Everything Jonathan Smith said following Oregon's win over Oregon State

Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith spoke with reporters following the No. 16 Beavers’ 31-7 loss to No. 6 Oregon on Friday.

Here is a transcript of his press conference.

Jonathan Smith Week 13 postgame press conference

Opening…

“Well, obviously tough. We had a chance to battle in the first half and then the start of the second half, our opportunity at fourth and two and didn’t convert. It was just slowly getting out of hand and we just didn’t have enough offensively. I’ll say a couple of things: that quarterback, Bo Nix, is legit. That guy is a good player. I thought we had some stress points for him, he still got outside, made some big-time throws. He hit the fourth down thing and converted a little bit early on the fourth and shorts, and extended drives. We had a couple of opportunities to continue the game, but we didn’t. I felt like defensively we wanted to make them earn it, put drives together that slowed their offense, not giving up the 50-yard hits. And we did a lot of that. Offensively we couldn’t get anything going until the second half and whatnot.

“So I appreciate some of the effort. We had some new starters out there going and battling and doing some stuff. But that’s a good football team. That’s going to be a good football game next weekend. Back to back, these two opponents, that will be a fascinating game to watch.”

On offensive line performance…

“If you play us, you’re going to try to stop the run and they did a good job of it. I did get Jacob Strand in there. I thought he battled pretty good. I thought he played solid most of the night. We could not get that going, got one-dimensional, and couldn’t score enough.”

On where he has accepted the Michigan State job, or interviewed for it…

“No decisions have been made. I asked this team to take an approach to lock in for four months and now it’s a little bit to start conversations someplace; uncertainty, Pac-2 which is taking place. I’m taking the same approach. So decisions, time, all of that — I’ve been locked in for the past four months.”

On addressing future plans with the team…

“We’ve talked about outside noise throughout the year. Talked to the team just a couple of days ago about a bunch of rumors and talk and all this. We asked them to stay locked in until through this game. I appreciate this group because they’ve done it for four months.”

On conversations with Scott Barnes regarding future of program…

“Scott and this administration have done a lot of work trying to navigate unprecedented times. We’ve met weekly and talked about that approach. Not just football, the athletic department, scheduling, all of that. That’s been a weekly conversation.”

On logic versus emotion in decision to stay in Corvalis…

“I think there’s a process to reevaluate every year. We kind of spoke to it, it’s not just myself but every position coach, every player with the transfer portal. I think you go through the season, dive into it, and then reevaluate.”

On emotions of team…

“I do think this team was locked in and mentally tough. It’s a good team that stuck together — look, we had some tough losses. Tonight, yeah, this was a little bit of a runaway. But everything else this season, these guys have been bought in. I appreciate this group.”

When do you expect a decision on your future to be made?

“Don’t know. To be determined. Don’t know.”

On Oregon facing Washington in Pac-12 Championships…

“That’ll be interesting. We faced both of those teams and the quarterback play, the elements were a little bit different. But I’ll tell you the way the Ducks play right now, they’re going to be tough to beat.”

On Oregon’s touchdown sequence at the end of the first half…

“Bo Nix. They get to about midfield, it’s about 22 seconds. We want the ball to come out kind of quick, pressure him. We don’t contain it very well. He’s a really good athlete. You get that much time, he put the ball back across the middle to a big-time receiver. That changed huge momentum at halftime.”

On rushing game…

“Give them some credit. We weren’t able to stay on the field and convert some critical third and fourth downs and continue to gain some rushing yards.”

On handling outside noise with conference realignment and coaching rumors…

“Coaching this year has been fun. I appreciate this group. Yeah, there’s some adversity, and distraction going on. But I’ve enjoyed every minute of this year so far and these guys in the locker room. I really appreciated senior week last week, recognizing those guys. Because I got a deep appreciation for them.”

On decisions of signing a contract elsewhere…

“Again, I’m going to keep those between me and Scott. Like I said, we’ve met weekly throughout this entire season with so many things going on. I’ve felt well-informed.”

On upcoming bowl game…

“I didn’t even think about it much, but yeah — playing in a bowl game, this group, that’s a reward. I think there’s still beauty about that in college football. The teams that have a solid season get to extend it and enjoy it a week longer.”

On emotions after game…

“We talked about it in the locker room. (Oregon) just did a better job executing than we did, give them some credit. They’re a good team.”

On DJ Uiagaleilei’s performance…

“I thought he battled in there, man. I thought early on he had a couple of throws that could have been a little tighter in there. But then he got into a nice rhythm, made some creases. We asked him to carry the ball a few times. I think later in the game as it went on, his protection didn’t hold up very well for him.”

On Aiden Chiles playtime…

“We talked to him earlier in the week. We got to the point feeling like as the weather was changing, it was not fair to either guy to have Aiden warm up, sit there for potentially a half an hour, go in, know he’s coming back out, DJ coming out. So we decided this game to let DJ roll.”