passing for 289 yards and two touchdowns while scrambling for 149 yards on a dozen carries.

“I didn’t want to let (Eshelman) get out of the pocket and run with his feet as much as he did,” Shephard said afterward. “That was the only thing that would start to give him a little bit of confidence, and their team some confidence. Sure enough, he squirmed out of there a couple of times. … I have to give kudos to him. The kid did a good job finding ways to get out of the pocket. He found ways to find creases, and he ran. Those are the things that gave them life and confidence.”

Eshelman benefited from the fact that Oregon State had no game video of his on-field talents.

“We knew from the scouting that we had done that he was going to be mobile, and that he was a bit more of an active quarterback (than Pinnick),” said OSU defensive tackle Takari Hickle, who had an outstanding game with seven tackles, three tackles-for-loss, 2 1/2 sacks and a quarterback hurry. No game video “is different from being able to hear and see and actually going against somebody. He was a tough competitor.”

Oregon State’s lead was never seriously threatened, though Wazzu trimmed what was once a 41-16 deficit to 41-30 with 3:59 remaining on a 20-yard TD reception by Branden Ganashaamorthy, who caught 11 balls for 147 yards. The ensuing on-side kick failed and the Beavers sealed the win on Cornell Hatcher’s 16-yard TD run with 1:16 to play.

“We stayed resilient throughout the game,” Shephard said. “Our guys kept clawing and fighting. They stayed in attack mode.”

Indeed, Oregon State’s offense was too much for the Wazzu defense coordinated by Trent Bray, the former OSU linebacker, D-coordinator and head coach who lost the latter job after an 0-7 start last season. The Beavers piled up 208 yards rushing, 347 yards passing and 555 yards total offense on an historic day of explosive plays.

Quarterback Braden Atkinson was on the throwing end of two of the four longest passing plays in Beaver lore — a 90-yard first-quarter bomb to the fleetest of freshmen, Jesse Legree, and a second-quarter screen pass to running back AJ Newberry, who took it to the house from 88 yards to the delight of the Reser partisans.

Never before had there been a pair of Beaver aerials so long in a single game. On Oct. 14, 2000, in a 38-6 home victory over Stanford, Jonathan Smith went deep twice — for 97 yards to Chad Johnson, for 76 yards to T.J. Houshmandzadeh. The other long pass play in the record books was also courtesy of Smith, to Roddy Tompkins for 90 yards against Washington in 1998.

Atkinson had some missed throws, especially early, but finished 23 of 38 passing for 347 yards and three TDs with no interceptions. The 6-1, 210-pound sophomore has bettered 300 yards in all seven games, matching Sean Mannion’s school record. Atkinson has 24 TD passes, on pace to break Mannion’s single-season record of 37. And Atkinson’s numbers include only three interceptions. Mannion had 15 during the 2013 campaign.

Atkinson now leads the nation by a considerable margin in both passing yardage (2,604) and touchdown passes (24). Yet because he has been so consistently outstanding, few were talking about his play after Saturday’s game.

Legree finished with eight catches for 108 yards on an odd day in which the other seven receptions totaled only 18 yards. The 5-10, 170-pound Baltimore ball-buster is the national leader in receiving yardage (1,040) and TD receptions (14), ahead of Heisman Trophy favorite Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State. Legree had a couple of drops Saturday, however, and Atkinson missed him on a deep ball that would have added plenty to the yardage total.

Saturday’s offensive star was Newberry, the transfer from Vanderbilt who entered the game with the modest season rushing totals of 326 yards and three touchdowns through six games. The 6-1, 200-pound senior carried 11 times for 105 yards and hauled in five passes for 120 yards and the long score. Newberry became the first OSU running back with 100 yards receiving since Terrell Ward in 2013, and the first with 100 yards both running and receiving since Steven Jackson in 2003.

“I challenged him to run behind his pads better,” Shephard said. “He looked like a man possessed at times out there today. That was a special experience watching him play that way.”

Newberry’s dash with the screen pass was special. He took the ball up the left side and at one point hurdled Wazzu safety Jaylen Thomas on his way to paydirt, giving Oregon State a 27-3 advantage.

“I really wanted to cut across his face and go the other way,” Newberry said, “but when I saw him fall, instincts just kicked in. I stepped over him.”

After a slow start with the ground game, Oregon State has averaged 210 yards and three touchdowns rushing the past three games. Newberry said the team goal is 250 yards, four TDs and a 6.5-yard-per-carry average per contest.

