Oregon State offensive linemen, led by Flavio Gonzalez, take the field as the Beavers face the Purdue Boilermakers at Reser Stadium in Corvallis on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
CORVALLIS — The Oregon State Beavers rank among college football’s statistical leaders in a host of offensive categories, including first in time of possession, fourth in rushing attempts and sixth in rushing offense. The offensive line has, in large part, fueled this success. OSU offensive line coach Kyle DeVan discussed his group’s success, the genesis of the Beavers’ option play, this weekend’s matchup against Nevada and more in an interview at the Valley Football Center. Here’s a transcript:
What’s the key to blocking for the speed option play you’ve been running?
“I think there’s a lot of things that go into the play, right? And the biggest one is understanding who your option is and us dictating who that is. And whether that’s by our formation or by the way the defense presents it. And then the way the quarterback handles it. There’s some layers to it. So it’s on the O-line kind of attacking the defense correctly. It’s on the tight end if he’s involved and leaving a guy for the quarterback. And it’s the quarterback kind of getting it to the edge and reading the defender at that point in time. So it’s not something you kind of dabble in. I think Gevani (McCoy), specifically, has done a great job of stretching it and putting that defender in a bind. That’s what you’re trying to do, is you’re trying to isolate a person. No different than an RPO, except for now you’re just pitching the ball. So you kind of go back through the history of football, this is what they were doing 20, 30 years ago. This is all they had for RPOs. Well, now people are bringing it back. So it’s been fun. And the kids have enjoyed it. So we’ll keep doing it, because it makes it hard on defenses.”
Does it put a stress on your offensive lineman’s mobility having to get to the edge like that?
“Yeah, you’ve got to be able to block different fronts. So sometimes you’re out leverage, you’ve got to go run and get your leverage. Like the guy might be ahead of you in the pre-snap alignments, you’ve got to go run and create leverage as you’re running. Sometimes, the way the defense aligns, sometimes you have leverage. And what we say is, ‘Keep your leverage.’ The guys are inside your alignment, so keep them inside your alignment, let the quarterback attack it. So based on when we call it and the situation in the game that it happens, it dictates how how much ground we’ve got to cover on that specific play. You look at the touchdown in the first overtime, nobody had leverage on the guy. We had to run and go create leverage. So it was fun. And then other times we ran it, the guys were inside, and we just kind of ran vertically up the field to capture the edge.”
Oregon State (4-1) at Nevada (2-4)
On the overtime play you mentioned, who had to run and do that?
“Grant Starck and Flavio (Gonzalez) and the tight end had to kind of create what we call The Wall on the front side and (Van Wells). Really, everybody’s defender was lined inside of them. So you start at the point of attack with Grant Starck and Flavio and (Wells), they had to run and capture their place — that gap — and then Josh (Gray) and Tank on the backside had to secure the backside gap. So we didn’t create run throughs.”
Who’s the coach in the film room that says, ‘Hey, let’s try to run the option.”
“This is something I’ve done in my past. And it’s kind of been with me for a while. So, I don’t know, I guess I brought it up. But I think other guys have seen it. We’ve kind of all added to the offense. That’s what’s been fun, working with Coach (Ryan) Gunderson as the coordinator. It’s been fun … all of us have had opportunities to bring things to the table and add twists to the run game or the pass game or protections. So, yeah. I don’t know, maybe I did.”
Your tight ends haven’t caught a lot off passes, but how big of a role have they played in the running game?
“They’ve done really a heck of a job. You look at some of the run schemes we’ve had, you put them at the point of contact and you’re gaining, on average, I don’t know, 260 yards a game. It’s kudos to them, right? It’s putting them at the point of contact and running the ball at them and then them sustaining and us having success. So really, really proud of all of them. And coach (Jon) Boyer has done a good job of playing a plethora of guys. It’s not just the same one or two, we’re mixing in a bunch of different guys. So when their number’s called to be at the point of contact, and when there, they’ve done a great job. And then other times we’re running away from them … and (Jermaine Terry) has to sprint and cut off a seven technique, they’ve shown the diversity in their talent, which is really good. And … when you start running the ball, and then you look at (Terry’s) explosive passes, that’s the exciting part. You run the ball, run the ball, run the ball, and then you throw an action off of it, and the tight end’s wide open. So it’s the first time where it’s kind of married. But it’ll continue to go as long as we continue to run the ball to set those things up. I think the first big catch was to (Terry) running across the field, which was exciting. I mean, that was exciting for him and the offense, and kind of got us going at that point in the game.”
