Oregon State University football player Greggory Daniel Peat pleaded not guilty in Benton County Circuit Court on Tuesday on two counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor.

Peat, 18, is charged with providing alcohol to Lance Strickland, 18, of Joseph — who died in a campus dorm room Sept. 3 after drinking too much whiskey — and to Clayton Hayward, 19, also of Joseph.

Fellow teammates John Christian Ronnfeldt, 21, and Michael Marks, 18, are also charged with counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor. Ronnfeldt and Marks did not enter pleas when they were arraigned on Monday.

At this point the plea is a formality, said Benton County District Attorney Scott Heiser.

In some Oregon counties, Heiser explained, the scheduling of other hearings and a trial can hinge on when the plea was entered.

In Benton County, he said, a defense attorney generally enters a plea for a client when a trial date is set.

Peat is represented by attorney Walter Todd of Salem.

Ronnfeldt, who reportedly bought the whiskey that Strickland, Hayward, Marks and Peat drank the night of the death, is being represented by attorney Pam Hediger of Corvallis. Marks is represented by Chris Dunfield of Corvallis.

Ronnfeldt is scheduled to appear in Benton County Circuit Court on Oct. 27 and Marks and Peat are scheduled to appear for pretrial hearings Nov. 3.