Beavers hope to create some bad news for Bears
Trent Bray has a confident air as he begins his second season at the OSU coaching helm Saturday night against California at Reser Stadium (courtesy OSU sports communications)
CORVALLIS — A year ago, Trent Bray kicked off his head coaching career at Oregon State with a relatively easy 38-15 win over Idaho State at Reser Stadium.
It isn’t likely to be like that this time. California comes to Reser Saturday night as a three-point underdog to the Beavers in the 2025 opener for both teams. With OSU’s home-field advantage, it means oddsmakers believe the opponents are virtually even in quality.
It seems strange to call it an intersectional, but it is a matchup of the Pac-12 — or Pac-2, if you prefer — vs. the Atlantic Coast Conference. Cal fled the conference for the ACC a year ago, aiding and abetting the move that resulted in the “Power Five” becoming the “Power Four.” The Golden Bears went 6-7, including a 24-13 loss to Nevada-Las Vegas in the L.A. Bowl.
“Having a team the quality of Cal makes it that much more exciting and important,” OSU coach Trent Bray said Monday during a media availability at Valley Football Center. “It is not a warmup, like playing against a team you expect to beat. This is going to be a tough game. (The Golden Bears are) a great opponent, a great team, and we have to be at our best.
“There are a lot of new faces on both sides — Cal and for us. We are excited to have a first game with so much on the line.”
Cal is not a great team, but it is a worthy foe for a team the caliber of Oregon State, which went 5-7 a year ago in the first season after the Pac-12 breakup. Head coach Justin Wilcox brings his typical stingy defense in his ninth season at the helm, but much else is different about Cal football.
Ron Rivera is the program’s new general manager. Rivera, 63, spent 13 years as an NFL head coach at Carolina and Washington. The new quarterbacks coach is former Auburn and Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin. And Keith Heyward, Oregon State’s defensive coordinator a year ago, is now defensive backs coach for the Bears.
Quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who completed 27 of 36 passes for 364 yards and two touchdowns in Cal’s 44-7 dismantlement of OSU in Berkeley a year ago, has transferred to Indiana. Star tailback Jaydn Ott took his talents to Oklahoma.
In Mendoza’s place will be true freshman Jaron-Keane Sagapolutele, who will get his college football baptism under fire in Corvallis. Sagapolutele, 6-5 and 225, is a five-star recruit and the career prep passing leader out of Hawaii who was ranked as the No 19 overall player in the country last year by On3. He originally committed to Cal, then signed with Oregon and spent a month in Eugene before entering the transfer portal in January. Among the teams that recruited him out of high school was Oregon State.
“He was very sought after, by us as well,” Bray said.
The OSU coach said Sagapolutele is “an extremely talented kid. Great arm, a great athlete, and he can move around. He can pose problems with his ability to escape and throw on the run. They have a bunch of confidence in him and feel great that they are starting him as a true freshman. That says a lot.”
Bray isn’t giving away any secrets about how the Beavers will defend him — he is not giving away much of anything during his bouts with the media — but said this about defensive philosophy: “You are preparing for what (the Bears) do schematically. Who the quarterback is does matter a little bit as far as his tendencies. But as far as game-planning, you are prepared for what Cal does and how they are going to try to attack you.”
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The Beavers will surely do what they can to put pressure on Sagapolutele in his first college start. Last season, they ranked dead last — 133rd — among FBS programs with seven sacks in 12 games. That can’t happen again. The Beavers were also 107th in rushing defense (185.8 yards per game) and 101st in scoring defense (29.9 points per game), numbers that must improve in ’25.
Sagapolutele has two veteran receivers to which to throw the ball in seniors Trond Grizzell and Jacob DeJesus. The 6-4, 205-pound Grizzell had 27 catches for 401 yards last year, including five for 95 yards against Oregon State. The 5-7, 170-pound DeJesus, a transfer from UNLV, made 36 receptions for 512 yards and three TDs a year ago.
Cal returns a veteran defense bolstered by nine transfers in the secondary. The D-line features 10 returnees, including seniors T.J. Bollers (6-2, 300) and Aidan Keanaaina (6-3, 320), the latter a preseason All-ACC pick.
At inside linebacker are a pair of experienced juniors — 6-1, 235-pound Cade Uluave, who had 71 tackles in nine games for the Bears last season, and 6-4, 235-pound Buom Jock, a transfer from Colorado State who had registered 100 tackles in ’24.
Depth was an issue for Oregon State a year ago, especially when injuries took their toll in the second half of the season. Bray said that is less the case now.
“We are deeper than we were a year ago at just about every position,” he said. “We have guys outside the starting group that can come in and play winning football.”
The Beavers broke the NIL bank to land quarterback Maalik Murphy, a 6-5, 235-pound junior who threw for 2,933 yards and a school-record 26 touchdowns at Duke last season. He has won over his coaches and teammates with his leadership and communication skills since his arrival in January.
“I feel great about where Maalik is at,” Bray said. “He has grown from spring to (August) camp to where he is at right now with his understanding of not only the offense, but also the reads based on what the call is. He has grown tremendously in that area.”
Senior running back Anthony Hankerson returns off a 2024 season that featured 1,082 yards and 15 touchdowns rushing along with 27 receptions for 151 yards. Sophomore returnee Salahadin Allah, Louisiana Tech transfer Marquis Crosby, redshirt freshman Cornell Hatcher and true freshmen Kordey Glass and Skyler Jackson help stock what might be the Beavers’ deepest position.
Senior Trent Walker, who caught 81 passes for 901 yards a year ago, should be one of the West Coast’s premier receivers. But the Beavers received a blow with Monday’s news that Darrius Clemens, the expected No. 2 receiver, will miss the entire season after surgery for a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Oregon State’s offensive line, with only senior center Van Wells back as a consensus starter, is a major question mark. But Bray says he has been impressed with the work of veteran O-line coach Mike Cavanaugh with the hands on deck.
“The offensive line’s improvement from spring to now,” Bray said, “has been tremendous.”
The defense should be better if only for the decision to have Bray double as head coach and coordinator. The secondary appears deep, experienced and talented, and returnees such as Nikko Taylor, Thomas Collins, Dexter Foster, Tevita Pome’e and Takari Hickle provide stability on the front end.
Bray shot down the suggestion that his players might have payback on their minds for last year’s shellacking in Strawberry Canyon.
“No, there’s not,” he said. “Last year’s game has no bearing on what happens this year. There’s no conversation about it, because it doesn’t matter.”
Six victories and a bowl appearance would be the minimum of goals for Bray’s 2025 Beavers. A victory over Cal would be an important step in the direction of a winning season. Oregon State will be favored the following weekend in a home matchup with Fresno State but a heavy underdog against the next two opponents, road games against nationally ranked Texas Tech and Oregon. A 1-3 start would put the Beavers under the gun.
Bray doesn’t expect that to happen. His players, he said, have made him a believer.
“What they have shown me through winter conditioning, spring ball and (training) camp is where my confidence comes from,” he said. “They are playing the game the way we want them to do, as far as effort, toughness, and physicality. The way they have been able to work together … the communication on the defensive side has been good. Same thing on the offense. All those things that take time to get comfortable and understand — that has been their biggest growth.
“We are excited about the team we have, the talent we have, the group of young men on this team. We are excited to go out there and showcase it for the first time.”
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