Right before Oregon hosted Oregon State, there was huge news involving Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith and his future with his team.
According to Nicole Auerbach, Oregon State’s Smith emerged as the “top target” for the head coaching vacancy at Michigan State. Auerbach added that “nothing is finalized yet” but that it is in its final stages and could end by the end of this weekend.
Bet For The Win’s Blake Schuster recently mentioned Smith as one of the seven college football coaches who are prime candidates to be poached by another program this offseason. Led by Smith, named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year last season, Oregon State is currently ranked No. 16 overall.
It appears Michigan State could have the most interest in his services.
As I just reported on @NBCSports, Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith has emerged as the top target for the Michigan State vacancy, multiple sources say.
Nothing is finalized yet, but the search is in its final stages and should be done by the end of this weekend.
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) November 25, 2023
Shortly after Auerbach’s report, meanwhile, the Oregon folks at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore. did a wonderful job of addressing the elephant in the room.
Potentially as a troll or perhaps just because some fans may want to watch two future Big Ten rivals, the Ducks showed Michigan State vs. Penn State on the Jumbotron.
Autzen is showing the Michigan State game pic.twitter.com/sVbauxBIGc
— Cameron Derby (Blue Check) (@CamDerbyTV) November 25, 2023
We don’t know whether or not this was a troll job by Oregon.
But either way, we can imagine that the Oregon State fans and even potentially the players and staff are very aware of the Michigan State rumblings.
So to show the game on the Jumbotron likely did little to quiet those conversations.
