Oregon State College Football Preview 2024: Key Players, Game Schedule, Season Predictions

Oregon State College Football Preview 2024

Apr 16, 2022; Corvallis, OR, USA; Oregon State interim defensive coordinator Trent Bray looks on during the Oregon State spring football game at Reser Stadium. © Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Well that stinks.

Last year at this time Oregon State was coming off a 10-3 season finished off with a win over Oregon and a Las Vegas Bowl domination over Florida.

It picked up QB DJ Uiagalelei, was fired up about a hot-shot QB prospect in Aidan Chiles, had a wonderful back in Damien Martinez, and was ranked in all of the preseason polls.

And the Pac-12 imploded, the Big 12 and ACC went elsewhere, and Oregon State was left without a chair when the music stopped.

Head coach Jonathan Smith left for Michigan State, Chiles went with him, Martinez is at Miami, Uiagalelei is a Florida State Seminole, and a whole slew of other key parts from last year’s team went elsewhere big.

So now what? It's not all doom and gloom.

Trent Bray goes from Oregon State defensive coordinator to Oregon State head coach, the program is hanging with the Mountain West - to go along with a few nice non-conference games - and while it was an overall net loss in the transfer portal, enough talent is coming in to be okay.

And after going 8-5 last season, and with ALL of the drama, and ALL of the problems, and ALL of the issues, it’s very, very possible Oregon State wins eight games again.

Oregon State Football Preview 2024: Offense

- Former Oregon State QB Ryan Gunderson handled the UCLA passers last year, and now he’s the new offensive coordinator. His first job will be to get the passing game going despite the loss of last year’s good quarterbacks and most of the top receivers.

It’ll be a fight in fall camp to decide the starting QB situation. Veteran Ben Gulbranson is the safe choice - he was under center in the Sun Bowl blowout loss to Notre Dame - but Idaho transfer Gevani McCoy and Missouri transfer Gabarri Johnson both have a bigger upside. The two new guys haven’t shown it yet, though.

- Receiver will be the bigger early problem - call it a work in progress. Everyone is gone including leading target Silas Bolden and eight-touchdown TE Jack Velling. Darrius Clemons was a great get for Michigan, and now he’ll be the main man on the outside of the Beaver receiving corps. Several banged up and untested parts will fill in the gaps.

- Just about everyone is gone from the offensive front, but Joshua Gray is a start, He might have been a top tackle last season but he’ll likely work on the inside. Two Colorado transfers have to be amazing right away - Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan is a huge tackle, and Van Wells should be fine a center.

There is no Damien Martinez-like back, but Colorado transfer Anthony Hankerson is in, and Jam Griffin - who ran for 488 yards and four scores two years ago for the Beavers - is back after a year as a backup at Ole Miss.

Oregon State Football Preview 2024: Defense

- The defense might not have the talent, but this bunch will ball out. Oregon State defenders always 90-pound chips on their shoulders, and double that now with a loaded bunch of transfers challenging for gigs. It all starts on …

- The defensive line - it’s all but starting over. There’s size on the inside around Semisi Saluni, and there’s huge upside with Tevita Pome’e (Oregon) and Tygee Hill (LSU) both very big, very promising interior options. The fall camp has to come up with the ends and overall rotation, but the run D should be fine.

Linebacker might be the team’s biggest strength - if it’s not the corners. Melvin Jordan is destined to be one of the team’s leading tacklers inside, Oluwaseyi Omotosho should be a force into the backfield on the outside, and the transfer portal cranked up the depth behind what should be a solid starting foursome.

- The defensive backfield got a good one. There might be enough holdovers to form a decent back 4/5, but it’s getting CB Kobe Singleton from Liberty that should make everything click to go along with a strong veteran in Jaden Robinson on the other side.

The safeties aren’t quite as good, but there’s size and just enough experience to be good if veteran Skyler Thomas is okay coming off a knee injury.

Key To The Oregon State Football Season

Don’t go on any good drives without generating points.

