Cal Football opponent first look: Oregon State
A program on the rise led by a former Beaver
Coming off an unmitigated disaster with Gary Andersen, Jonathan Smith has come back to Corvallis with a vengeance. The former Beaver QB and Washington OC has been on a tear, setting up a phenomenal culture and foundation, and backing it up with the wins. This past season, Oregon State went 10-3 with a win in the Las Vegas Bowl over Florida, and also pasted Cal 38-10. They are as legit as they come in the Pac 12 and for my money, Coach Smith is the pound for pound best coach in the conference. Trent Bray has proven to be a solid hire to this point on the defensive side of the ball, which was the main culprit for the lack of success early in the Smith era.
Take a look at the buy-in I had for this program in late 2022 from my Bears Bureau series:
This year, the Beavers will be looking elsewhere to get their offense over the top. They got former Clemson QB DJ Uiagalelei from the transfer portal and signed 4* QB Aidan Chiles from Southern California, who I believe will be the future of that program. Consistent quarterback play was the main thing holding Oregon State back against teams like USC and Washington, with a fight between Ben Gulbranson and Chance Nolan. Nolan has since transferred while Gulbranson and Uiagalelei are fighting for the QB1 slot.
In the backfield and outwide, Oregon State is also looking solid. They have a plethora of backs at their disposal led by Damien Martinez, who won Pac 12 freshman offensive player of the year last year. Backing him up are three very competent backs in DeShaun Fenwick, Jam Griffin, and Isaiah Newell, all who provide their own unique flavor behind a monstrous offensive line. Having Jim Michalczik as offensive line coach certainly won’t hurt, and he’s helped lead the Beavers to at the very least top three offensive line in the conference. When the Beavers want to run their jet sweep or hard play action sets, they turn towards Anthony Gould and Silas Bolden, who add more value as return specialists as well. How Oregon State copes with the losses of WR Tyjon Lindsey and Treshaun Harrison will be the most intriguing thing for me.
Last season on defense, Oregon State had the best secondary in the conference. So much so that three members of their secondary got drafted/signed to the NFL (sound familiar?). Alex Austin ended up with the Bills, Jaydon Grant with the Raiders, and Rejzhon Wright with the Panthers, an illustration of the development on the defensive side of the ball over the years.
There will be a big ask for players to step up and replace them, and will be under the leadership of returners Alton Julian ,Akili Arnold, and Kitan Oladapo. As for the defensive line and linebackers, I’m less certain about those groups as a whole. Couple that with the secondary departures and there could be more variance in the performances from the Oregon State defense. My only reliance for these groups resides in the leadership of James Rawls along the defensive line but other than that it will be tons of new faces in new places. Despite all that, as cliche as it sounds, the Beavers defense works better as one humming machine. In my opinion it will be a team effort in generating pressure, finishing sacks, and being in the right position to make a play as opposed to having a Kayvon Thibodeaux wreaking havoc when he was at Oregon.
Special teams wise, Oregon State continues to look strong. Gould and Bolden will be marquee return men while Everett Hayes looks be on placekicking duty once again. The Beavers last season were phenomenal at blocking punts (just ask Oregon) and have proven so over the course of the Smith era (ask Cal in 2020).
Along the margins, there aren’t many other teams I’d want over Oregon State. They do so many things fundamentally well, from shedding blocks and getting to the second level, to the patience and vision of skill position players, to the swagger the defense plays with at Reser stadium. I thought the same thing back in 2021 when the Beavers visited Berkeley, then Cal hung 39 points on them. Shows what I know. However, these thoughts still remain. There’s no reason why OSU can’t be a 7-9 win team again this season if they can continue to win along the margins. Helping that campaign will be the full completion of Reser Stadium’s redevelopment, allowing for full capacity crowds as the third down saw noise rings out. I must also admit I am jealous of the Bay Area footprint they have in recruiting.
Cal fans, how do we feel about the Beavers visit to Berkeley in the fall?
At least it’s a home game!
Another game we must have. We better have 2 or 3 wins if a bowl game is in the cards. Remember, our schedule is too strong to give any away.