“We are setting the standards pretty high,” he said, “but we try hard to achieve those goals.”

Among those helping toward that effort is a budding fan favorite — Jake Reichle, the younger brother of Zach Reichle, a starter on OSU’s Elite Eight basketball team in 2021. The 6-2, 225-pound senior from Lakeridge High has taken on a role that reminds of former Beaver Jack “Jack-Hammer” Colletto, who won the Paul Hornung Award as the nation’s most versatile player as a senior in 2022. Reichle redshirted as a freshman that season, so he got to witness Colletto’s talents first-hand.

“Those are some big shoes to fill,” Reichle said with a smile when I offered the comparison. “I appreciate that you guys are seeing me like that. I was always a big fan of his, even though I played with him. If I can be like that for us, that’s cool.”

Versatile veteran Jake Reichle is becoming the “Jake-Hammer” for Oregon State’s powerful offensive attack

Like Colletto, Reichle is a stalwart on special teams. Like Colletto, he bashes through the line like a battering ram on short-yardage plays. The “Jake-Hammer” scored on a pair of one-yard runs Saturday and finished with 20 yards on six carries. He is clearly a favorite of Shephard’s.

“When he runs the ball, there is a fire that is ignited on our sideline, in the stadium,” the OSU coach said. “It comes from the pit of my stomach as soon as I see him carry the ball. He looks like one of those old-school running backs. He is willing to run through a brick wall.”

Newberry, Reichle and Hatcher (10 carries, 68 yards) want to ensure that the Oregon State offense isn’t one-dimensional.

“We have a chip on our shoulder every week,” Reichle said. “We may have started (the season) a little slow, but we are trying to be better. We want (offensive coordinator Mitch Dahlen) to call plays for us to run. We don’t want to pass all the time. We are using that as motivation to get better every week.”

There were other individual stars Saturday. Tight end Eric Olsen, who is showing wideout skills and route-running, had three receptions for 73 yards. Placekicker Caleb Ojeda nailed field goals of 48 and 46 yards, a week after drilling a career-best 53-yarder in the 66-14 route of San Diego State. And junior cornerback Isaiah Houi, a 5-10, 175-pound transfer from Eastern Illinois, was all over the field, making 16 tackles, two pass break-ups and the interception that ended the Cougars’ final possession.

Much was made of Bray’s return as the Wazzu D-coordinator, with the suggestion it was major motivation for the OSU players. I don’t buy that — Reichle denied it post-game — but there is certainly respect for Bray from the remaining Beavers who played for him. Shephard clearly has respect for him, too, and even offered that he thought about asking Bray to return to coordinate his defense.

“At a point when I first got here, I considered the idea … because I had seen what he is capable of, and how talented he is at his craft,” Shephard said. “I knew who I wanted to hire initially. If I wasn’t going to get him, then I was having those conversations about, ‘Hey, what would it look like if we brought him back? He has done a great job as a coordinator.’ ”

Shephard’s first choice was Lance Guidry, who left soon after he was hired for the D-coordinator position at Memphis. Shephard eventually latched onto veteran coach Mike MacIntyre, who has done a nice job with an OSU defense devoid of much depth.

With five regular-season games remaining, Oregon State rests in the Catbird Seat — atop the Pac-12 with its first 3-0 conference start since 2013, blessed with an offense that is humming like a Hemi engine. For the season, the Beavers lead the nation in passing offense (384.9 yards per game) and rank fourth in scoring offense (42.7) and total offense (527). Over the past five games, they have averaged 51 points and are on pace to be the highest-scoring team in school history. Over the last three outings, they have averaged an almost unbelievable 619 yards total offense — numbers akin to Oregon’s during Chip Kelly’s heyday in Eugene.

Another remarkable stat: the Beavers have gone 16 straight quarters minus a three-and-out.

After the bye week, Oregon State returns to action at Fresno State, historically a very difficult place to play. Shephard may have a little trouble convincing his players of the Bulldogs’ credentials after their surprising 26-23 loss at San Diego State Saturday — yes, the same Aztec team that the Beavers drubbed by 52 points a week earlier.

So far, however, the Beavers have been prepared for every challenge. Shephard sounds as if some rest will precede preparation for the next task at hand.

“Our legs looked a little heavy today,” he said. “We’ve got to help them get their legs back and make sure they are ready to go for the stretch run.”

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