For all the positives last year, one of the biggest was Oregon State’s ability to put the biscuit in the basket. It was the best in the nation in red zone scoring, only missing one time inside the 20 - and it proved costly in the 27-24 loss to Arizona.

Even better, the O was fantastic at coming away with touchdowns instead of field goals. This year’s offense won’t be as good, and there should be too many tight games - the team can’t afford a missed opportunity.

Oregon State Key Player

C Van Wells, Jr. and OT Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan, Sr.

Christian-Lichtenhan might not even start right away, but at some point he’ll be needed to rise up at one tackle spot. It will likely be Wells or bust at center.

They’re both former Colorado Buffaloes, but that’s sort of a problem - Coach Prime’s O line was AWFUL. The Beavers don’t have a deep enough bunch for these two to struggle.

Oregon State Football Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Kobe Singleton, CB Sr.

He’s a potential NFL-caliber defensive back with good speed and excellent range. In two years at Liberty he made 66 tackles with six interceptions and 18 broken up passes, and now he should be fantastic on the other side of Jaden Robinson.

Top Transfer Out: Aidan Chiles, QB Soph.Chiles was a huge recruit for the Beavers, and he didn’t take over the job with DJ Uiagalelei as the main man. He’s gone to Michigan State, and now there’s a giant overall dip in talent level in the quarterback room.

Oregon State Key Game

Oregon, Sept. 14

It shouldn’t work like this, and the business types in college sports really don’t look at or care about the on-field results, but pulling off a victory here would really, really matter.

Considering it’ll be tough for Oregon State to get into the spotlight as the season goes on, this is it. This is the big chance to make a national splash, and it's at home against the arch-rival.

10 Best Oregon State Football Players

1. Joshua Gray, OG Sr.

2. Jaden Robinson, CB Sr.

3. Oluwaseyi Omotosho, LB Jr.

4. Kobe Singleton, CB Sr.

5. Jam Griffin, RB Sr.

6. Jacob Schuster, NT Jr.

7. Anthony Hankerson, RB Jr.

8. Isaiah Chisom, LB RFr.

9. Darrius Clemons, WR Jr.

10. Melvin Jordan, LB Soph.

Oregon State 2023 Fun Stats

- Rushing TDs: Oregon State 26, Opponents 14

- Sacks: Oregon State 38 for 284 yards, Opponents 19 for 123 yards

- 1st Quarter Scoring: Oregon State 93, Opponents 47

Oregon State Football 2024 Win Total Prediction: What to Expect This Season

How good will the offensive line be?

The defense will be good enough to hold up against the Mountain West teams on the slate, but the O line has to be terrific considering the step down in skill spots from last year.

But that’s the one plus out of all this yuck after going from the Pac-12 to whatever it wants to consider itself. Replace Utah, UCLA, Arizona and Washington from last year’s slate for Colorado State, Nevada, UNLV, and Boise State.

That’s not to say the Mountain West teams on the slate won’t be a problem - Boise State certainly will - but overall the schedule is far more manageable.

Oregon State won’t be nearly as good as the 2023 version, and it would’ve been great to see what could’ve happened if everyone stuck around for 2024, but it’ll still be a bowl season without a massive drop-off in the win column considering all the lost parts.

Set The Oregon State Win Total At … 6 Likely Wins: Idaho State

50/50 Games: at Air Force, Colorado State, at Nevada, Purdue, at San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV, Washington State

Likely Losses: at Boise State, at Cal, Oregon

2024 Oregon State Football Schedule

Aug 31 Idaho State

Sept 7 at San Diego State

Sept 14 Oregon

Sept 21 Purdue

Sept 28 OPEN DATE

Oct 5 Colorado State

Oct 12 at Nevada

Oct 19 UNLV

Oct 26 at Cal

Nov 2 OPEN DATE

Nov 9 San Jose State

Nov 16 at Air Force

Nov 23 Washington State

Nov 30 at Boise State