What Oregon State head coach said about Boise State, Ashton Jeanty

"The kid is just, he’s unbelievable,” Oregon State head coach Trent Bray said of Jeanty

Oregon State Beavers head coach Trent Bray. / Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

Oregon State head coach Trent Bray is well aware of what makes No. 12 Boise State’s offense tick.

It all starts with a guy named Ashton Jeanty.

“The kid is just, he’s unbelievable,” Bray said during Monday’s press conference. The Beavers (5-6) will take on Jeanty and Boise State (10-1, 7-0 Mountain West) at 10 a.m. Mountain time Friday at Albertsons Stadium. 

“You watch the Washington State game, Washington State has him hit in the backfield a bunch, and he just breaks a tackle and creates an explosive run. He’s just a really good player. Tough, physical. He’s tough to stop and he’s really what makes them go, there’s no doubt about it.”

Jeanty, a top contender for the Heisman Trophy, leads the country in rushing yards (2,062) and rushing touchdowns (27). 

The Beavers, who were coming off a stunning 28-0 loss at Air Force, bounced back last Saturday with a 41-38 victory over Washington State that snapped a five-game losing streak. The Broncos defeated Washington State back in September, 45-24. 

Oregon State won the previous meeting between the two future Pac-12 rivals, 34-17, at Reser Stadium in September 2022. It was Jeanty’s first college game, and he ran for 16 yards on four carries while catching six passes for 52 yards. 

Here are the highlights from Bray’s Monday presser. 

On how to contain Jeanty

“In trying to stop him, you’ve got to get hats to him. You’ve got to eliminate one-on-one tackles with him, because that’s just not in favor of the defense when you’ve got to go one-on-one with him. Hats to the ball, and then you’ve got to wrap up. If you don’t bring him down, you’ve got to at least hold him up and not let him get out in space where he can really kill you.”

On who Jeanty reminds him of

“I’m not sure. I’d have to think about that one. You definitely don’t see many guys like him, that’s for sure.”

On analyzing Boise State’s recent struggles

“It really doesn’t have much effect on how we look at the game. There are going to be weeks … very few teams ride that high of always just dominating whoever they’re playing. It’s a long season, it’s a tough game. It doesn’t matter who you play, if you don’t play your best in college football, anyone can beat you. We look at what they do schematically, who are their guys, who are they trying to win the game with, and that’s what we prepare for. How they did against Wyoming or anybody else doesn’t really matter when we line up against them.”

On sharing a conference with Boise State in 2026 and beyond

“I think it’s going to be great to have another great rivalry within the Northwest. They’re a great program, have been for a long time. Me personally at Oregon State, I’ve had a good history with Boise State, both as a player and as a coach. It’s been a great game, two great fan bases that are just great programs in general. I look forward to it being a great rivalry moving forward.”

On alternating between Ben Gulbranson and Gabarri Johnson at quarterback

“It was definitely something that was specific for Washington State, things that we saw that we could take advantage of. But that’s something we want to do moving forward with Gabarri because he has that type of ability (with his legs) to make it hard to defend.”

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