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What Trent Bray said after Oregon State rolled past Purdue

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What Trent Bray said after Oregon State rolled past Purdue


Trent Bray covered a range of topics with reporters after his Oregon State Beavers football team cruised to a 38-21 victory against Purdue on Saturday night at Reser Stadium.

Bray talked about the play of his defense, his quarterback and a big-play wide receiver who suited up for his first game with the Beavers. He talked about Zakiah Saez’s wild pick-six. He also answered questions about moving past the rivalry loss to Oregon, about being aggressive on fourth down and about the success of the Oregon State running game against the Boilermakers.

Here’s a transcript of Bray’s remarks, lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

Next game: Oregon State (3-1) vs. Colorado State (2-2)

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  • When: Saturday, Oct. 5
  • Time: 3:30 p.m. PT
  • Where: Reser Stadium, Corvallis
  • TV channel: The CW (Channel 32 in Portland)
  • Stream: Fubo (free trial) or DirecTV Stream (free trial). Streaming broadcasts for this game will be available on these streaming services locally in Oregon and Washington, but may not be available outside of the Pacific Northwest, depending on your location.
  • Oregon State football 2024 season schedule, scores

Bray: Just thought it was a complete win. I think early on, the defense kept us in it. They had some big stops, turnovers in the red zone that kept us in it, and the offense got rolling. So very happy with the team effort. There’s things — definitely we can’t let them run the ball like that — but very happy with the effort, the way they responded and it was just a good game for us.

Q: Trent, what did you think you got from your defense today, especially those first two Purdue drives?

Bray: I think they did exactly what we asked. We tightened down our coverage. They challenged everything they did, and early on it showed up with results on the football field. So I was happy, especially early with how we played.

Q: When we talked to Isaiah Chisom earlier in the week, he talked about the linebackers wanting to get their swag back. Just kind of wanted to ask your perspective on that.

Bray: I’ll have to watch the film. But yeah, they were flying around. There’s going to be stuff that I’m going to highlight that happens every week. But yeah, they’re flying around and they’re young players that are getting better every week.

Q: Coach, Darrius (Clemons) didn’t play a ton, but just how would you assess what he brought tonight?

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Bray: Yeah, he did what we like about him. He made some big plays, made some big catches. There’s a progression to him coming back, not just burning him out the first one. So I was happy with the production we got out of him tonight, especially for him being out so long.

Q: Is it sort of a ramp-up thing for him? Are you going to slowly work him into more stuff?

Bray: Oh, absolutely, as he continues to produce.

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Q: You talked about how much the defense kept you guys in early. How much do you feel like the offense fed off of the defense flying around like that?

Bray: Yeah, I think when the defense is playing like that, there’s definitely no panic out of the offense when drives don’t get points. I think that’s a big part of playing good defense, is you let the offense continue to operate and work the way we wanted to. And a big part of what we do is we wear people down, and the defense keeping us in allowed us to play that style of game.

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Q: You got a lot of success tonight out of that option attack with Gevani (McCoy). Was there something you saw in the Purdue defense, or just the way Gevani’s been progressing? What led to such reliance on that tonight?

Bray: Yeah, there was definitely an attack on what they did schematically, but also, Gevani does a great job with it. He made some nice reads on that, some big plays. I thought he did a great job. He pitched it when he was supposed to pitch it. He took it up the field when he was supposed to. I thought he did a really nice job with that.

Q: Trent, we talked last week about wanting some more explosive plays in the offense today. It seemed like Darius kind of helped in that regard. It seemed like there was a bit more of the jet sweeps and had just bigger chunk plays offensively. Was that a priority this week?

Bray: Yeah, we’re always trying to look at how we can create explosives. We like the 11-play, eight-minute drives, especially at the end of the half. But we don’t want to have to live with that every single time we touch the ball, so we’re always looking at always the best way to attack defense, to try to create those.

Q: Off the field, what characteristics, what sort of mental, emotional things do you feel like the team really had to fix after such a tough loss to come out tonight to perform the way they did on both sides of the ball?

