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Rashaad Reynolds (second from left) will graduate and Brandin Cooks (front) will likely leave early, so what does that mean for the Beavers in 2014?

(Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian)

HONOLULU — Mike Riley couldn’t help but play the “what if” game.

Shortly after Oregon State beat Boise State 38-23 in the 2013 Hawaii Bowl on Tuesday, a game in which the Beavers ran for 195 yards, Riley wondered aloud what it would have been like had his guys figured out their rushing attack earlier in the year.

“It’s almost like ‘what might have been,’ had the season started differently,” said Riley, who admitted the Beavers had a few “clunkers” along the way in 2013. “If we’d had some time to develop (the run game) and have some trust in it … it was almost out of desperation that we found it late.”

In Oregon State’s last two games, the Beavers averaged 213 yards on the ground, more than twice their season average; going into the Civil War on Nov. 29 OSU was scraping together a measly 72.8 rushing yards per game. They hung 231 on the Ducks, which allowed them to finish the season hovering around 100 running yards per game (94.4). But for a program that’s produced some of the top rushers in Pac-12 history, those numbers are unacceptable.

Now, the question is, will the run game stick around next year, or disappear again?

In a conference obsessed with hurry-up, spread systems, Riley & Co. have decided to go — or rather, stay — old school and run a pro -tyle. But that only works when both the run and pass game are clicking.

“I think what we have works, no doubt about that,” Riley said before the Hawaii Bowl. “I think we never stop looking at better ways or new things to add to what we do. I think we look at our team and decide, ‘OK, this is what we can do with these guys.’

“The beauty of our conference is that there’s such a variety of what people do … People get enamored with the spread offense, but do you want to run the version Arizona ran against Oregon, or the one Arizona ran against Arizona State? It’s not about magic in the system. It’s about how the system is run.”

Riley and his staff typically wait to do a major season evaluation -- where they watch hours of film and take pages of notes -- until after signing day in early February but he acknowledges that “you’re always thinking about stuff like that.” If the Beavers were to make any sweeping changes to their offense or defense, that decision wouldn’t come until at least early March, and be installed during spring ball.

Six years ago, then-Oregon coach Mike Bellotti made a bold move when he decided to hire Chip Kelly, a bright, relatively unknown offensive mind who was revolutionizing the speed at which teams played a spread system. The result was four consecutive BCS bowls before Kelly left last offseason for the NFL. So has Riley, who seems set on sticking with what he knows, thought about trying to find the pro-style version of Chip Kelly, someone young and new who can infuse the offense with fresh ideas?

“I think we’ve got a great staff,” Riley said. “I don’t think we have to make a change to get the ‘right’ people or ‘magical’ people: I think we can find what’s best for our program and our team right here, and do what we need to do.”

At this point, the 2014 roster looks murky. Three big NFL decisions hang over the Beavers as quarterback Sean Mannion, receiver Brandin Cooks and defensive end Scott Crichton, all juniors, contemplate leaving school early and turning pro early. (Cooks said he will likely make the decision before classes resume on Jan. 6; the other two were noncommittal on a timetable.) Logic says Cooks and Crichton are gone, while Mannion stays. After that, it gets interesting.

A supposedly veteran offensive line graduates three players this spring, which would seem to be a blow to the Beavers’ offense. But in reality, that line underperformed this year, and repeated injury problems did not help. OSU will return both primary running backs, and Storm Woods and Terron Ward figure to be even better with another year of experience.

Tight end Connor Hamlett, the Beavers’ most consistent receiver outside of Cooks, should be healthy by the start of the 2014 season. And there are budding superstars in young receivers Malik Gilmore, Richard Mullaney and Victor Bolden, the true freshman who looks to take over for Cooks. Mannion has proven he can be a superstar at times, but his accuracy and decision-making still need work against top defenses; typically in Riley’s system, where it takes a few years before you have full command of the expansive playbook, quarterbacks play the best football of their careers as seniors. That should work to Mannion’s advantage.

Defensively, the Beavers will be expected to fill holes on the defensive line again. That was supposed to be a seamless transition in 2013, as Oregon State signed a handful of junior college linemen last winter, but three never became eligible and showed. Riley said in September that going forward, he will only list junior college transfers who are enrolled in the spring, because those are usually the ones who are available come fall camp.

That being said, Miami transfer Jalen Grimble, who sat out in 2013, should be able to contribute immediately. He often looked like the best player on the scout team this season. Rashaad Reynolds, one of the most under-appreciated players of the past few years, will be gone, but there is a stable of young cornerbacks who can fill in; in the Hawaii Bowl, Larry Scott looked particularly good.

But for now, the depth chart remains up in the air as three major pieces of the Beavers' pro-style system decide on their futures.

— Lindsay Schnell