CORVALLIS -- Oregon State football head coach Trent Bray took the podium days after the Beavers season-opening defeat to California.

Bray was critical of the Beavers' performance top to bottom, offense and defense. He said he looks forward to enforcing his ideas for improvement and seeing players grow week to week.

There were plenty of positive and negative takeaways after Oregon State's showing in week one. Here's what Bray had to say about his team.

Oregon State's offense had some growing pains in game one.

Running back Anthony Hankerson was held to just 42 yards on 15 carries. Quarterback Maalik Murphy grew throughout the game, but started cold and displayed some visible frustrations on the sideline.

Murphy threw for 244 yards while completing 21 of 33 passes.

"The things we've got to do a better job of is being able to run the ball consistently," Bray said. "I think we didn't do that well enough against Cal."

Improving that starts with the connection between Murphy and his skill position players, standing firm as an offensive line and executing better plays.

"Watching the film just confirmed what we felt," Bray said. "It was more about us and our execution of things. We just didn't do what we'd been doing when we're practicing."

"That was the disappointing part," he said.

The offensive line wore out as the game went on, Bray said. The fatigue was visible but Murphy's adaptation to the game as it happened was a bright spot.

"It's (about Murphy) trusting the offense and going where the ball needs to go based on what the defense does," Bray said. "I think there were too many times where he predetermined where he wanted to throw the ball before the ball was snapped, and that always leads to problems."

Trust and discipline are what it takes to fix that, he said.

Bray was also asked about Murphy's visible frustration on the sideline toward the end of the game.

"I think it was frustration," Bray said. "He's just a competitive person. Sometimes what looks like a negative conversation, sometimes it's just a fiery conversation but it's not a negative one. That's what you saw on the sideline."

Standout wide receiver Trent Walker shined the brightest against California. He posted 136 receiving yards on nine catches. He was a consistent source of positive action and again proved why he's WR1 in Corvallis.

"Trent Walker was a big time playmaker for us and continues to be, that was great to see," Bray said.

California freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele looked comfortable and confident in his collegiate debut in Reser Stadium. He threw for 234 yards on a 20-30 completion rate and tossed three touchdowns.

"Cal did a really good job, (Sagapolutele) didn't hold the ball long," Bray said. "The sack production needs to improve, so when we have those opportunities to finish on the quarterback, we've got to get it done."

But, there were things Bray liked from his defense. He named the run and third down defense, specifically, as bright spots from the weekend. California rushed for 122 yards on 32 rushing attempts and converted on just two of 13 third down tries.

The Golden Bears were comfortable leaning on their ariel attack, though. They had six receivers catch for more than 20 yards and were a consistent down field and chain-moving threat. Cal receivers delivered an alarming number of 20-plus yard plays and it was a point of interest during flim review for OSU.

"We've got to win those 50/50 ball battles more," Bray said. "But I like that they were contested and not running free and not easy catches, that part is good."

Part of the reason his defense was challenged and shoehorned into difficult positions was because of California's special teams impact. Punt and kickoff coverage are two areas for improvement as Cal garnered a total of 151 yards run on returns.

"We have to do a better job in coverage," Bray said. "We didn't do a good enough job getting off blocks and getting down field to surround hats around that guy. Those are big improvements that we've got to make on both those cover teams."

Ultimately, not delivering on special teams is a major factor in deciding a game.

"We've got to win the field position battle," Bray said.

It'll be no easy contest for Oregon State in Corvallis on Sept. 6 when Fresno State comes to town.

"Looking at Fresno, I think (it's) a very good team, a talented team," Bray said.

Bray described them as tough, talented and physical.

"That's kind of what Fresno has always been," he said. "Tough, physical, play hard, do a lot of movement -- similar to what Cal does. On defense they know what they do and they play hard so we've got to be ready and play well."

The Bulldogs are 1-1 after two games this season. They lost to Kansas, 31-7, and beat Georgia Southern, 42-14.

Landon Bartlett covers high school sports and Oregon State for the Statesman Journal. He can be reached at [email protected] or on X or Instagram @bartlelo.