You feel like that part of that game — throwing to the tight end — might open up a bit more?
“Yeah, the more you run the ball, you’re creating different ways to get the ball into people’s hands. Whether that’s deep shots to the receivers down the field, or actions to the tight ends escaping through. Because when you’re playing teams that allow the tight end to climb to the second level, well, to the defense, it looks like the tight end’s going to go block the linebacker, block the linebacker. Oh no, he slips the linebacker and gets behind the linebacker to the second level. Or you bring him in motion and he blocks the D-end on one play. You bring him in motion and he’s going past the D-end, or he’s sliding behind the defense. So I think where we do a great job offensively, as coaches — and I give it coach Gunderson, coach Boyer and coach (Kefense Hynson) — is they try to marry what we do in the run game. So I present different ways to be creative in the run game, but still have sound runs. And then they take what we do, what we have in the run game, and then, OK, how do we marry pass plays off of it. So it’s been fun. And you got to see it kind of come to life against Colorado State, and really, specifically, with a couple passes to (Terry).”
On Nevada’s defensive line?
“I’ve got a lot of respect for the way they play. They’re going to play hard and physical and what I coined is, they’re going to play knockoff football. I talked to my guys this week, you’ve got to win the first touch. They’re going to get off the ball. When the ball is snapped, they’re getting off the ball and trying to create havoc in the backfield. So if you are late off the snap or you aren’t physical at the initial contact, they’re going to win. So it’s about owning that. It’s owning the line of scrimmage and then owning the first touch. So if we own the first touch, we’ve got a great opportunity to win that one-on-one rep. So it’s going to be like that all game. I know their record is one thing, but I think they play hard, they fly around. I think the backers do a great job. They’re kind of built to run sideline to sideline and (for) the D-line to get vertically up the field and create havoc in the backfield. So, hopefully we’ll put them in binds and put people in conflict. I’m not going to shy away, we’re going to try to run the ball like we’ve done.”
On what Gonzalez has done since stepping into the starting lineup.
“Gah-lee, he’s been great. You look at the — coach Gunderson brought it out — the double overtime run at the end of the game, like, everybody, from the tight end across the O line, everybody did a great job. It was a perfect, beautiful play. But you isolate Flavio, he blocks it correctly, grabs a linebacker. Well, the linebacker runs into the safety, which runs into another defender. He blocks three people on the play. So you look at that and you’re excited for him. You’re excited for somebody that didn’t get the playing time he wanted a year ago and was rotating early. And him and (Tyler) Voltin were sharing reps and he was just kind of charging on and getting better every day. And he’s kind of earned himself more playing time. And I’m really proud of him, because it’s hard to play football no matter what your role is. But it’s hard when you’re not The Guy playing. So his first two years here, he wasn’t playing. So now you get an opportunity to be The Guy and he’s really taken advantage of it. You look at his production each week, it’s gotten better. So I’m really proud of him and really proud of the player he’s become, especially since I’ve arrived in December.”
Looking big picture, what do like most about the way the line’s playing?
“I think the continuity. I’ve been really pleased with it. Coming into a program that’s, A, special me and you get the opportunity to run the O-line, you want to be the best ever, right? That’s my goal. I’m not going to shy away from that. I want to come in and this place is special and I wanted to have the best offensive line this place has ever seen. Well, it’s kind of hard when you return one starter. So we’ve put guys in positions, right? We brought in Bam Wells and Tank, and moved Josh and Grant Starck. And you had Flavio and Tyler Voltin and Jacob Strand. You’ve sort all these pieces and you try to gel them. And I think those guys gelling as quickly as they have done has really made me a proud coach, just to be honest with you. They way those guys interact and bond together, it reflects the way they play the game of football. The way an offensive line goes out on Saturdays and plays as one solid unit reflects how they approach the meeting room, the lunch room, the locker room, all those things. It transcends that. So if you see an offensive line that’s divided on the field, they’re sure as hell divided off the field as well. So really proud of the way they’ve done that. And then the running backs have played hard. It’s helped us.”
Do you have an update on Jam Griffin’s status?
“I’ll leave that for Coach (Trent) Bray. I don’t comment on injuries.”
— Joe Freeman covers the Oregon State Beavers. Reach him at 503-294-5183 or @BlazerFreeman. Listen to the Beaver Banter podcast or subscribe to the Beavers Roundup newsletter.
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