Brandon Kipper credits Oregon State offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren for the recent play calling that’s allowed Kipper and his fellow offensive linemen to do their jobs on the football field “and just mash people.”

The Beavers have produced two of their top three rushing totals of the season the past two games, with 192 yards against Stanford and a season-best 203 yards with two touchdowns on a season-high 47 carries in last Saturday’s home win versus Washington State.

OSU (5-2, 2-2 Pac-12) averaged 4.32 yards per rushing attempt against a Cougars squad that struggled defensively in the ground game. It was the team’s lowest per-rush average this fall, but the Beavers found success and kept plowing.

“I think really for us these past couple weeks is just trying to emphasize is just mashing, moving dudes, getting a little more physical up front,” said Kipper, a senior right guard. “At the beginning of the season we were trying to run the ball, but as far as up front us five were doing a good enough job of mashing, mashing, mashing then transitioning to the pass.”

Kipper agreed with the idea that his team is a physical, run-first team that grinds out wins. He said that’s how his unit would describe itself.

“I think that’s what we show up every day to work to try to be,” said Kipper, who is joined on the O-line by regular starters Joshua Gray at left tackle, Corvallis High alum Marco Brewer at left guard, Jack Levengood at center and Talise Fuaga at right tackle.

“Obviously each week we’ve got to prove that, and every team is going to test you on that and what you say you are.”

Also contributing to the success in running the ball is a tight end group that’s currently down one of its primary starters in Luke Musgrave due to injury.

Jake Overman is the other starter. Jack Velling has most recently stepped in as a starter, while JT Byrne has also seen time on the field.

When asked about his unit’s production and consistency in its effort, Beavers tight end coach Brian Wozniak said the most important aspect is helping the team win.

“The production will come. I always tell these guys, the better we do in the run game, the more that production is going to come open for us,” Wozniak said. “They’ve done that and they’re continuing to get better at it. So it’s been good to see.”

Wozniak says there’s room for improvement in Oregon State’s running game but also a positive feeling about the different packages the Beavers can throw at opposing defenses.

“But we’ve got to go execute, and I think we can execute even better than we did last Saturday,” the coach said of the Washington State game that included a career-best 111 yards and a touchdown for Damien Martinez and two rushing scores by Jack Colletto.

—Corvallis Gazette-Times