Slight correction, Trent Bray is beginning his 8th year in his second stint at Oregon State (2nd as head coach, after 3 as DC & 3 as LB coach), after an earlier 3 year stay, before the 3 years at Nebraska separating the 2 stints.
Devin Brown has almost zero meaningful snaps but he has played against one of the best defenses in the country. OK, sure, they were Ohio State's 2s but are there any 2s from OSU's defense that we would turn down in the transfer portal? Of course not. I know, I KNOW, practice is not the same as real game time snaps, but still. Yeah.
The O-line played their butts off in 2024 but they were not very good. I was at the Pitt game last year (I live in Ohio) and I feared for Fernando's life. The transfers cannot possibly be worse than last year's unit (OK, well, maybe) but I expect more out of the new guys this year.
The D lost a lot (good luck in the NFL, Nohl, Teddye, and Craig) but Wilcox's D almost always plays well. The Bears should be fine here.
The schedule leans toward Cal's favor. Will they go 10-2? Believe it or not, if Cal gets as many good breaks as they did bad breaks last year, 10-2 is realistic. I will be surprised if they go 6-6. I expect at least 8-4.
Basking in the sunshine! I’ve lived through many a heartbreaking OSU game, so I’ll enjoy the sunshine while I can. I think this Cal team has the potential to be good. If it isn’t, Ron Rivera is there to pull the levers to get off the 5-7, 6-6 and then lose the bowl game merry-go-round. So either way, things are going to work out.
How did the 1,000 yd rusher and 900 yd receiver not transfer after spectacular seasons? Oregon State knows something we don't on how to keep talents from portaling.
The Beavers are a strange bunch to predict. It's a school anyone, and I mean anyone, can get into, so they have always attracted players who didn't want to go to school. And yet it has some strong science departments, especially at the graduate level. Their football team mimics their academic strangeness. When at their best, they play really tough, physical football with an underdog mentality. Jonathan Smith led them to greatness and he was a nobody recruit. They over-achieve. But if not over-achieving, they are truly awful, and have been truly awful over most of their history. I hope they remain awful for this coming season, and quite a few to come.
OSU and the other land grant colleges dont have a 'strange' academic mission, what is strange is that as smart as you are you don't know what it is. The agriculture and engineering schools were set up and designed to educate farmers kids who might have graduated from one room school houses. To get as many of the non-elites agricultural, forestry and engineering degrees to supply the farms and industry of their states with excellence. It has worked magnificently. The combination of elite colleges and ag/engineering colleges have supplied this country with wealth and abundance never dreamed of. I would say OSU's years of piss poor football performance with a few years of excellence mixed in has more to do with piss poor coaching and institutional support during much of that time. If Bray turns out to be an excellent coach, the Beavs will win lots of games . Go Beavs
My wife did her MS at OSU and so we know the University well. I'm sorry you took offense to my comment. I stand by my statements. There are no bigger fans of public schools than myself, and I absolutely honor the work OSU has done for so many first gen Oregonians. I never said their academic mission was "strange". I said they are a strange team to predict, and contain contradictions like their academic reputation. As you know if you are a Beaver, the undergraduate is not highly regarded, even in Oregon. Not that it isn't important, or doesn't give a good education if you try. Just that it is easy to get in and easy to do OK relative to expectations if you are inclined to be a party slacker. But the graduate programs in Oceanography are world class. That's the contrast I'm highlighting.
I was on campus back in 2016 for the Cal/OSU basketball game. Was walking around and saw a sign for #WTFOSU. Below in small text they had "What To Fix. Oregon State University"
Beaver fan and alum in Texas now and I really enjoyed this article. But I wonder as you kind of made fun of the CW if you knew they've been showing ACC games (w hat 2 California teams are in the ACC now??? Haha) for a few seasons now.
"Nice post" you fucking pompous Cal ASS HAT! The Beavs are going to blow you out of the water! You lost most of your good players to the portal and now you will be your normal mediocre selves. Oregon State was a victim of the pathetic Pac 12 collapse, that Cal contributed to and should be ASHAMED OF....The Beavs are rebuilding! Watch out! Hope your sell out works well for you. So far it is not looking so promising....
Pretty funny. A bit of arrogance from a Cal football program. If I am remembering the seasons correctly, we (Cal) have (2) more overall wins than OSU in the Wilcox era. And, that is with OSU changing coaches (one being the Gary Anderson debacle) twice.
In Wilcox's time here at Call there have been (2) winning seasons, none since 2019. Conference(s) play has led to a 23-43 record. Yet suddenly with the loss of almost every key player on both sides of the ball Wilcox is now a master of developing transfers in a Spring and Fall, and a 10-2 record is possible. You know a record he has NEVER sniffed.
Have you attended Spring and Fall practices? A 7-5 would be a "lucky" record for 2025. Let's see if Justin can break into the "top 10"... of the ACC!
Slight correction, Trent Bray is beginning his 8th year in his second stint at Oregon State (2nd as head coach, after 3 as DC & 3 as LB coach), after an earlier 3 year stay, before the 3 years at Nebraska separating the 2 stints.
thanks, fixed!