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Bray: The thing that impressed me about them, even right after last week’s game, was no one hung their head when we were talking after the game. They’re very mature about handling our business. They were very good about taking criticism and using it constructively. And so I think that, from a mental standpoint, the ability for young people to do that is impressive, and they did a nice job with that. And I think that’s why the game looked like it did tonight.

Q: Seemed like Gevani back there, seems a lot more comfortable just and sort of building up his confidence. How do you feel like his progression is coming? Where do you feel like he is right now?

Bray: I said last week, I’ll say it again, I think he’s just continuing to get better every week. He’s taken a step forward every single week that we’ve played. So he just keeps doing that. But I like he’s at, I like what he’s doing.

Q: Through four weeks now. What do you feel like you’ve learned from this team?

Bray: Well, a big one, we’ve got a big-time running game. We are capable of playing shutdown defense. We should have closed it out tonight, wish we would have, but we’re capable of doing that against big-time talent. And then the resiliency of our players, their ability to not back down or blink when things go bad.

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Q: Coach, a wild pick-six there. How would you describe that, the weirdness of the play, and then just starting off after last week defensively, what that did for you guys?

Bray: Yeah, I think it was an energizer for sure. I think early on, we don’t get the fourth and 1, we get the turnover. And then the pick six, I think that was just huge for their confidence and to light a fire under us.

Q: Purdue’s not expected to be great in the Big Ten, but nonetheless a Big Ten team, Big Ten size in the trenches in particular. How big was that to kind of bounce back this week against another team that wasn’t necessarily a step down in competition?

Bray: Yeah, I think anytime you play these type of teams, or out of conference, so to speak, you want to represent your conference and who you are. So it was just great, because, again, it was a good opponent that we played really well against. That’s the biggest thing.

Q: Your schedule breaks kind of uniquely this year, four, four and four with byes in between. Are you where you thought you would be kind of going into the bye week, and what’s going to be kind of some important things for you guys going into this bye?

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Bray: Yeah, I think being 3-1 is good. Obviously you want to be 4-0, but we’re happy with where we’re at. And especially the progression. I feel that we’ve become a better football team over these four weeks. And so now we get a chance to get healthy a little bit, get rest and then go another four games. So I like where we’re at. There’s still more out there for us, but I’m happy with the progression.

Q: You were pretty aggressive on a couple of fourth-down calls tonight. What’s the thought process there and is that a decision you might continue to think of in the same way in the future?

Bray: Absolutely, the thought process is to go win. And so, we actually as a team, we watch a bunch of different scenarios Friday nights, and one of them was Kansas State-Arizona, fourth and 1 backed up in their own territory. They convert, they end up driving down and scoring a touchdown. So that’s seven points that wouldn’t be on the board. I feel great about, in those situations, our ability to get it. Are we going to be 100%? No, but I feel great about our guys’ chances to go get it. So we’re going to take a risk, but it’s an educated risk.

Nick Daschel covers the Oregon State Beavers. Reach him at 360-607-4824 or @nickdaschel. Listen to the Beaver Banter podcast or subscribe to the Beavers Roundup newsletter.





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Foothills of the Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon under a high wind watch Monday and Tuesday

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Foothills of the Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon under a high wind watch Monday and Tuesday


The National Weather Service issued a high wind watch at 9:29 p.m. on Sunday valid from Monday 4 p.m. until Tuesday 10 a.m. for Foothills of the Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon.

The weather service states, “Southeast winds 25 to 40 mph with gusts of 45 to 65 mph possible for the base of the northern Blue Mountains of Oregon.”

“Damaging winds could blow down trees and power lines. Widespread power outages are possible. Travel could be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles,” describes the weather service. “Monitor the latest forecasts and warnings for updates.”

Advance Local Weather Alerts is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to compile the latest data from the National Weather Service.

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Rewalking Oregon’s path to College Football Playoff

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Rewalking Oregon’s path to College Football Playoff


No. 1 Oregon will face No. 8 Ohio State in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.

With the rematch officially set, we’re taking a look back at the path the Ducks (13-0) took to reach the CFP as the top seed.

