The Oregon State Beavers shut out San Diego State 21-0 on Saturday night, holding the home team to 179 total yards.
After the Beavers’ dominant victory, OSU coach Trent Bray talked to reporters about his team’s performance. Here’s a transcript of his remarks, lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Q: Trent, you pitch a shutout. You’ve got to be really impressed the way your defense played, and your whole team.
Bray: Yeah, I am. I thought they did a great job making them earn everything. It’s keeping the ball in front of us, and that’s what happens. You make people have to earn it, eventually we get off the field. I thought they did a great job.
Q: Offensively. I mean, it took a while you got going late, but talk about a couple of the individual performances. I thought Trent Walker was really gutsy for you.
Bray: He did, and I love the way he bounced back from the one drop he had, but he came back and was money the rest of the game and had some nice catches to help extend drives late in the game. So that was great to see him respond. And then, again, the running backs and the running game was just, like that’s who we are, fourth quarter, wear them out and take it home in the fourth quarter. So that was good.
Q: What’s it mean to take the first road win and give them a goose egg and now head home to play your rival?
Bray: Yeah, it’s good, because we talked about, great teams travel. And if we want to do what we’re going to do this year, then we got to go win on the road. So this was a good start.
Q: Is there a better way for Trent Bray’s first road win than to be a first shutout in 40 years?
Bray: I’m not sure, to rush like we did and shut them out, I think that’s about perfect for me.
Q: What did you see from this team during the week, last few weeks, that you thought, they could take this on the road and play like this?
Bray: I think it’s just the way they work, the way they respond to everything that was thrown at them, the way they’ve come together and believed in each other. Those are kind of the things, you just see that stuff. And you saw the way they handled the adversity early in the game last week. There was adversity this week in the game, and they don’t blink. They just keep working. So that’s what makes me feel that way.
Q: You had a lot of tough decisions and you had some poor luck with field goals. But, I mean, your running attack was pretty amazing.
Bray: It was, yeah, then I’m sure I’ll look at it and want some of those calls back. And maybe should have used a timeout there late in the game, on the delay of game. But, yeah, good learning experiences. We’ve had a lot of situations just in two weeks, so that’s great for me.
Q: Safe to say that we learned a little bit about how you will approach fourth downs tonight? You were pretty aggressive.
Bray: Yeah. I mean, we’re going to be aggressive to win the game. And when those opportunities are there and we feel good about our chances of doing it, we’re going to take it.
Q: The fumble recovery inside the 5. You don’t work necessarily on that, but the red zone defense, I know you guys spent a lot of time in that. What have you seen from your defense in that situation that was able to lead you to that?
Bray: That was big, because that would have tied the game. They were down there, and that was really the turning point of the game, in my opinion, on being able to keep them out of the end zone and take the ball away and not give up any points, really swung the momentum back in our favor because they had it.
Q: Then a 98-yard drive, 8 minutes and 4 seconds. They had a couple of setbacks during that drive, but that was one of the more epic drives the Beavers have had in a while.
Bray: Yeah, I think that goes back to what I was talking about: adversity. I think it’s like second and 25. Again, they don’t blink. They just keep working and operating and finding a way.
Q: What did you like most about the defense?
Bray: They’re playing assignment-sound. They’re playing fast. And then that’s what … we don’t do a ton. We just want to do what we do well. And so I think they’re doing a good job of being locked in. The staff’s done a great job of getting those guys ready to play and on their work. Their eyes are on their work. That’s the biggest thing.
Next game: Oregon State (2-0) vs. Oregon (2-0)
- When: Saturday, Sept. 14
- Time: 12:30 p.m. PT
- Where: Reser Stadium, Corvallis
- TV channel: Fox
- Stream: You can watch this game live for FREE with Fubo (free trial) or with DirecTV Stream (free trial). If you already have a provider, you can also watch this game live on Fox Sports Live with your cable or satellite provider login information.
Q: What did you think of the way the inside linebackers played tonight? Because you had to play a lot of second guys, in the first half especially.
Bray: Yeah, just from the looks of it, I really like the way Dexter Foster plays. I think he just continues to get better. You know Melvin (Jordan) played “Mike” and “Will” tonight, because not having Isaiah (Chisom) early, and then then Aiden (Sullivan) came in, and he’s got some energy and physicality to him. He brings a spark. So, without watching the film, I’d say pleased, and then I may have a different opinion, or hopefully a better opinion, after watching the film.
Q: It looked like most of your throws were kind of short or intermediate ones. Is that by design, was that what they were giving you?
Bray: Yeah, that’s what they were giving us. They were doing a good job, when it was a pass, staying on top of the routes. And so early on, the run game and those short routes to try to get them to tighten down, and then take some shots, and then we had some at the end.
Q: Was he kind of frustrated? Because he probably wants to open it up a little bit.
Bray: I’m sure he does, but he certainly doesn’t act or show that he’s frustrated. I think he’s a team player, and he’s going to do whatever it takes to win.
Q: What are you seeing from Thomas Collins that’s making him so disruptive? He seemed like he was in the middle of a lot of stuff tonight.
Bray: He’s just got a really, you know, he’s got this fast twitch. He can get off on the ball, and then he has an extremely high motor. And so when you add athleticism and a high motor, you’re going to be disruptive.
Q: You have a notable game next week. Last we checked, they were like a three-touchdown favorite. Just your thoughts on that game.
Bray: I really haven’t thought about it. We’ll dive into Oregon starting tomorrow. But I mean, it’s they’re a great team. Obviously, they have been for a long time and they are again and so we’re, we’re going to have to be ready and then improve from this game to the next game. There’s no question.
–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.
