CORVALLIS — There may be no more appropriate way to describe Oregon State’s outrageously successful passing game this season than explosive.
The Beavers lead the country in passing yards thanks in large part to 10 passes of 40-plus yards. Jesse Legree is responsible for eight of those catches, including all five of OSU’s 50-yard pass plays this season, making it no surprise that he leads the country in receiving yards and touchdowns entering this week’s matchup with Washington State.
“You see him with ball in space, obviously taking the top off a number of times,” Washington State coach Kirby Moore said. “I think it’s about playing team defense. Obviously communication is going to be really important, where he’s at.”
The Cougars (1-5, 0-2 Pac-12) have the No. 2 defense in the Pac-12 thus far and are having that success by keeping the top on their pass coverage.
WSU has allowed 11 passes of 30-plus yards, which is tied for 129th nationally and nearly 10% of the passes it has allowed. However, opponents are not breaking through that mark often, with just four passes over 40 yards and none for more than 50, one of 30 teams yet to allow such a play this season.
“We don’t want to let the verticals up,” Washington State safety Jaylen Smith said. “We take pride in (not) letting deep balls go. We always look to play top down and take away the deep routes first.”
WSU defensive coordinator Trent Bray will be tasked with doing what nobody has been able to do yet this season: contain Legree.
OSU offensive coordinator Mitch Dahlen has been creative in moving Legree around to prevent defenses from taking him away. Last week against San Diego State that included moving Legree into the backfield for a variety of plays.
“People are going to try and hit him at the line of scrimmage,” Dahlen said. “They’re going to try and two-hand jam. If they’re going to try and two-hand jam, it’s like OK, how can I move this guy enough where you can’t do that? You put him in the backfield, unless you want to jump offsides and do it, you can’t do it that way.
“That’s what we do a good job of as a staff, is moving him around where you can’t just put a safety over the top of him because if he’s in the backfield, what are you going to do there?”
Even if the Cougars manage to limit Legree, the Beavers have shown they are more than capable of going elsewhere, with an outrageous 14 players catching passes last week.
Aeryn Hampton (20 receptions for 245 yards) and tight ends Eric Olsen and DeCorion Temple each have at least 20 catches and Aaron Butler has four grabs for at least 20 yards. They’re confident they can challenge any defense vertically.
“The underneath throws are going to be there,” Hampton said. “We got the best OC in the country; we’re going to be able to go deep if we want to.”
Oregon State (4-2, 2-0 Pac-12) vs. Washington State (1-5, 0-2)
When: Saturday, Oct. 17
Time: 3 p.m. PT
Where: Reser Stadium, Corvallis
Betting line: Oregon State by 18.5
TV: USA
On air: KEX 1190 in Portland, KEJO 1240 and 93.7 in Corvallis
Stream: You can watch this game live with Fubo (free trial), or with DIRECTV(free trial). If you are out of free trials, you can also watch this game with Sling (cheapest streaming plans that include live sports). 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.