The season began with a clunky 24-14 win over Idaho. The right side of the offensive line was responsible for multiple penalties and three sacks to an FCS opponent that made for an unnecessarily difficult opener, even as Dillon Gabriel threw for 380 yards with two touchdowns to Tez Johnson.

Special teams rescued the Ducks in a 37-34 comeback over Boise State. Ashton Jeanty had 192 yards and three touchdowns to legitimize his Heisman candidacy. An 85-yard punt return touchdown by Johnson and a 100-yard kickoff return by Noah Whittington and recovery in the end zone by Jayden Limar erased a fourth quarter deficit. The offensive line made constant changes while allowing four sacks and committing five penalties in the unit’s most disjointed performance in years.

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The early issues up front were gone as Iapani Laloulu took over at center in a 49-14 plastering of Oregon State. Gabriel threw for two touchdowns and ran for one as the offense gained 546 yards with 10 plays of 20-plus. The defense shutdown the Beavers ground game in the second half and UO secured its first win in Corvallis since 2018.

Following its first bye week of the season, Oregon officially opened Big Ten play at UCLA with a 34-13 rout at the Rose Bowl. A 28-3 lead was more than enough for the Ducks to coast and they held the Bruins to just 47 rushing yards.

Jordan James and Jordan Burch took center stage in a 31-10 Friday night drubbing of Michigan State at Autzen Stadium. James had 166 yards and a touchdown and Burch had 2.5 sacks and recovered a fumble. Two red zone interceptions by Gabriel made things briefly more competitive but the Ducks pulled away to setup a clash of undefeated titans.

The Oct. 12 game with Ohio State lived up to the billing as the top game of the season. There were seven lead changes in the 32-31 Ducks win over the Buckeyes, who were driving in the closing seconds and Will Howard slid at the UO 26 with time expiring. A deliberate 12 men on the field penalty by Oregon led to an in-season rules interpretation by the NCAA and provided further evidence of Dan Lanning’s preparation relative to Ryan Day. Even without Burch, who suffered a knee injury two days before the game, the Ducks were able to generate some pressure on Howard.

A Friday night trip to West Lafayette, Ind. will be remembered as Oregon’s first shutout since 2012. Purdue was hapless, throwing for less than 100 yards. Even with Traeshon Holden suspended and Terrance Ferguson out following an appendectomy, the Ducks were vastly better in every facet.

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A 38-9 blowout of Illinois was filled with physicality in all phases. The defense had seven tackles for loss with three sacks, two interceptions and eight pass breakups to help build a 35-3 halftime lead.

Ferguson and Burch returned in a 38-17 beat down of Michigan at the Big House. The Ducks also suffered injuries to Johnson and Marcus Harper II but still managed to gain 470 yards and did not allow a sack against one of the best defensive lines in college football.

Gabriel broke the NCAA career touchdown record in a 39-18 win over Maryland. A season-high 12 penalties, particularly a couple of pass interference calls in the end zone, made the game more competitive than it truly was and Burch sprained his ankle.

Another fourth quarter comeback was required to escape Wisconsin with a 16-13 win. Gabriel found Ferguson on fourth and nine to open the fourth quarter and the defense closed it out with back-to-back three-and-outs, a fourth down stop and interception by Matayo Uiagalelei to cap an eighth straight conference win in as many weeks.

The second bye week allowed for Johnson to return for a 49-21 rout of Washington to cap a 12-0 regular season with Dan Lanning’s first win in the rivalry. Burch had 2.5 of Oregon’s 10 sacks and Uiagalelei had two. The Huskies ran for just 43 yards and could not stretch the field vertically.

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A battle of top 10 defenses instead was a shootout in the Big Ten championship game, which Oregon won over Penn State 45-37 at Lucas Oil Stadium. Gabriel threw four touchdowns, with three going to tight ends, and the defense had two interceptions to help secure the conference title, No. 1 seed in the CFP and Rose Bowl berth.

