Cal football half-baked opponent preview 2025: Oregon State

Will the Beavers be improved enough to give Cal a challenge on opening weekend? And what are people watching on the CW?

Credit: Homefield Apparel

In modern times, Cal has never had a fun win against Oregon State. It’s either total obliteration like last year, or they lose in an outrageously depressing way. Seems like we’re destined for total hijinx of a different sort in Corvallis.

It’s hard to do a straight preview of a team in the transfer portal era. The Cal team that dismantled the Beavers team is entirely replenished, as is the Oregon State team that

This offense has more skill this season. The Beavers are no longer in pitiful shape to matchup with a Power 4 team thanks to the transfer portal. Former Duke starting quarterback Maalik Murphy provides a baseline of competency—he will have some inconsistent stretches, but is a competent signal-caller.

The Beavers also return a 1000+ yard rusher in Anthony Hankerson and an 81 catch, 901-yard receiver in Trent Walker. Miami transfer Riley Williams gives them a solid option at tight end.

However, the Beavers offensive line is very thin on experience. Only two starters including Nevada transfer Josiah Timoteo have played any significant time.

Food trivia: Oregon State professor Ernest Weingard learned a new preservation method for how to reproduce maraschino cherries for the Oregon climate. This helped popularize American cherry production and weaned us off of the Italian imports.

Coaching situation: Trent Bray is in his second year leading the program and his fourth eighth year (stint #2, thanks AndyPanda for the edit) at Oregon State. In his first year as head coach after the departure of Jonathan Smith to Michigan State, the Beavers went 5-7, but won the inaugural conference championship by beating Washington State 41-38. It’s unclear if the Beavers have gotten a trophy.

Bray is doing double duty this year as both coach and defensive coordinator, where he got his start with the Beavers and coached some good units. Former defensive coordinator Keith Heyward is now a defensive analyst at Cal.

Let’s play a random clip from a CW show. Oregon State played six games on the CW last year and is slated to play five more games on the CW. Let’s check out its standout show for the last decade or so, Riverdale.

(Riverdale lasted seven seasons by the way.)

Can the defense be even serviceable? The Beavers managed only seven sacks last year, last in FBS. The Beavers were a bottom-25 run defense for most of the year. Former Cal fullback Andy Alfieri had to convert to edge to help out this unit. Nebraska edge transfer Kai Wallin should help out Nikko Taylor.

The Beavers will at least have a very good secondary with most starters returning behind leading tackler, safety, and defensive captain Skyler Thomas. But the front seven needs to hold up.

Go-to restaurant if you’re going to the game: You can get gluten-free chicken and waffles at 4 Chicken and Waffles in Downtown Corvallis. Rated 4.9 stars on Yelp, which feels like a trap, but the reviews seem legit!

Most famous alumni: You might think the richest person associated with an Oregon university is Phil Knight, but actually Oregon State has taken that honor in the past decade. Jensen Huang is the CEO and President of NVIDIA, and a proud Oregon State alum along with his wife. Huang’s net worth is estimated at around $150 billion, with his shares in his company pushing him to the sixth richest man in the world in 2025.

Much like Steve Wozniak giving back to Berkeley though, it is unclear whether Huang has any interest at all in sports. He gave back to Oregon State last year in the form of a very powerful supercomputer and an innovation complex. It seems like the university will be doing just fine, but he has not yet decided to turn his attention to saving Beaver sports.

That Cal connection: Jermaine Terry landed in Oregon State after the 2022 season and broke out with 23 catches for 375 yards last season, including this touchdown. Terry is now trying to make it in the NFL with the New York Giants.

Impressive landmarks: There is a wooden Benny the Beaver statue on campus.

BUILD THE OSKI STATUE ALREADY.

The last dance of the Pac-2.

With only one conference opponent before the Pac-12 is reconstituted, the Beavers certainly have one of the more bizarre schedules in college football. After Cal comes Fresno State, at Texas Tech, at Oregon, Houston, a trp to Appalachian State, and a home date with Wake Forest. Their easiest games come last with Lafayette and Sam Houston, and then they have a home-and-home with Washington State.

And oddly, nearly all of their games will be nationally televised on FOX, ESPN, CBS, and the CW! Chainsaws for all.

Before Pac-12 football on the CW, there was football on Riverdale.

“I dropped out in the 4th grade to run drugs to support my nana.”
”That means you haven't known the triumphs and defeats, the epic highs and lows… of high school football.”

Have bears been spotted in proximity of the Oregon State campus in the last decade?

Yes.