Oregon State will be shorthanded Saturday when it hosts No. 7 USC

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on College GameDay Saturday morning that star tight end Luke Musgrave will not play against the Trojans, and that he’ll miss more time after that. Musgrave has not played since the Beavers’ Sept. 10 win over Fresno State. He did not play last week against Montana State, a game Jonathan Smith initially suggested would be the only one he’d miss.

Since, the Beavers have acknowledged that Musgrave will miss more time.

“If Oregon State’s going to win this game, they need ball control,” Thamel said on GameDay. “They will not have Luke Musgrave, the best player on their offense. He’s a star tight end, he’s projected to be a high draft pick in the next NFL — probably a first-, two-day guy. Luke Musgrave is out for the foreseeable future for Oregon State, which is bad news tonight.”

The 6-foot-6, 250-pound Musgrave caught six passes for 89 yards (14.8 average) and a touchdown in the Beavers’ season-opening win over Boise State. He then had five receptions for 80 yards against Fresno State.

His 15 targets through the first two weeks led all Oregon State pass-catchers. Musgrave had six catches of at least 10 yards through the first two contests, what was the third-best mark in the Pac-12 at the time. His four receptions of 20 yards or more were tied with Arizona’s Jacob Cowing and USC’s Jordan Addison for the most in the league through two. He was a favorite of quarterback Chance Nolan when Nolan looked downfield.

Oregon State will need wideouts Tre’Shaun Harrison and Anthony Gould to step up in order to keep pace with the high-octane USC offense, as well as tight end Jake Overman.

Kickoff between the Trojans (3-0) and Beavers (3-0) is set for 6:30 p.m. PT on the Pac-12 Network.