Oregon State’s new head coach, JaMarcus Shephard, isn’t wasting time making his pitch to the fan base: show up, fill Reser Stadium, and help create the kind of atmosphere he believes his team needs.
Speaking Monday ahead of the Beavers’ matchup with Montana, Shephard said he wants to feel the stadium at full strength before he’s willing to call Oregon State’s team complete.
"I really want to take this moment right now to speak directly to the fans, and I hope that you guys will do a good job of helping me get this out there," Shephard said. "I won't believe that we have our full team out there until we have the stands completely filled."
The message comes after Oregon State’s home-opening game against top-15 Texas Tech on Saturday drew 30,539 fans at Reser Stadium, which seats 35,548. That number fell well short of capacity, and Shephard made it plain on Monday that he expects more.
He pointed to the timing of this week’s game as part of the reason he’s pushing so hard now. Oregon State still doesn’t have its full student body on campus, and the schedule won’t make that easier.
"At this point, this game is so important, guys," Shephard said. "When you start to look at the schedule, we don't have all of our students on campus until after this game, and then we'll have two road trips after that, and we'll be in the sixth game of the season before we will actually have a full student body here on our campus with the ability to have a full stand."
For Shephard, that means the burden shifts to the broader Beaver Nation - alumni, fans and community members across the state - to help set the tone on Saturday.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing Beaver Nation show up and show out this weekend," Shephard said. "So that we can experience this incredible game that we all love firsthand."
The Beavers averaged 30,145 fans in 2025, and Shephard said attendance in 2026 has been a slight step forward so far, though not enough to satisfy him. With an 8 p.m. kickoff coming Saturday, he wants the energy saved and ready for the night.
"I've got to be clear in my messaging earlier in the day, to not get them to exhaust too much energy early in the day, so that we are prepared to release that tension at 8 p.m.," Shephard said. "We'll do a great job."
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