Corvallis, OR. -- There’s a lot of hope surrounding this Oregon State football team. The Beavers are winners of three games this season, with the aspiration of reaching their first bowl game since 2013. A postseason berth would be a huge turnaround under year two of the Jonathan Smith era. But first things first: the Arizona Wildcats.

This week OSU will travel to Tucson for another conference road game. Away games have been a point of strength for the Beavers in 2019. Oregon State is undefeated on the road in Pac-12 play. The Beavers are also coming off a bye and head coach Jonathan Smith thinks that extra week of preparation will pay dividends on Saturday.

"I do feel like we are leaving this bye healthy after eight games. Like I said there's been an emphasis on the development and really trying to get healthy with some of these guys that have played a lot,” said Smith. “Schedule wise pretty similar. It was a couple days of practice this week. We practiced during the week and on Sunday to get one added day for the next opponent."

Being three wins away from a postseason berth has the people of Corvallis chatting. But Smith shut down all noise regarding the potential bowl eligibility.

“The only thing we can control is what is right in front of us this Saturday,” said Smith. “That’s been the focus. I think it’s a total waste of time to be thinking of what could happen. We know we have a great opportunity this Saturday to play a game. We win this game, that will continue on. You get too far ahead that leads to problems.”

Beavers will play the Arizona Wildcats Saturday at 1:30 p.m.