Storm Woods Will Flourish Under New Regime at Oregon State

By Tyler Brett
storm woods
Scott Olmos – USA TODAY Sports

Gary Andersen has come to Corvallis to put his stamp on the Oregon State Beavers heading into the 2015 season. Nobody on the OSU roster is likely to benefit from the arrival of Andersen and his staff quite like senior running back Storm Woods, who looks to be in line for a special 2015 campaign.

In three seasons, Woods has proven himself to be a dynamic playmaker out of the backfield, rushing for over 2,000 yards and racking up nearly 1,000 more yards as a receiver. Last season, he struggled with injuries a bit, missing two games, but still finished the year with 766 yards rushing, averaging 6.3 yards per carry, along with 179 yards receiving and six total touchdowns. He has struggled to match the production of his freshman season in 2012, where he rushed for 940 yards on 192 carries and scored 13 touchdowns, in part because of injuries over the last two seasons but a clean bill of health in 2015 should pave the way for a big year for Woods.

In addition to being healthy, Woods is one of the clear-cut leaders of the offense heading into this season. Terron Ward, who split carries with Woods last season, is out of eligibility and Sean Mannion, the Pac-12‘s all-time passing leader and centerpiece of the Oregon State offense for the last four years, is also gone. That puts Woods in a prime position to step up as the featured back and carry the offense moving forward. Helping him even more will be the return of all five starters on the offensive line.

And then you add the perfect coaching staff to get Woods on track. Offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin brings an up-tempo attack that produced the only 4,000-yard passer, 1,700-yard receiver, and 1,200-yard rusher combo in FBS last season with the Colorado State Rams. Andersen comes from a Wisconsin Badgers team where Melvin Gordon ran wild to the tune of 2,587 yards  and 29 touchdowns in 2014. He knows how to utilize the running game and will be putting his stamp on the Beavers’ offense in 2015 with a healthy dose of Woods.

As Oregon State starts to find their identity under the new regime, expect to see plenty of Storm Woods in 2015 as he leads the charge to get the Beavers back into the Pac-12 mix this fall.

You can follow Tyler Brett on Twitter @ATylerBrett, on Facebook and on Google.

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