CORVALLIS — A father and son threw the football to one another in Reser Stadium’s parking lot.

Several long lines of people wearing in Oregon State athletic gear waited outside of Reser’s East gates to open.

A group of students ran across 26th St. on the way to the stadium yelling “Ohhhhh-Esssssss-You … Oregon State fight, fight, fight!”

College football took another step Saturday morning toward becoming whole again at Oregon State. For the first time since the pandemic struck 14 months ago, fans were allowed to watch Beaver football do something in Reser Stadium.

It wasn’t close to a traditional spring practice-ending scrimmage. Coach Jonathan Smith consistently referred to the 65-minute workout as a “showcase.”

With more than a dozen players out due to COVID-19 protocol and others sidelined with minor injuries, the Beavers were limited as to what they could do Saturday.

The “showcase” highlights were five offensive series in the red zone, and defensive tackle Isaac Hodgins proposing to his girlfriend Taylor Lawson at midfield. Take your pick.

Oh, and fans. A few thousand, maybe 3,000, sat in Reser Stadium’s seats for the first time since the 2019 football season. Combined with the band and cheerleaders, it gave the Beavers a taste of what they missed in 2020, and what to expect this fall.

“It felt so much better, even having those limited fans,” said tight end Luke Musgrave, a graduate of Bend High, who caught Saturday’s lone touchdown. “We were all really happy to have them out there. The energy was noticeably higher with those fans.”

Smith said it became apparent by midweek they wouldn’t be able to cut loose during Saturday’s spring finale. Among the absentees were nearly half the receiving corps, including Zeriah Beason and Silas Bolden, and quarterback Ben Gulbranson. With only five healthy receivers and two quarterbacks available, Smith decided to pare the 11-on-11 competition down to five red-zone series, and a couple two-minute drills.

The 65-minute workout also included warmups, several one-on-one drills and special teams competition.

Fans may have learned little from what they saw, but it was meaningful to Smith.

“I was pleased with the physicality of the defensive front. I thought we tackled well,” Smith said. “I thought it was competitive and I was appreciative of the effort of those guys flying around.”

Sophomore Chance Nolan and freshman Sam Vidlak took turns at quarterback. Both had moments.

Nolan threw the day’s best pass, a 25-yard laser to Musgrave for a touchdown on the first red zone series. Vidlak, playing with the second and third units, completed 8 of 13 passes for 85 yards. Though he was sacked twice, Vidlak showed some poise and elusiveness, and an arm with zip and sometimes drops down to a sidearm motion.

“You could see today how comfortable he was with some of the progressions, managing the game with the clock running,” Smith said of Vidlak, who graduated from Hidden Valley High last December. “He’s gotten better from practice one to 15. He’s got a great opportunity to make a nice jump now in the summer because he’s been exposed to these 15 days of practices.”

The highlight for Nolan, who completed 3 of 6 passes for 45 yards, was the TD pass to Musgrave. The sophomore tight end beat a double team to pull in the 25-yard scoring pass just over the goal line.

“A great, great pass, and great protection,” Musgrave said. “I was able to get the ball and Chance was able to throw the ball where only I could catch it.”

While the offense had moments, the defense probably won the day given the limited reps. In five red zone series, the Beaver defense stopped the offense twice on downs, and forced field goals on two other series. The defense also stopped one of the two-minute drives on downs, and forced a field goal on the other.

Five weeks of spring practices were capped when Hodgins got one knee at midfield and proposed to Lawson. The team celebrated as if they had landed a bowl berth.

“A lot of dudes were surprised,” Hodgins said.

Over five weeks of practice, Smith confirmed what he thought about his team.

“We’ve got a tight-knit group. They compete, day in and day out. They got after each other, but with a mutual respect,” Smith said. “We’ve got some great leadership on this team. We were more physical defensively.”