In his Monday media availability, Oregon State head coach JaMarcus Shephard discussed a disappointing loss over the weekend at Fresno State, and looked ahead to an important game against Texas State this Saturday.
"Last weekend, it was a difficult loss for a lot of different reasons. But , as I said at the beginning of last week, the most important thing right now is that we remain present. And that's what we have to do for this particular game. If we start making one game the story of our season, we will beat ourselves, and I'm not willing to do that," Shephard noted in his opening statement.
Among the issues that led to the Beavers' loss were a lack of answer for Fresno State's running game, two lost fumbles by OSU offense, and struggles with red zone execution. Oregon State scored on four of their seven trips to the red zone on Saturday.
"After the game, I talked about some of the breakdowns we had being pretty straightforward. So now it's a matter of us just addressing those things and making sure the young men that we are coaching are prepared for this Saturday's game. We have to make sure that our mistakes mean something, they have to mean something going forward. We will light a fire under these guys, and make sure they play at the highest level for every single play of this game that's coming up."
Among the bright spots in Oregon State's performance was the debut of Adonis McDaniel. McDaniel caught two passes for 30 yards and took a handoff for six yards. His speed could be useful for the Beavers in future contests.
"I was fired up about what Adonis did on Saturday," Shephard said. "I thought on the jet sweep he probably should've stayed around the edge, and probably would've gained a few more yards on that one. I thought on the perimeter screen that he caught he did a great job making a guy miss and get us in position to go score there. I thought he made a great catch on a low ball right over the middle of the field. He showed that he was ready for the moment, and that's definitely gonna give him an opportunity to be even more a part of the offense moving forward."
In their effort to bounce back and secure their sixth win, the Beavers will continue to lean on the offensive stars that have gotten them this far in the season: quarterback Braden Atkinson and receiver Jesse Legree.
"[Braden] got hit a few more times that he might be accustomed to. But guess what, it happened earlier in the year too that he got hit a bunch in a game, and so it's not like it's something that he's never experienced. But he still stood in there strong and tough, threw for 370 yards or whatever it was. We gotta make sure that our offensive line is prepared to protect him, and that's somewhere I think we can do a really good job. But I think both Braden and Jesse need to just focus on six seconds at a time. Everyone on this football team needs to have a specific set of skills that they can use after a play to reset themselves for the next play."
Oregon State's season continues Saturday in their first-ever meeting with new Pac-12 Conference mates Texas State. Kickoff is set for 7:30 PM PT on The CW.
"I have looked in the camera during earlier interviews and told everybody that there was going to be some adversity this year, and guess what, we ran into it," Shephard noted. "Were we planning on running into it? No. But, we do make a plan so when adversity occurs we are able to respond appropriately."
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/oregon-state as JaMarcus Shephard: Can't Let Fresno Loss Be 'Story of Our Season' .
