Pac-12 football: Oregon State's interim coach is trying to make the game fun

In his first full-time position as a college football coach, Cory Hall played a key role in Weber State’s turnaround. His current job is even tougher, with less time to do it.

Hall, 40, became Oregon State’s interim head coach this month when Gary Andersen walked away. His debut was judged as successful, even in a 36-33 loss to Colorado on Oct. 14. The Beavers’ schedule resumes Thursday vs. No. 20 Stanford, as Hall tries to help them salvage the season.

OSU athletic director Scott Barnes, formerly of Utah State, has contracted with a search firm to pay as much as $200,000 to find a new coach, according to The Oregonian. Hall, who’s in his second year of coaching the Beavers’ cornerbacks, is not viewing his new assignment as an audition. But he’s making a good impression.

With the disclaimer of Colorado’s poor defense, the Beavers (1-6) showed much more life by posting 569 total yards. In an animated, upbeat speech after the game, Hall told the players, “If you had a reason to hang your head, I would tell you.”

The team’s vibe was different. “Everybody got back to the basics,” Hall said on the Pac-12 media teleconference. “I always say that, and it sounds kind of redundant and repetitive, but when you get back to the basics of football and you track it down to its purest form, football’s fun. So that’s all we did.”

A former NFL player and high school coach in California, Hall broke into coaching coaching as a Wisconsin graduate assistant under Andersen in 2014. Andersen steered him onto Jay Hill’s Weber State staff as the secondary coach in 2015, when the Wildcats improved from 2-10 to 6-5.

“Jay Hill runs a really good program out there. … That time there really served me well,” Hall said. “The whole experience was great.”

Hall’s personality made him a good choice as OSU’s interim coach, while former Utah State assistants Kevin McGiven and Kevin Clune remain in charge of the offense and defense.

South showdown

Nobody could have seen this coming in August, when Arizona State was picked to finish fifth in the Pac-12 South — or in September, when ASU’s defense was struggling. Yet the Sun Devils will host reeling USC on Saturday night with a chance to take the South lead.

ASU is 3-1 in conference play; USC is 4-1. “Behind the scenes, there’s a lot of confidence building with our guys,” ASU coach Todd Graham said. “I’m having fun … especially when you’ve been through kind of the muck.”

When the month began, Graham’s job seemingly was in more jeopardy than ever, after the Sun Devils lost to San Diego State and Texas Tech in nonconference play and gave up 301 rushing yards to Stanford’s Bryce Love in another defeat, following a narrow win over Oregon. Yet ASU played itself into the South race with upsets of Washington and Utah.

USC is 6-2 overall after entering the season as a popular pick for the College Football Playoff. That hope is gone after a 49-14 loss at Notre Dame. “You deal with the realism of where we’re at,” said USC coach Clay Helton, whose team’s immediate goal is winning the South division.

Award winners

Arizona also is a South contender. The Wildcats (5-2, 3-1 Pac-12) have a difficult schedule remaining, but they’ve revived their season via a fortuitous quarterbacking change.

Khalil Tate entered the Wildcats’ Oct. 7 game vs. Colorado only after starter Brandon Dawkins was injured. And now Tate owns three consecutive Pac-12 offensive player of the week awards, matching USC quarterback Rodney Peete’s 1988 achievement.

Tate has run for a touchdown of 70-plus yards in each game, including a 45-44 double-overtime win over California. His seven touchdown runs have covered an average of 57.1 yards.

Being part of a group that allowed 44 points usually would not merit a defensive player of the week award, but Arizona freshman linebacker Colin Schooler was honored for a game-saving play. He broke up Cal’s 2-point pass attempt in the second overtime, after having made 15 tackles and forced a fumble.