3 Questions Heading into Oregon State Spring Game
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T-minus 48 hours to Oregon State Beavers football. The Beavers' annual Spring Game is this Saturday April 19th at Reser Stadium, and we have 3 important questions about Trent Bray's team leading into the action.
Backup quarterback snaps: how often will we see Gabarri Johnson and Kallen Gutridge?
Maalik Murphy is an established starter. If competitive games began Saturday, Gabarri Johnson would be Murphy's primary backup. Last fall, the Missouri transfer played in 6 games, notching 1 start, and a smattering of reps: Johnson completed 15-of-29 pass attempts, good for 174 yards plus an INT, and ran the football 26 times for 106 yards and a TD.
Johnson will be entering his redshirt-sophomore season next Fall, and is almost certainly seeking an increased role. Will he see more action on Saturday, and how will he look in those reps?
Complicating matters is Tristan T'ia, an incoming freshman 4-star recruit who signed his national letter of intent in February. T'ia has a sky high potential to start, and might be groomed to succeed Murphy long term, but he won't join the roster until summer term. With T'ia waiting in the wings, Johnson may feel pressure to make the most of his opportunities Saturday.
Another passer feeling the heat is Wilsonville native Kallen Gutridge. The 6'3" dual-threat will begin his redshirt freshman season next fall, and is expected to compete with T'ia for the third string quarterback role. Since T'ia has not enrolled, Gutridge got all the third string passing reps this Spring, and can potentially cement the job with a strong performance Saturday.
Who will start on the offensive line?
Arguably the toughest position group to forecast next season is the Oregon State offensive line. Out go guards Joshua Gray and Flavio Gonzalez, plus tackles Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan and Grant Starck.
The interior of the line sees two returners: starting center Van Wells is expected to continue that role, and he will eventually be flanked by guard Tyler Voltin, but Voltin is still recovering from brutal ACL & MCL tears in September. Who will join Wells on Saturday's starting offensive line?
On the left side, 6'5" redshirt junior Jacob Strand, a Canby native, backed up Christian-Lichtenhan at left tackle last season. 6'5" redshirt junior Nathan Elu learned behind Gray at left guard, but may be passed up by the more experienced Arizona transfer JT Hand.
On the right side, 6'5" Redshirt-sophomore Jacob Anderson was the 2nd team right tackle last fall, but has faced stiff competition this Spring from UCF transfer Keyon Cox, Nevada transfer Josiah Timoteo, and returning redshirt freshman Dylan Sikorski. What Sikorski lacks in experience, he makes up for with measurables: at a respectable 6'4" and a pro-caliber 342 pounds, Sikorski's body offers plenty of intrigue.
New offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh will have his hands full Saturday. Whoever he picks to start Saturday will have a golden opportunity to win one of five crucially important jobs this fall.
The transfer portal is currently open. Who will enter it?
At the time of writing this piece, only 1 member of the Beavers' 2025 spring roster has entered the transfer portal: safety Jack Kane. A redshirt-junior with one year of eligibility remaining, it is not yet known why Kane seeks a transfer. Generally, spring transfers are motivated by playing time.
One position that may see transfers is placekicker: while we might not see any field goals attempted Saturday, redshirt-junior Caleb Ojeda, sophomore Logan McReery, and Japanese senior transfer Tetsuda Tsuyumine are all actively competing to succeed potential NFL draft pick Everett Hayes.
Saturday, the Beavers will only scrimmage for two hours, and the precious scrimmage reps will be partitioned between first, second, and third team units. If players don't feature enough on Saturday - or they feel like they've lost a position battle - they might elect to enter the portal.
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Matt fell in love with radio during his college days at Oregon Tech, and pursued a nine year career in sports broadcasting with Klamath Falls' and Medford's highest-rated sports radio stations. He currently lives in McMinnville wine country and is excited to talk about the Beavers again.