What Jonathan Smith Said After Oregon Beat Oregon State in Eugene

Oregon State's head coach has been linked to the coaching vacancy at Michigan State leading up to Friday night's game.

The No. 6 Oregon Ducks defeated the No. 16 Oregon State Beavers 31-7 in Eugene on Friday night, securing a crucial rivalry win.

The Ducks shut down the Oregon State rushing attack and exploded for 480 yards of offense.

Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith met with reporters following the game. Below is a transcript of his postgame press conference.

Opening Statement

“Well, obviously tough. We had a chance to battle in the first half and then starting the second half, our opportunity at fourth and two and didn’t convert. It was just slowly getting out of hand and we just didn’t have enough offensively. I’ll say a couple of things; that quarterback Bo Nix is legit. That guy is a good player. I thought we had some stress points for him, he still got outside, made some big time throws. He hit the fourth down thing and converted a little bit early on the fourth and shorts, and extended drives. We had a couple of opportunities to continue the game, but we didn’t. I felt like defensively we wanted to make them earn it. Put drives together that slowed their offense, not giving up the 50 yard. Offensively we couldn’t get anything going until the second half and whatnot. So I appreciate some of the effort. We had some new starters out there and going and battling and doing some stuff with. That’s a good football team. That’s going to be a good football game next weekend. Back to back, these two opponents, that will be a fascinating game to watch.”

On offensive line performance…

“If you play us, you’re going to try to stop the run and they did a good job of it. I did get Strand in there. I thought he battled pretty good. I thought he played solid most of the night. We could not get that going, got one dimensional, and couldn’t score enough.”

On accepting coaching position at Michigan State…

“None of those decisions have been made. I asked this team to lock it up for four months and now it’s a little bit to start conversations someplace. Uncertainty Pac-2 which is taking place, I’m taking the same approach. So decisions, time, all of that have been locked in for the past four months.”

On addressing future plans with the team…

“We’ve talked about outside relations throughout the year. Talked to the team a couple of days ago about a bunch of rumors. We talked and all this has to stay locked in until through this game. I appreciate this group because they’ve done it for months.”

On conversations with Scott Barnes regarding future of program…

“Scott and this administration have done a lot of work trying to navigate unprecedented times. We’ve met weekly and talked about that approach. Not just football, the athletic department, scheduling, all of that.”

On logic versus emotion in decision to stay in Corvallis…

“I think there’s a process to reevaluate every year. We kind of spoke to it, it’s not just myself but every position coach, every player with the transfer portal. I think you go for the season, dive into it and then reevaluate.”

On emotions of team…

“I do think this team was locked in and mentally tough. It’s a good team that stuck together looking at some tough losses. Tonight was a runaway, but everything else.”

On Oregon facing Washington in Pac-12 Championships…

“That’ll be interesting. We faced both of those teams and the quarterback play, the elements were a little bit different. But I’ll tell you the way the Ducks play right now, they’re going to be tough to beat.”

On Oregon’s touchdown sequence at the end of the first half…

“Bo Nix. It’s about midfield, it’s about 22 seconds. We want the ball to come out kind of quick, pressure him. We don’t contain it very well. He’s a really good athlete. You get that much time, he put the ball back across the middle to a big time receiver. That changed huge momentum right there.”

On rushing game…

“To give them some credit, take that away. We weren’t able to stay on the field and convert some critical third and fourth downs and continue to gain some rushing yards.”

On handling outside noise with conference realignment and coaching rumors…

“Coaching this year has been fun. I appreciate this group; gathers diversity, distraction going on. But I’ve enjoyed every minute of this year so far and these guys in the locker room. I really appreciated senior week last week, recognizing those guys because I got a deep appreciation for them.”

On decisions of signing a contract elsewhere…

“Again, I’m going to keep those between me and Scott. Like I said, we’ve met weekly throughout this entire season with so many things going on. I’ve thought well.”

On upcoming bowl game…

“Pointed at a bowl game at this point. The teams that have a solid season in college football get to extend it in a week.”

On emotions after game…

“We talked about it in the locker room. They just did a better job executing than we did, give them some credit. They’re a good team.”

On DJ Uiagaleilei’s performance…

“I thought he battled in there. I thought early on he had a couple of throws and even a little bit of running. He got into a nice rhythm, made some creases. We asked him to carry the ball a few times. I think later in the game as it went on, his protection didn’t hold up very well.”

On Aiden Chiles playtime…

“We talked to him earlier in the week. We got to the point feeling like the weather was changing. It’s not very easy to have a guy warm up, sit there for potentially half an hour when nobody’s coming back out. DJ put it out, so we decided to let DJ roll.”

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