Five Questions for Reporter Who Covers Cal’s First Opponent, Oregon State

Cal opens its 2025 football season with a road game against Oregon State Saturday night, so we enlisted the help of Corvallis Gazette-Times sports editor Les Gehrett by asking him five questions about the Beavers.

Cal beat Oregon State 44-7 last year in Berkeley, but this time the game is in Corvallis. The Beavers have a 20-5 record at home since the start of the 2021 season and are slight favorites against the Golden Bears.

We provide excerpts of each of Gehrett’s answers, but you may want to listen to the entire video to get complete answers.

---1. What can you tell me about Oregon State quarterback Maalik Murphy, a transfer from Duke, regarding his style, his skill set and his impact after Oregon State reportedly set him up with a $1.5 million NIL deal?

“They got very limited production at quarterback a year ago. It was not good. More interceptions than touchdowns.”

“Maalik raises everything for this team. He is a legitimate option at quarterback, the most talented player that they’ve had at the position in several years. There was a lot of expectation a couple of years ago when DJ Uiagalelei came in. That worked to some extent, but I think the ceiling with Maalik is higher.

“Style-wise, he is a dropback, pocket passer who is not looking to run. A year ago at Duke, his longest run was 8 yards on a very limited number of carries. RPOs is not really what he’s looking to do. . . He is not immobile, but his priority is pushing the ball down the field. He has a legit arm, he can make every throw.”

“He is a vast improvement over what this team had a year ago at quarterback.”

---2. What are Oregon State’s strengths and weaknesses on offense and defense, and who are the Beavers’ best players?

“On offense, running back Anthony Hankerson ran for just under 1,100 yards, scored 15 touchdowns. He’s not a big running back [5-foot-8, 203 pounds], but he plays bigger than his listed size. He’s a tough runner, he’s experienced. If he stays helathy he should have a big year.”

“They have Trent Walker back at wide receiver. Somehow Trent managed to catch 81 balls for over 900 yards last year. Given where this team was at quarterback-wise, that kind of seems like a miracle honestly.

“The rest of their skills position is a little untested. Senior wide receiver Darius Clemons, who transferred to the program from Michigan before last season, he ruptured his Achilles, he’s going to be out for the year. They have only one starter back on the offensive line.”

“Last year the pass rush was abysmal. [The Beavers had just seven sacks in 2024, by far the fewest in the country.] They overhauled just about everything about that. It can’t be worse; last year was bottom of the barrel. Their team strength of defense I think is their secondary. They like the size and the length and the experience that they have back there at safety. They’ve got some experienced guys at safety, with Skylar Thomas and Tyrice Ivy Jr.”

---3. Do you expect Oregon State’s defense to be different or better now that head coach Trent Bray is also the defensive coordinator?

“I do think it’s going to be better. It’s certainly going to be different. I think he is going to take a more aggressive approach than they took last year.”

“They added a couple of edge rushers – Kai Wallin from Nebraska, Walker Harris from Southern Utah. I do think it’s going to be better. The players like having Bray hands-on on the field.”

"This team gave up 400 yards and 30 points a game last year. Those are not good numbers. They’ve go to be better than that.”

---4. How are Oregon State officials and fans reacting to the Beavers’ Pac-12 situation this year with just two teams, and how are they reacting to the situation next year when the Pac-12 will have eight members for football and nine for basketball?

“I think there is some sense of relief that at least now there is some certainty. . . . I think this year, it’s a little bit like a gap year. There’s no conference title to play for. The schedule is like nothing else the school has ever had before. It’s going to look more normal in the future. [But] this year is kind of fun. They play a couple of Big Ten schools, play a couple of ACC schools. They play a whole handful of teams they’ve never played before.”

“Overall there’s just no getting over the fact that the death of the whole Pac-12 was catastrophic for Oregon State. Being part of that version of the Pac-12 was the best-case scenario for a school of Oregon State’s size, and national reputation. . . . There’s no getting that back. No rebuild of the Pac-12 under a new banner with new teams is going to approach what it was like when you got to host Oregon, Stanford, USC, UCLA, Washington every year.

“The new conference isn’t going to be the same. . . . Three years from now how will fans feel about continuing to fill the stadium for Utah State, Fresno State, Colorado State, those schools that are going to be the new opponents.”

“It certainly doesn’t help that the breakup of a relationship, to see Oregon go on to the Big Ten, to make the College Football Playoff. It didn’t go well for them [in the playoff], that was some solace for Beaver nation last year. But Oregon, they’re playing at a different level, but that’s just the reality that Beaver nation is going to have to figure out how to feel about.”

---5. What are you expecting from Oregon State this year? A bowl game? A .500 record? A losing season?

“I think they’re a bowl team. I think 6-6 would be somewhat disappointing. I think 7-5 is extremely realistic, and I think 8-4 is there to be had if they finish the year well. Their hardest games are early on. . . . We’ll see where the Beavers stand after five weeks. Even if they start 1-4, I still think they’re a bowl team. I think going 7-0 down the stretch is not impossible, but where this program is at right now I wouldn’t expect that, but I think 6-1, 5-2 down the stretch is extremely possible. I think seven or eight wins is not an unreasonable expectation.”

Recent articles:

Can Cal freshman QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele handle his first start on the road?

Cal's four drafted players, plus Daniel Scott, make NFL rosters

Cal reveals its Week 1 depth chart

Cal defensive lineman Aidan Keanaaini welcomes the underdog role

A look at Cal's 11 newcomers on the basketball team

Meet new Cal outside linebacker T.J. Bush, a transfer from Liberty