Saturday afternoon, the Oregon State football team made a statement with their win over the San Diego State Aztecs as they cruised to a respectable 26-9 victory. The Beavers were able to control the game and dominated on both sides of the ball.

As a result, they’re now 3-0 on the young season. Let’s look back at Oregon State’s success and ask a few questions of the Beavers as they move forward into Pac-12 play.

Can the Oregon State Beavers offense limit mistakes?

When tasked with taking on the San Diego State Aztecs, Oregon State’s offense just kept moving efficiently. The Beavers were able to rack up a total of 475 yards thanks in part to an impressive performance where quarterback DJ Uiagalelei spread the ball around.

But Uiagalelei wasn’t perfect. He completed just 14 of 30 pass attempts and threw a couple picks. While Uiagalelei had a big day with 284 passing yards (with Anthony Gould, Jack Velling and Silas Bolden all having big days receiving) and a touchdown, the imperfections in his game showed Saturday.

That said, with a strong rushing attack, like Oregon State has, it’s possible for the magnitude of mistakes and errant passes to be minimized. The Beavers rand for 191 yards and this multidimensional offense might be able to really challenge some folks in the Pac-12 once again this season.

Is this Oregon State defense for real?

The Beavers really thrived defensively and really made things challenging for San Diego State quarterback Jalen Mayden. The Beavers were dominant on the line of scrimmage and pressured Mayden all throughout the afternoon, sacking him on a half dozen different occasions.

On top of that, Oregon State’s defense held SDSU to a total of 326 yards of offense (those aforementioned six sacks played a big part in that). Oregon State was able to keep the Aztecs out of the end zone until the fourth quarter, which is more than respectable.

Can Oregon State football challenge in the Pac-12?

The season is young, but at 3-0, the Beavers are off to a hot start and look like they can exceed expectations for this season. But it’s worth wondering if this unblemished start is just a product of playing non-conference foes or if this team can have that same sort of success against Pac-12 talent.

The Beavers certainly look capable of causing some chaos in the conference with their stout defense and steady rushing attack. But can Oregon State upend Oregon again this season and actually challenge for the conference throne in the final year of the Pac-12?

This team looks for real after drubbing San Diego State, but we’ll see just how good they look when tasked with slowing down Washington State’s offense next week.