The one unit that may have more injuries than Cal
Over the course of the last few years, Oregon State has made leaps along the defensive side of the football. After dismissing Tim Tibesar during the 2021 season, current HC Trent Bray was promoted to interim defensive coordinator before taking over the full time DC role in 2022 and 2023. Bray specifically takes on the role of coaching linebackers like Peter Sirmon was helped construct a fundamentally sound defense for Jonathan Smith that was really good from sideline to sideline. This years iteration of the Beaver defense has been ravaged by injuries, forcing offensive players to jump to the defensive side of the team, including some old friends that Cal fans are familiar with.
2023 Defense in Review
Gave up 22.9 points per game
114.2 rushing yards given up per game
gave up 235.85 passing yards per game
Trent Bray was the DC last season
leaders were Andrew Chatfield Jr, Kitan Oladapo, Easton Mascarenas-Arnold, and James Rawls who have all since departed or graduated
2024 setup
led by DC Keith Heyward
run a 4-3 that can shift into a 4-2-5
have been hamstrung by all the injuries so it hard to navigate what their strengths are but they have more availability in the secondary as it stands
their run defense has suffered due to the health issues and is currently how teams have moved up and down the field on them both in Corvallis and on the road
Provisional Starters
Usually this is a fairly simple list but we’ve really had to go in the weeds here with all the injuries. Considering Oregon State’s luck on this front, there’s a world where some of these guys may not even start Saturday.
OLB Nikko Taylor, DL Thomas Collins, DL Jacob Schuster, OLB Shamar Meikle OR Oluwaseyi Omotosho
ILB Melvin Jordan IV, ILB Isaiah Chisom, ILB Dexter Foster with Andy Alfieri backing up
DB Exodus Ayers, S Tyrice Ivy Jr, S Skyler Thomas, CB Andre Jordan Jr with Sai Vadrawale III backing up
Players and personnel to watch
The front seven is the group to watch for the Beavers because there are so many loose ends. Oregon State is currently giving up 196.3 rushing yards per game on the ground and gave up 176 to Colorado State, 353(!) to Nevada, and 188 to UNLV in their last three games.
It would be fair to say they can’t stop a nosebleed on the ground right now. Teams are staying on schedule throughout drives and are converting third and shorts that eventually result in points. As easy as it sounds and as difficult as it has been for Cal, if they can push this injured and re-tooled front seven, they *should* score more points than they have in recent weeks.
One strength for Oregon State so far has been part of their secondary. Skyler Thomas and Tyrice Ivy Jr, two Bay Area products, have taken on larger roles this season. Thomas leads the team with 47 total tackles and 4 PBU’s on the season, finding the football when tested. Nikko Taylor has been the Beavers best pass rusher, generating two forced fumbles and has notched two sacks.
Here is a video of how Oregon State played against UNLV (admittedly hard to read into too much since its focused on UNLV highlights)
How Cal can win this game
Cal will win or lose this game based on the amount of push the offensive line gets in the run game. If the advantage doesn’t reach San Diego State levels, that’ll be concerning. The Beavers have an offense that can move the ball and reasonably put up 24-27 points in this game. I’d be concerned for the rest of the season if Cal can’t move the ball consistently against this defense. Not only are they riddled with injuries but get out of position consistently.
I’d like to see some guards pulling for the Bears and utilize some sprint rollouts because Fernando Mendoza has been executing plays of that variety at a solid clip this year. Three of the next four games (Oregon State, Wake Forest, Stanford) are against leaky defenses, so if the Bears don’t get it done offensively in this stretch, it’s just not happening this year.
TJ Session is doubtful for this game per Justin Wilcox so that throws in a wrench for the Cal offense, but that doesn’t change the mission nor should recalibrate the main key of this game. Win at the point of attack in the run game.
