Oregon State Beavers head coach Jonathan Smith is heading into his fourth year in Corvallis. It’s been a patient build to respectable play for Smith and this university. The Beavers have not appeared in a bowl game since 2013, back when Mike Riley was head coach. After Gary Anderson’s tenure as HC, fans were hoping Jonathan Smith could bring the program back to prominence on the bowl stage.
Four years later, and Beaver Nation is still waiting.
Last season’s win over Oregon was an accomplishment to be admired. It’s also important to point out two Beavers were selected during last week’s NFL Draft. Oregon State also signed emerging three-star quarterback Travis Throckmorton in their latest recruiting class. Bringing in more competition to the QB room will up the level of play heading into the next season.
These are all positive signs moving forward, but they don’t quite represent the benchmark of a team on the rise. Smith told The Oregonian, “(Bowl eligibility) would be a step for us because Oregon State hasn’t done it in a while but if we start out 6-0 we’re not going to celebrating the rest of the season.”
"Last week of spring, let's fly around and GET AFTER IT!" pic.twitter.com/WDGOYkQPgY
— Oregon State Football (@BeaverFootball) May 4, 2021
Legacy fans of Oregon State football still have visions of Fiesta Bowl wins and highly competitive rivalry games that produced photo finish moments. OSU isn’t quite back to that level of prominence, and it was made clear with Smith took the job that it would take a while. But time is running out for this school to show major improvement.
