Oregon State Football: Keys To Victory vs Idaho State
The Oregon State Beavers begin their 2024 season on Saturday afternoon hosting the Big Sky Conference's Idaho State Bengals. Even though the Beavers are heavily favored, they still need to execute the things they've been working on for the last several weeks to start their season in the win column.
After crunching the numbers, personnel, and other info at our disposal, here's what the Beavers need to do in order ensure the victory over ISU.
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Trust The Run Game
Multiple players over the course of the last several weeks have cited the running back group as the offensive position group they're most excited about. There's not one "feature back" in the group, but Jam Griffin, Anthony Hankerson, and Salahadin Allah are all expected to shoulder the load. On top of that, the Beavers have an experienced offensive line group with two interior guys in Van Wells and Joshua Gray landing on preseason watch lists. Gray, at left guard, arguably has an NFL future in front of him at the position, largely because of how well he blocked for backs like Damien Martinez and Jermar Jefferson. The Beavs' running game has averaged at least 4.9 yards per carry each of the last four seasons. Let them set the tone and see what happens.
Stick To Assignments Defensively
Idaho State will likely play multiple quarterbacks this year, as they did last season on the way to having the most productive passing offense in the FCS. It's hard enough preparing for the tendencies of one quarterback. However, defensive coordinator Keith Heyward is confident that playing fundamentally sound football will be enough, no matter who is under center.
"It really doesn't matter what opponent is out there because it's going to change week-to-week, but what's not going to change week-to-week is how we prepare our players and what we ask them to do," Heyward noted this week.
Keep an Open Mind At Quarterback
Gevani McCoy earned the starting job and based on his body of work at the University of Idaho, there's no specific reason to think he's not ready for the job. However, the coaching staff has hinted that there could ways to get Ben Gulbranson and Gabarri Johnson on the field in some way. Johnson was one of the biggest pleasant surprises of fall camp for the Beavers and Gulbranson, voted a captain, has the experience and the football IQ to lend a certain degree of confidence. Long term, things can still change, but Trent Bray and Ryan Gunderson will go with whoever give the Beavers the best chance to win.
Joe Londergan joined the SI brand in 2023 with G5 Football Daily. With over 15 years of experience in covering and working directly in college and pro sports, Joe's expertise has been featured in Front Office Sports, SB Nation, and XRAY.FM. He is a member of both the Football Writers' Association of America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association. Joe holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville and a master's degree in sports administration from Seattle University. Outside of his writing career, Joe enjoys golfing, although he admits that while he hits driver decently, his short game is a liability.