Here’s a transcript of Bray’s postgame session with reporters Saturday after the Beavers’ disheartening 28-0 loss.
After Oregon State lost its fifth consecutive game, coach Trent Bray talked about the Beavers’ poor passing performance, the decision behind alternating quarterbacks and whether he feels his team is regressing as the season goes on.
Here’s a transcript of Bray’s postgame session with reporters Saturday after the Beavers’ 28-0 loss. The transcript has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Bray: We’re here because of what we’ve done. The lack of execution. You’ve got to show back up to work, that’s the only way you’re going to get out of it, is to continue to get better.
Q: Gabarri (Johnson) had probably his probably longest performance of the year. How would you say he did?
Bray: There are too many negative plays. You know, we have a positive play, then we take a sack. Or, you know, a negative run and you’re behind the sticks and then we’re just in trouble.
Q: What happened with Ben (Gulbranson?) He didn’t make the trip. Did he practice this week?
Bray: He did not.
Q: Because on Monday, you said he was going to play.
Bray: That was the plan, and then he wasn’t healthy.
Q: What was the plan today offensively? Why did you go with the alternating quarterbacks?
Bray: We wanted to find someone who was going to manage the offense and do it, and so we want to continue to bring Gabarri (Johnson) along. It just turned to a point in the game where our best option was Johnson, so we stayed with him.
Q: Why do the quarterbacks look so lost right now? What are you seeing out there that’s causing the issues?
Bray: It’s as simple as just not being consistent with their reads. It’s really as simple as that.
Q: Does it feel like the offense has been regressing?
Bray: Well, definitely today. I mean, today was just not good. You can’t play an option team like Air Force and not move the ball and score, you’ve got no chance.
Q: Defensively, the passes, (Air Force) didn’t hit a lot of them, but they hit them at the right time. And what I mean, you guys knew they were going to pass, but did you know?
Bray: I mean, it was, again, it’s self-control with bad eyes. It’s just bad eyes. And so like I said, we put ourselves here with the way we played and executed over the last number of weeks, and so we got to continue to work and get better.
Q: Do you think the coaches are getting through the players?
Bray: Yeah, I do. I don’t doubt anything like that, because again, when we show up in practice, they work. It’s not a lack of guys not wanting to or guys quitting. That’s for sure.
Q: You’ve said you guys got to keep working. What’s the approach then tomorrow?
Bray: It’s no different than where we were at when we first got here with Jonathan. We’re having those same kind of mistakes. It’s painful, but you just keep showing up and keep working to get better, and it’ll flip when that happens, you know, I’m not sure, but it’s gonna flip.
Q: Does it feel like you guys are getting any better as the season goes on? It felt like in Jonathan’s first year, it did.
Bray: Again, there’s no real answer right now for that. Today was bad, there’s no way around it.
— Nick Daschel covers the Oregon State Beavers. Reach him at 360-607-4824 or @nickdaschel. Listen to the Beaver Banter podcast or subscribe to the Beavers Roundup newsletter.
