Oregon State RB transfer Branden Smith charged with attempted murder: Exploring the latest developments surrounding his release 

Oregon State transfer Branden Smith has been charged with attempted murder, according to ESPN's Adam Rittenberg. Smith played for Santa Barbara City College and was reportedly arrested on June 7 for an incident that happened on June 2.

The Santa Barbara County sheriff's detectives reportedly responded to a report of a fight breaking out near a community pool and found a 20-year-old man with serious injuries.

Smith was one of four people who were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, robbery, and conspiracy and reportedly is being held in jail on a $2 million bond. This incident occurred 24 hours after Branden Smith announced his commitment to the Oregon State Beavers. However, Oregon State spoke to ESPN and claimed that Smith never signed with the team and will not be joining it.

We will be following this story as more develops so make sure to keep an eye on that.

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What will the Oregon State Beavers look like offensively?

The Oregon State Beavers have been building a solid program in the Pac-12 Conference under head coach Jonathan Smith. They were as high as 17th in both the AP and Coaches Polls and that was the first time the program was ranked since the 2012 season.

The offense is expected to look a bit different with transfer quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei leading the offense and making it a more dynamic look for the team. Having a solid quarterback option is going to take a lot of pressure off the rest of the offense as that really opens up the playbook. This Beavers team did wind up with 36 rushing touchdowns in 2022 so expect that number to decrease.

This offense did an incredible job as the Beavers averaged 32.2 points and 396 total yards per game. This team has been doing very well and is returning the remaining 10 starters on the offensive side.

With better quarterback play, this Oregon State team can be a serious contender in a weaker Pac-12 conference that is going through a serious facelift. They can take the place of either the UCLA Bruins or the USC Trojans as one of the top college football powers in the conference when those teams move to the Big Ten Conference in 2024.

With Smith no longer an option, Oregon State will be depending on sophomore running back Damien Martinez and junior running back Jam Griffin to lead the running game during the 2023 season.