Oregon State Football: Keys To Victory vs Cal
Oregon State are 4-3 in Trent Bray's first season at the helm and hoping to snap a two-game losing streak. The Beavs are banged up, missing several experienced players on both sides of the ball, most notably running back Jam Griffin. However, they will have to fight through it this week with a trip to Cal to face the 3-4 Golden Bears.
Here are a few things that the Beavers will likely need to do in order to get back in the win column this week.
Allah Needs to Step Up
To put it bluntly, losing Anthony Hankerson to an injury would be catastrophic to the Beavers' season. Without Jam Griffin splitting the load with him, Hankerson becomes even more critical. For that reason, as has been noted many times this week, the Beavs need to have someone else that can dependably run the ball in order to give Hankerson a breather. Salahadin Allah is second on the depth chart. The true freshman has 26 carries for 130 yards through the first seven games of the season. Whether he's ready or not, Oregon State will need him to be ready for an increased role.
Finish Drives With Touchdowns
This Cal defense is much better than what the team's record would have you believe. The Golden Bears have allowed more than 20 points just twice this season. They're actually the second-best scoring defense in the ACC, allowing just 18.7 points per game. Oregon State have converted 20 red zone trips out of 28 into touchdowns this season. They have failed to convert a red zone trip in each of the last two games, both of which they lost by one score. Cal have allowed 11 of 16 opponent red zone trips to end with touchdowns this year.
Maybe Don't Throw at Nohl Williams
Through seven games, Cal cornerback Nohl Williams leads the nation in interceptions with six. He was recently named as one of the 25 best players in college football by ESPN thanks to his strong start to the year. Oregon State is already struggling, to a degree, to consistently move the ball through the air. Gevani McCoy has thrown five interceptions to three touchdowns this year. Testing the guy who's arguably one of the three-to-four best cornerbacks in college football this year would not be advised.
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Joe Londergan joined the SI brand in 2023 with G5 Football Daily. With over 15 years of experience in covering and working directly in college and pro sports, Joe's expertise has been featured in Front Office Sports, SB Nation, and XRAY.FM. He is a member of both the Football Writers' Association of America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association. Joe holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville and a master's degree in sports administration from Seattle University. Outside of his writing career, Joe enjoys golfing, although he admits that while he hits driver decently, his short game is a liability.