Photo by: Karl Maasdam
Shephard: Turnovers, Explosive Plays, Field Position Key To 2026
August 11, 2026 | Football
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Turnovers. Explosive plays. Field position.
Less than a year into his tenure, JaMarcus Shephard has boiled his formula for winning football games down to those three words.Â
Monday, in his second fall camp media availability, the first-year head coach explained exactly why.
He pointed to a statistic he shares with his team: teams that win both the turnover battle and the explosive-play battle tend to win the vast majority of the time — a figure he put at around 93 percent. Field position rounds out the equation, he said, citing research suggesting a team pinned deep in its own territory is far less likely to come away with points, particularly inside the 10-yard line.
"If you win the turnover margin by one turnover, then your odds of winning the game go up exponentially," Shephard said.
Oregon State's defense forced a string of turnovers two days into camp, Shephard said, and the offense responded the following practice by protecting the ball. He cautioned that finding balance between offensive explosiveness and defensive discipline is a daily challenge every staff in the country wrestles with.
"I love when I see our team at the beginning of practice, maybe the defense is on fire ... and then the tide sort of turns and the offense is executing at that high level," Shephard said. "You're just trying to keep instilling in their minds that you have to be able to do that when the time is right for you."
Beyond the numbers, Shephard emphasized unity across a roster remade by the transfer portal and a deep freshman class. He referenced "The Redeem Team," the documentary about the 2008 U.S. Olympic basketball team, which his players have been watching together. The lesson, he said, was avoiding the "old guard, new guard" divide that plagued the 2004 squad.
"Everybody on this team is important," Shephard said. "Everyone has a role, and they have to be elite in the role that they're in."
Several freshmen have already caught Shephard's eye, he said, singling out Kai Wheaton and Jesse Legree for their early camp performances. Freshman Cynai Thomas was added to the team's Unity Council, a nod to Shephard's track record of leaning on young players — he cited past first-year standouts Rondale Moore and David Bell from his coaching career.
Shephard also touched on wide receiver transfer Aaron Butler, crediting improved off-field habits for on-field progress, and defensive lineman Daniel Matagi, whom he described as forged by a wrestling background and an "unbreakable" mentality.
The session closed on a lighter note. Shephard reflected on Basketball Hall of Famer Gary Payton's visit to campus, arranged by OSU men's basketball coach Justin Joyner's staff, and used the moment to issue a broader call to former Beavers.
"There's been this separation somehow between our alumni and this campus," Shephard said. "We've got to get them back here. We have to make them feel welcome."
Fall camp continues in Corvallis as Oregon State builds toward its Sept. 5 season opener at Houston.
Â
Less than a year into his tenure, JaMarcus Shephard has boiled his formula for winning football games down to those three words.Â
Monday, in his second fall camp media availability, the first-year head coach explained exactly why.
He pointed to a statistic he shares with his team: teams that win both the turnover battle and the explosive-play battle tend to win the vast majority of the time — a figure he put at around 93 percent. Field position rounds out the equation, he said, citing research suggesting a team pinned deep in its own territory is far less likely to come away with points, particularly inside the 10-yard line.
"If you win the turnover margin by one turnover, then your odds of winning the game go up exponentially," Shephard said.
Oregon State's defense forced a string of turnovers two days into camp, Shephard said, and the offense responded the following practice by protecting the ball. He cautioned that finding balance between offensive explosiveness and defensive discipline is a daily challenge every staff in the country wrestles with.
"I love when I see our team at the beginning of practice, maybe the defense is on fire ... and then the tide sort of turns and the offense is executing at that high level," Shephard said. "You're just trying to keep instilling in their minds that you have to be able to do that when the time is right for you."
Beyond the numbers, Shephard emphasized unity across a roster remade by the transfer portal and a deep freshman class. He referenced "The Redeem Team," the documentary about the 2008 U.S. Olympic basketball team, which his players have been watching together. The lesson, he said, was avoiding the "old guard, new guard" divide that plagued the 2004 squad.
"Everybody on this team is important," Shephard said. "Everyone has a role, and they have to be elite in the role that they're in."
Several freshmen have already caught Shephard's eye, he said, singling out Kai Wheaton and Jesse Legree for their early camp performances. Freshman Cynai Thomas was added to the team's Unity Council, a nod to Shephard's track record of leaning on young players — he cited past first-year standouts Rondale Moore and David Bell from his coaching career.
Shephard also touched on wide receiver transfer Aaron Butler, crediting improved off-field habits for on-field progress, and defensive lineman Daniel Matagi, whom he described as forged by a wrestling background and an "unbreakable" mentality.
The session closed on a lighter note. Shephard reflected on Basketball Hall of Famer Gary Payton's visit to campus, arranged by OSU men's basketball coach Justin Joyner's staff, and used the moment to issue a broader call to former Beavers.
"There's been this separation somehow between our alumni and this campus," Shephard said. "We've got to get them back here. We have to make them feel welcome."
Fall camp continues in Corvallis as Oregon State builds toward its Sept. 5 season opener at Houston.
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Players Mentioned
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