Oregon State Beavers football: 5 takeaways from the first half of the season

Oregon State's football team has reached the midway point of the season.

The Beavers are 5-1 overall, 2-1 in the Pac-12 and ranked No. 15 in the AP poll.

Oregon State has home wins against UC Davis, San Diego State and No. 16 Utah. They have road wins at San Jose State and California, and a road loss at No. 19 Washington State.

The Beavers have six games remaining this regular season, three each at home and on the road.

At home, Oregon State still faces No. 18 UCLA, Stanford and No. 7 Washington.

On the road, the Beavers still play at Arizona, Colorado and No. 8 Oregon.

Here are five takeaways from Oregon State's season so far.

DJ Uiagalelei's inconsistent play at quarterback

DJ Uiagalelei has been inconsistent this season, and as the competition gets tougher in the second half, Oregon State will need reliable production from him.

In the Beavers' first two games against San Jose State and UC Davis, Uiagalelei completed 73% of his passes for 346 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions, with three rushing touchdowns.

During those two games, he was accurate in the system, even though he wasn't passing for a ton of yards, and he was finding the end zone with his arm and his legs. And most importantly, he wasn't throwing interceptions.

Then in the next three games against San Diego State, Washington State and Utah, Uiagalelei started to struggle.

In those games, he completed 50.5% of his passes for 686 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions. He also rushed for two touchdowns.

Against San Diego State, Washington State and Utah, his accuracy fell off a cliff. He was throwing interceptions, and his touchdown production dipped.

During those three games, it was difficult for the Beavers' passing game to develop any rhythm or production.

Uiagalelei found that rhythm last Saturday at California. He completed 76% of his passes for 275 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions.

It was his best passing game of the season.

If he can continue to find rhythm early in games and protect the ball, the Beavers have a good chance to win every game they play.

Defensive struggles have been a big problem for Beavers

Oregon State had the best defense in the Pac-12 last season, but it has struggled this year.

Overall, the Beavers have allowed 325.67 total yards per game, which ranks fourth in the conference.

In scoring defense, Oregon State has allowed 19.67 points per game, fifth in the conference.

The Beavers have done well in rushing defense, holding teams to 96.17 yards per game, third in the conference. However, they allowed 241 rushing yards to California.

In passing defense, Oregon State has allowed 229.5 yards per game, which is fifth in the conference.

The Beavers need to improve defensively to stay in the Pac-12 title hunt.

Reliable rushing duo on offense

Damien Martinez and Deshaun Fenwick have become a consistently productive running back duo.

Through six games, Martinez has 90 carries for 586 yards and three touchdowns. He is averaging 6.5 yards per carry.

Fenwick has 58 carries for 330 yards and four touchdowns. He is averaging 5.7 yards per carry.

As a team, the Beavers are averaging 205.5 rushing yards per game, which ranks third in the Pac-12, and 152.67 are coming from Martinez and Fenwick.

While Oregon State's passing game has been hot and cold this season, they've been able to rely on the running game.

Moving forward, the Beavers will face some strong offenses, and one way to slow down teams like Oregon and Washington is to keep possession of the ball with the running game.

Creating a stellar home environment

Reser Stadium is becoming a difficult place to play for opposing teams.

That's right, Oregon State and its devoted fans have built quite the atmosphere and home-field advantage the past three seasons.

From 2021 to this season, the Beavers are 14-1 at home, with the only loss coming in a 17-14 setback last season to USC.

Oregon State has taken that to the next level with significant upgrades to the stadium, creating a more fan-friendly experience.

This season, the Beavers are 3-0 at home, with three more games at Reser Stadium, including at 5 p.m. Saturday against UCLA.

Overall impressions of Oregon State's 2023 season

Oregon State is in a good position despite struggling so far in key areas.

Oregon State is alone in fourth place in the conference, behind No. 10 USC (6-0, 4-0), No. 8 Oregon (5-0, 2-0) and No. 7 Washington (5-0, 2-0).

The Beavers still host Washington on Nov. 18 and play at Oregon on Nov. 24. Oregon State does not play USC this season, unless they meet in the Pac-12 title game.

The two biggest things for the Beavers are improving the passing defense and becoming more consistent in their passing offense.

If they can do those things, they've got a chance to make the conference title game.

Statesman Journal reporter Pete Martini covers college and high school sports. He can be reached at pmartini@StatesmanJournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon State football: How the Beavers are doing at midseason