Kevin Clune jokes that he has transformed some terrible defenses into mediocre ones during his 24 years coaching football. So Oregon State's plight is no shock to his system. At this point, Beavers fans would be thrilled with mediocre.
How bad was Oregon State's defense last year? Let us count the ways:
It ranked 11th in the Pac-12 in scoring defense, yielding 37 points per game;
It ranked last in the conference in yards per play (6.4);
It ranked last in pass-efficiency defense, yielding a stunning 68.5 completion percentage, which might be a conference record (no team has been worse since 2008);
It ranked last in sacks, its 17 being 10 fewer than any other team's total;
It ranked last in forced turnovers, its 12 being four fewer than any other team's total.