Cal Football Video: Justin Wilcox Not Sleeping on Oregon State

Cal coach Justin Wilcox expressed admiration for the improvement Oregon State has made since last season, labeling the Beavers’ tepid offensive performance against Utah as the outlier.

Oregon State is just 2-4 overall, but has an identical 1-2 record in Pac-12 games as the Bears. The teams meet Saturday at Memorial Stadium with an 11:30 a.m. kickoff.

“I think they’re much-improved from a year ago, noticeable really in every phase,” Wilcox said. “Offensively, they were scoring in the high 30s. I think this past game was the anomaly for them this season offensively.”

OSU lost 52-7 to Utah in Corvallis last Saturday, shut out until scoring a touchdown with 56 seconds left. The Beavers, who were averaging 37 points per game entering last weekend, now are at 32.0 — still substantially better than Cal’s conference-worst 20.3 points-per-game mark.

“They’ve got a really efficient quarterback, Jake Luton, who’s a veteran guy,” Wilcox said. “Two good backs. A really good receiver. Their O-line is physical.”

Luton, who was granted a sixth season of eligibility this fall, averages 238 passing yards per game and has 14 touchdowns and just one interception. His one pick came against Utah and snapped a streak of 181 consecutive pass attempts without an interception, just one shy of the program record.

Sophomore Jermar Jefferson, the better of OSU’s two running backs, rushed for 1,380 yards last season, most by any freshman in FBS, and was named the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year. But Jefferson has been hampered for weeks by a nagging ankle injury and did not play against Utah. His status for Cal is uncertain.

In his place, senior Artavis Pierce has rushed for 503 yards with five touchdowns this season, and ranks fifth in the Pac-12 at 83.8 yards per game.

The big-play man on the offense is junior wideout Isaiah Hodgins, a 6-foot-4 target who leads the conference in receptions (51), receiving yards (709), receiving yards per game (118.2) and touchdown receptions (9).

Wilcox called Hodgins at wide receiver “a tough matchup” who will challenge Cal’s talented secondary.

“They’re extremely well-coached,” Wilcox said of the Beavers offense. “They’re a game-plan oriented team, so they’ll pick things that have given you issues and work that.”

The Beavers have not fared as well on the defensive side, where they rank 11th in the conference, allowing 34.0 points per game. They have been decimated by injuries on defense and were torched by Utah, allowing 35 first-half points.

Even so, Wilcox sees a difference in a defense that allowed 49 points to Cal a year ago and an average of 45.7 per game through 2018.

“Defensively, from last year until now, you see the level of execution and guys understanding and playing hard and playing well,” Wilcox said. “So they’re going to come down here hungry.”