I’ll have you know I watch the NASCAR Xfinity Series on the CW!!!
Go Bears Forever.
I have no reason to be optimistic and yet...I am.
Devin Brown has almost zero meaningful snaps but he has played against one of the best defenses in the country. OK, sure, they were Ohio State's 2s but are there any 2s from OSU's defense that we would turn down in the transfer portal? Of course not. I know, I KNOW, practice is not the same as real game time snaps, but still. Yeah.
The O-line played their butts off in 2024 but they were not very good. I was at the Pitt game last year (I live in Ohio) and I feared for Fernando's life. The transfers cannot possibly be worse than last year's unit (OK, well, maybe) but I expect more out of the new guys this year.
The D lost a lot (good luck in the NFL, Nohl, Teddye, and Craig) but Wilcox's D almost always plays well. The Bears should be fine here.
The schedule leans toward Cal's favor. Will they go 10-2? Believe it or not, if Cal gets as many good breaks as they did bad breaks last year, 10-2 is realistic. I will be surprised if they go 6-6. I expect at least 8-4.
Go Bears Forever.
Reading your comment made me feel the old surge of optimism that I used to feel during the Tedford years. Thanks for such a good, positive comment.
Basking in the sunshine! I’ve lived through many a heartbreaking OSU game, so I’ll enjoy the sunshine while I can. I think this Cal team has the potential to be good. If it isn’t, Ron Rivera is there to pull the levers to get off the 5-7, 6-6 and then lose the bowl game merry-go-round. So either way, things are going to work out.
Marcus says hello.
How did the 1,000 yd rusher and 900 yd receiver not transfer after spectacular seasons? Oregon State knows something we don't on how to keep talents from portaling.
The Beavers are a strange bunch to predict. It's a school anyone, and I mean anyone, can get into, so they have always attracted players who didn't want to go to school. And yet it has some strong science departments, especially at the graduate level. Their football team mimics their academic strangeness. When at their best, they play really tough, physical football with an underdog mentality. Jonathan Smith led them to greatness and he was a nobody recruit. They over-achieve. But if not over-achieving, they are truly awful, and have been truly awful over most of their history. I hope they remain awful for this coming season, and quite a few to come.
OSU and the other land grant colleges dont have a 'strange' academic mission, what is strange is that as smart as you are you don't know what it is. The agriculture and engineering schools were set up and designed to educate farmers kids who might have graduated from one room school houses. To get as many of the non-elites agricultural, forestry and engineering degrees to supply the farms and industry of their states with excellence. It has worked magnificently. The combination of elite colleges and ag/engineering colleges have supplied this country with wealth and abundance never dreamed of. I would say OSU's years of piss poor football performance with a few years of excellence mixed in has more to do with piss poor coaching and institutional support during much of that time. If Bray turns out to be an excellent coach, the Beavs will win lots of games . Go Beavs
My wife did her MS at OSU and so we know the University well. I'm sorry you took offense to my comment. I stand by my statements. There are no bigger fans of public schools than myself, and I absolutely honor the work OSU has done for so many first gen Oregonians. I never said their academic mission was "strange". I said they are a strange team to predict, and contain contradictions like their academic reputation. As you know if you are a Beaver, the undergraduate is not highly regarded, even in Oregon. Not that it isn't important, or doesn't give a good education if you try. Just that it is easy to get in and easy to do OK relative to expectations if you are inclined to be a party slacker. But the graduate programs in Oceanography are world class. That's the contrast I'm highlighting.
I was on campus back in 2016 for the Cal/OSU basketball game. Was walking around and saw a sign for #WTFOSU. Below in small text they had "What To Fix. Oregon State University"
I mean...really?
Beaver fan and alum in Texas now and I really enjoyed this article. But I wonder as you kind of made fun of the CW if you knew they've been showing ACC games (w hat 2 California teams are in the ACC now??? Haha) for a few seasons now.
"Nice post" you fucking pompous Cal ASS HAT! The Beavs are going to blow you out of the water! You lost most of your good players to the portal and now you will be your normal mediocre selves. Oregon State was a victim of the pathetic Pac 12 collapse, that Cal contributed to and should be ASHAMED OF....The Beavs are rebuilding! Watch out! Hope your sell out works well for you. So far it is not looking so promising....
44-7
Pretty funny. A bit of arrogance from a Cal football program. If I am remembering the seasons correctly, we (Cal) have (2) more overall wins than OSU in the Wilcox era. And, that is with OSU changing coaches (one being the Gary Anderson debacle) twice.
In Wilcox's time here at Call there have been (2) winning seasons, none since 2019. Conference(s) play has led to a 23-43 record. Yet suddenly with the loss of almost every key player on both sides of the ball Wilcox is now a master of developing transfers in a Spring and Fall, and a 10-2 record is possible. You know a record he has NEVER sniffed.
Have you attended Spring and Fall practices? A 7-5 would be a "lucky" record for 2025. Let's see if Justin can break into the "top 10"... of the ACC!
the same question