CORVALLIS — Everything fell apart for Oregon State football late Friday night.
Despite leading 24-10 in the fourth quarter and never trailing, the Beavers (0-5) lost 27-24 to the Cougars (4-0) in overtime.
Facing more pressure than at any point in his coaching career, Trent Bray took the podium quickly at Reser Stadium as media still made their way into the room. Here is a transcript of his remarks:
Opening statement:
Dominated that game until the last six minutes, and it totally flipped. We’ve got to finish. Bottom line.
On the decision to run a sneak with Gabarri Johnson instead of Maalik Murphy:
Maalik couldn’t — his hand was injured and he couldn’t hold the ball. So, that’s what happened.
On what broke down on the two blocked field goals:
Everything. (Expletive), four guys — excuse my language — but four guys could have blocked it. We’ve got a chance to win it, we’ve got to blow up and protect it. That was really disappointing.
On going for it on 4th down instead of kicking the field goal in overtime:
It was part of it. The analytics, third and one and fourth and one, your percentage of getting one of those is good. But, yeah, that weighed on my mind too. Absolutely.
On this being the third game that special teams mishaps cost them the game:
To me, it’s just pride in your job. Starter on offense, starter on defense, starter on field goal. You’ve got to go in there and play. And we’ve got to protect. That had nothing to do with scheme, nothing to do with anything. We’ve got to protect.
On whether he is considering making staffing changes:
I can’t answer that right now.
On why Maalik Murphy wasn’t in the game because of an injured hand:
He couldn’t take it under center.
On his message to the team after the game:
It came down to, like I said, with six-something left in the game, we’re completely dominating on both sides of the ball. And we didn’t finish it. That’s what it is. We need to finish. We need to finish against good teams. This team was a really good team, and we knew we had to play four quarters. We played three and a half.
On allowing seven yards in the third vs. 180 in the fourth quarter:
Ball got thrown over our head. We did a good job all night, and the last six minutes the ball was just thrown over our head.
On whether he expects difficult conversations with Scott Barnes in the coming days given the 0-5 start:
I can’t answer that right now with any kind of truth or knowledge because I’m in the heat of the moment, and I don’t want to say something I don’t mean or regret.
On how this impacts him as someone who cares for and has put time in for this university:
My feelings are insignificant in my mind. I feel for the players. They’ve done what we’ve asked them to do, they’ve worked hard, they’ve stayed positive, they played a really good football game against a really good team. And to let it slip away at the end, I’m disappointed for them, not myself.
On the two-minute drills and communication issues in the huddle:
Some of it is the device in the helmet and him not being able to hear it clearly. That is part of the problem, and I’ve got to talk to Gundy (offensive coordinator Ryan Gunderson) on the other stuff tonight that caused that.
On whether he feels Maalik Murphy is still engaged in the offense:
Oh yeah. I don’t doubt anyone in that locker room at all. I think that showed tonight, the way they came out and played for a long time.
On why Cameron Smith was kicking at the end:
Yeah, Caleb (Ojeda) got hurt.
On Cornell Hatcher Jr.’s performance:
I thought Cornell ran great. He got vertical, ran hard, he was a big part of us getting those last two scores. Those were big time runs.
On whether the team was on too big of a high before the fourth:
I don’t think us being up had anything to do with it. We made too many mistakes at the end. We let the ball get thrown over our head, which hadn’t happened all night, and then we have some opportunities. We drop a pass at the end of the game that would have put us down there, never even giving them another chance to get the ball to begin with. Mistakes at the end that cost us.
Next game: Oregon State (0-5) at Appalachian State (2-1)
- When: Saturday, Oct. 4
- Time: 12:30 p.m. PT
- Where: Kidd Brewer Stadium — Boone, North Carolina
- Stream: ESPN+
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