Oregon State’s running game, already one of the best in the Pac-12, appears set for a significant boost this weekend.
Thursday, Jonathan Smith acknowledged that Artavis Pierce has been upgraded to probable for this Saturday’s conference matchup with Washington State in Corvallis. The running back has been dealing with an elbow injury, but practiced throughout the week for the first time in nearly a month.
Pierce suffered the injury in the second quarter of OSU’s Week 2 win over FCS Southern Utah and has missed each of the last three games -- losses to Nevada, Arizona and Arizona State.
Prior to the injury, Pierce had rushed for 259 yards in essentially a game and a half worth of action, including 168 in the opener against third-ranked Ohio State. If he had enough attempts, his 11.1 yards per carry would be second nationally behind Memphis’ Darrell Henderson’s 11.7.
With Pierce sidelined, Jermar Jefferson has emerged as the Beavers’ bellcow in the running game as he leads the team with 727 yards and eight rushing touchdowns. As a team, OSU’s 199 yards per game are fourth in the conference behind only Arizona (217.4), Oregon (216) and Colorado (205.5).