OSU football: Season predictions for the Beavers (2024)

MID-VALLEY MEDIA

A new era of Oregon State football begins Saturday against Idaho State.

Trent Bray will take the field as a head coach for the first time. Quarterback Gevani McCoy and multiple teammates will make their first starts as Beavers.

The team will play a very different looking schedule. There are three familiar opponents from their time together in the Pac-12 Conference, but the team will also play its first ever game against Air Force.

With all of the change surrounding the program, what are realistic expectations for the team? The experts in Las Vegas have set Oregon State's over-under win total at 7.5 victories. Bray has his sights set higher.

Here is how the members of the sports staff think the season may unfold.

Les Gehrett

On the first day of training camp, Bray was asked why he remained so optimistic about Oregon State’s chances this season. Bray has been consistently positive since the day he was hired, going so far as to say he saw a path for the team to make the College Football Playoff.

When he talked about the team at the start of camp, he emphasized the physical attributes of the players on the roster. As athletes, they will have the advantage in many of the games they will play this season.

“The physical talent is here. I think from a size, strength, speed standpoint, it’s here," Bray said."We can win the games we need to win with the talent we have here. Now it’s just going to be how fast can we come together? How fast can those guys play?

"Because that’s been one thing we’ve done a great job of the last couple of years is, our guys play fast and they play physical. In order to do that, you’ve got to be confident and know what you’re doing."

Playing fast and being physical was a trademark of the Oregon State defense during Bray’s time as the coordinator. When he first took over that position, he famously simplified the playbook so players could react more quickly.

It seems like a simple idea, but it worked.

There are enough games on the schedule in which Oregon State will have the athletic advantage that winning those games alone would clinch bowl eligibility.

That doesn’t mean those games are a sure thing. Anyone who goes through the Beavers’ schedule will mark the Nevada game down as a win as the Wolf Pack are picked to be at the bottom of the Mountain West Conference this year. But last weekend, Nevada nearly pulled off the upset of SMU. If you don’t play hard anything can happen.

Ultimately, how successful the season will be depends on winning the games where the physical ability is more equal. How many wins can Oregon State get in its games against Oregon, Purdue, California, Washington State and Boise State?

Even if the Beavers go 2-3 in those games, that's a nine-win season, which would be remarkable given the program's offseason. If the team takes care of business in the games they should win and does a little better in the tossups, even Bray's wildest hopes become a possibility.

Prediction: 9-3

Steve Gress

A new era of Oregon State football begins around 3:30 p.m. Saturday inside what has been one of the toughest places to play for opposing teams the past three seasons— Reser Stadium.

That’s when the Trent Bray coaching era—and the still looking for a new conference home Beavers—begins against Idaho State.

To say it’s been a long offseason would be about as major of an understatement as anyone could make.

From watching the Pac-12 unceremoniously disintegrate before their eyes a year ago, to the star quarterback turned coach who resurrected the program from the depths of despair—Jonathan Smith—jumping ship to Michigan State as soon as the regular season ended, it’s been quite a gut-punch for Beaver Nation.

But the show must go on and it will starting Saturday afternoon.

What should we expect from Bray, a former Beaver who chose not to follow Smith to East Lansing but instead to stay on board in Corvallis and attempt to build off the successes of the past three seasons?

Beavers fans hope much of the same as they saw under Smith.

While there are plenty of new faces on the coaching staff and on the field, the Beavers should be competitive.

They get seven of their 12 games in Reser Stadium—where OSU is 16-2 since the start of the 2021 season. That includes a win over Oregon.

Speaking of the Ducks, the Beavers host their instate rivals on Sept. 14. And, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index, that is the only opponent (at No. 2) that is ranked ahead of Oregon State (39).

Four teams—San Diego State, UNLV, San Jose State and Air Force—are in the 80s, while Colorado State and Nevada are in the 100s.

Cal is the closest at 44 with Boise State at 49. Both those games are on the road and could be a cause for concern.

Purdue (60) and Washington State (64) are the next closest in the FPI and both those games are at home. Idaho State is not listed as a FCS school.

If you go by those numbers, the Beavers should finish 11-1 and maybe in the expanded CFP???

That probably won't be the case but with four of the first five games at home, that could lead to plenty of momentum.

Being optimistic, the Beavers are 10-2.

Being more realistic, they go 9-3.

Prediction: I will go with 9-3 and that would be a nice start to the Bray era.

Dylan Jacobs

If Week 0 of the college football season taught us anything, it’s that we really don’t know anything right now.

No. 10 Florida State falls to Georgia Tech. Huge favorite SMU barely survives against Nevada. FCS Montana State goes on the road to beat New Mexico (even though the Bobcats were favored).

We think we have an idea of how things will go, but a lot of times, there’s plenty of mystery. That could be the case for Oregon State.

Idaho transfer Gevani McCoy will get the first crack at quarterback for the Beavers and it’s unclear how he’ll handle the increased competition. The front seven of this defense is also a bit of an unknown, with a lot of new players stepping into very important roles. Quarterback play and putting pressure on the opponent’s quarterback can make or break a season.

But there’s a lot to like. Veterans in the run game, offensive line and secondary could help this team find success while the unknowns gain experience.

The makings of a strong season are there and the schedule helps with seven of 12 games at home. The toughest road game is by far the finale at Boise State. And while a makeshift Mountain West schedule could have been an issue last year with how good the conference was, there’s a chance teams like Air Force and UNLV take a step back from their strong 2023 campaigns.

When looking at the schedule right now, it’s hard to predict the Beavers winning their two toughest games, hosting Oregon and traveling to Boise. Anything can happen in college football, but Oregon State will be underdogs for sure.

Can the Beavers run the rest of the table? Idaho State, San Diego State, San Jose State and Nevada should be games I feel comfortable marking as wins, even though that last one doesn’t look as clear right now.

Home matchups with Purdue, Colorado State, UNLV and Washington State, and road games against Cal and Air Force are games that the Beavers could and maybe should win, but are more up in the air.

It’s hard to predict a team with questions at key positions running that table. Is one loss enough? That Cal game could be a true toss-up and there could always be another shoe that drops.

They have the talent to have a good season. But for Oregon State fans, will it be good enough?

The ceiling might be 10-2. The floor might be 7-5. So let's go in between.

Prediction: 8-4.