Category: Oregon State Beavers

Post spring composite rankings have Georgia, Michigan at the top

Check out where your favorite team ranks in the composite spring rankings.

Heading into the 2023 college football season, most of the headlines will involve the Big Ten and SEC conferences. In our composite rankings, those two conferences make up the top five. Overall, the Pac-12 had the second most teams appear.

Here is the full breakdown of teams by conference:

SEC 8
Pac-12 6
Big Ten 5
Big 12 5
ACC 3
G5/Independents 4

The four polls that make up the post-spring football composite rankings:

Using the four polls we had ties at the No. 3, No. 12, No. 21, No. 27, and No. 30 spots among the teams listed. The full post-spring rankings are listed below, ties listed in alphabetical order.

DJ Uiagalelei opens up about Oregon State transfer decision

“I wanted to go somewhere where they’re going to let me be who I am as a player”

When Trevor Lawrence suffered an injury during the 2020 season, we saw another five-star quarterback step up to lead the Clemson Tigers in his absence.

Against the Boston College Eagles and Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Uiagalelei looked the part of the next top signal-caller to suit up for head coach Dabo Swinney. He completed 69 of 85 passes (81.2%) for 781 yards and 4 touchdowns. Uiagalelei added two more rushing touchdowns in that span.

However, in 2021 we saw the growing pains of a young quarterback, who finished with less than 60% of his passes being completed and he threw more interceptions than touchdowns. The following season was much better from a production standpoint but his struggles opened the door for five-star freshman Cade Klubnik to take over.

When the transfer portal’s first window opened on Dec. 5, Uiagalelei entered his name and committed to the [autotag]Oregon State Beavers[/autotag] by mid December. The former five-star signee from the 2020 class recently opened up about his decision to leave Clemson for the West Coast.

“I wanted to go somewhere where the scheme is going to fit me,” Uiagalelei said. “I wanted to go somewhere where they’re going to let me be who I am as a player, let me play free, and let me go out there and just cut it loose. Just somewhere where I can do what I wanted to do.”

The Beavers started Ben Gulbranson at quarterback last season but the numbers were pretty pedestrian. Still they were able to win 10 games, including a bowl victory over the Florida Gators. Most projections have Gulbranson backing up Uiagalelei this coming season.

It will be worth watching Oregon State this coming season to see if the change of scenery helped out Uiagalelei.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=90]

[mm-video type=video id=01gpcs42qt4mn3z9c1y5 playlist_id=01gq2fszf7mxxc88k4 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gpcs42qt4mn3z9c1y5/01gpcs42qt4mn3z9c1y5-6ff62b4456b24e20f929aa42757bd5d9.jpg]

Oregon State, USC’s next opponent, has almost won big games all year

Oregon State doesn’t have a good record, but the Beavers have pushed strong teams all season. Sunday’s game won’t be easy.

The USC Trojans’ next game is on Super Bowl Sunday. Their opponent, Oregon State, is 11-13 overall and 3-10 in the Pac-12 Conference. That might suggest the Beavers are a bad team. It’s not the reality.

Of course, a team with an 11-13 record isn’t especially good. “You are what you are,” as the saying goes. However, Oregon State isn’t a bad team. It is a bad late-game team, but in the first 35 minutes of a game, the Beavers are extremely tough.

Oregon State has been narrowly missing out on big wins all season. The Beavers lost at Arizona by three points. They lost to Washington State by seven. They lost to Stanford by only three and Utah by only two. That’s a pair of top-10 teams the Beavers very nearly defeated.

This Friday at UCLA, the Beavers led 47-42 late in the third quarter but let that lead slip away against the Bruins.

Oregon State is playing a lot of good teams on relatively even terms. It just isn’t making the handful of plays it needs to make in the final three minutes of games.

USC needs to realize the surface win-loss records — overall and in the Pac-12 — don’t do justice to Oregon State. The Beavers are very tough, and the Trojans need to know they’re going to be in for a rough ride on Sunday.

Buckle up.

[mm-video type=video id=01gryccz5tx61ecwsgpb playlist_id=none player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gryccz5tx61ecwsgpb/01gryccz5tx61ecwsgpb-1cc62d1ca5e86f70e851f1cff5d1effc.jpg]

[lawrence-auto-related count=1 tag=696091687]

Oregon State will be tested early in the Pac-12

The Oregon State Beavers have a tough beginning and end to their Pac-12 schedule in 2023. A Friday (short week) game vs. Utah is particulary difficult.

The Oregon State Beavers were arguably the biggest surprise in Pac-12 football this past year. Head coach Jonathan Smith was named the Pac-12 Co-Coach of the Year with Washington’s Kalen DeBoer.

The Beavers then added Clemson transfer QB D.J. Uiagalelei, and things are looking good in Corvallis.

Unfortunately, the schedule makers did the Beavers no favors when the 2023 schedule was released last week. Jon Wilner of The Mercury News gave a few notes.

“The start and finish to league play are daunting,” Wilner wrote. “The Beavers open with a trip to Washington State, then host Utah; and they finish with Washington at home and a visit to Oregon. In between, there is no cause for alarm for a program coming off a 10-win season. Even the back-to-back road games (Colorado and Arizona) are manageable. And what’s more, they follow a bye.”

The Beavers begin with Washington State and Utah, and the end is Washington and Oregon. That’s a tough stretch.

They do play Colorado and Arizona on the road, although both of those programs appear to be much-improved in 2023, especially the Buffaloes.

The Beavers won 10 games and won the Las Vegas Bowl against Florida, so there is a lot of hope once again in Corvallis. Let’s see if the Beavers can put together another strong season.

[mm-video type=video id=01gm9qwfp301nx1fxmsa playlist_id=none player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gm9qwfp301nx1fxmsa/01gm9qwfp301nx1fxmsa-5f1ce800029f353b16aab280fdc8f9aa.jpg]

[listicle id=55921]