CFP quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl

  • Who: No. 1 Oregon Ducks (13-0) vs. No. 8 Ohio State (11-2)
  • When: Wednesday, Jan. 1
  • Time: 2 p.m. PT
  • Where: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
  • TV channel: ESPN
  • Stream: You can watch this game live for FREE with Fubo (free trial) or by signing up for Sling (cheapest streaming plans, $25 off your first month). If you already have cable, you can also watch this game live on Watch ESPN with your cable or satellite provider login information.
  • Oregon Ducks football 2024 season schedule, scores
  • Sign up for The Ducks Beat newsletter

James Crepea covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten. Listen to the Ducks Confidential podcast or subscribe to the Ducks Roundup newsletter.



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Oregon Ducks vs. Ohio State Betting Odds: Rose Bowl, College Football Playoff

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Oregon Ducks vs. Ohio State Betting Odds: Rose Bowl, College Football Playoff


The Oregon Ducks will face the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. The Buckeyes handled business in the first round of the College Football Playoff and will now face the Ducks in the quarterfinals. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. PT on New Year’s Day.

What do the Vegas oddsmakers say about the upcoming matchup between Oregon and Ohio State?

Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel carries the ball as the No. 3 Oregon Ducks host the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes Saturda

Oregon Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel carries the ball as the No. 3 Oregon Ducks host the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Oregon Ducks and Ohio State Buckeyes will play in the Rose Bowl for a trip to the College Football Playoff semifinals. The Buckeyes are coming off a 42-17 dismantling of the Tennessee Volunteers in the first round of the CFP. That performance was enough for Ohio State to now be a slight favorite over the No. 1 ranked Oregon Ducks. 

It’s nearly a pick ‘em, but Ohio State is a one-point favorite as of now. The over/under is set at 53.5 points. 

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The odds makers have loved the Buckeyes all season, and they still do. Not only is Ohio State a slight favorite over Oregon, they also have better odds to win the national championship.

Texas is the overall favorite to win the national championship with odds of +340. Ohio State has the second best odds of +380. Oregon is third with odds of +400. 

MORE: Oregon Ducks Land Transfer Defensive Lineman Bear Alexander From USC

MORE: Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert Closing In On Peyton Manning’s NFL Record

MORE: How Oregon Ducks Landed Transfer Portal Star Isaiah World Over Texas A&M Aggies

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Oregon and Ohio State treated the country to one of the best games of the 2024 regular season when they played in October. The Ducks outlasted the Buckeyes in a 32-31 thriller at Autzen Stadium in Eugene. 

The Ducks were underdogs in that game too, but prevailed and won outright. Now, the two will play against each other in the “Granddaddy of Them All” in the Rose Bowl. The winner will play the winner of the Texas-Arizona State game in the semi-finals.

What are the other games in the quarterfinal slate?

Indiana Hoosiers linebacker Rolijah Hardy (21) and linebacker Aiden Fisher (4) tackle Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back

Indiana Hoosiers linebacker Rolijah Hardy (21) and linebacker Aiden Fisher (4) tackle Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jadarian Price (24) during the second half of a game between the Indiana Hoosiers and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in first round of the College Football Playoff on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in South Bend. Notre Dame defeated Indiana 27-17. / Christine Tannous/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The quarterfinals in the College Football Playoff will kick off when No. 3 Boise State plays No. 6 Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl at 4:30 p.m. PT on Dec. 31. 

The New Year will start off with No. 5 Texas and No. 4 Arizona State in the Peach Bowl at 10 a.m. PT on Jan. 1.

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Following the Rose Bowl between Oregon and Ohio State to finish off the quarterfinals is No. 2 Georgia and No. 7 Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl at 5:45 p.m. PT on New Year’s Day.

MORE: Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert Injured, Breaks NFL Record In Win Over Denver

MORE: Why Oregon Ducks Five-Star Receiver Dallas Wilson To Flip To Florida Gators?

MORE: San Francisco 49ers To Draft Oregon Ducks Quarterback Dillon Gabriel? Brock Purdy Contract

MORE: Oregon Ducks Fans Color To Wear In Rose Bowl Vs. Ohio State Or Tennessee in Pasadena

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