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Every Friday of each game week, the BeaversEdge.com staff will give its predictions for Oregon State's matchup!
With the No. 10 Beavers (8-2, 5-2 Pac-12) set to host No. 5 Washington (10-0 7-0) at Reser Stadium on Saturday, BeaversEdge Publisher Brenden Slaughter, recruiting analyst Dylan Callaghan-Croley, and writers T.J. Mathewson and Ryan Harlan give their two cents on the matchup and who's going to come out on top!
MORE: Injury Report | A Closer Look At Washington | The EDGE: Who Has It Between OSU & UW? | EDGE Pac-12 Power Ranks | Week 12 Bowl Projections | WATCH: OSU Defense Previews UW | WR Malachi Durant Leads Big Weekend For OSU Commits
T.J. MATHEWSON'S PICK
Biggest home game in Oregon State history? Second-biggest? Regardless, I can't wait to get to Reser Stadium on Saturday.
The mix of emotion, hype, and anticipation will create such a unique environment that I don't even know how to describe. That's what the Washington Huskies will be walking into on Saturday night, far different than any other road environment they've played in this season.
The Oregon State Offense has to be elite in this game. Not good, elite. They've been near-unstoppable at home in the last two against UCLA and Stanford, and anything less against Washington won't give the Beavers the room they need to pull it out in the end.
Okay, now to the defense. This game boils down to whether the Oregon State corners can impact the Washington receivers in some way. The Beavers could hang with this group a season ago with two excellent all-conference corners, but the performance the 2023 DB group has put out on film gives me concern.
The pass rush needs to impact Michael Penix and help those young guys on the back end too, one of the best pass-rushing units in the Pac-12 vs one of the best OLs in the country and a quarterback who gets the ball out as quickly as anyone.
Gut check prediction?
I don't think the Beavers are losing the final Pac-12 home game at Reser Stadium. A magnificent offensive performance keeps Oregon State's Pac-12 title hopes alive...
PREDICTION: Oregon State 41, Washington 38
TJ's season record (8-2)
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MORE: Injury Report | A Closer Look At Washington | The EDGE: Who Has It Between OSU & UW? | EDGE Pac-12 Power Ranks | Week 12 Bowl Projections | WATCH: OSU Defense Previews UW | WR Malachi Durant Leads Big Weekend For OSU Commits
BRENDEN SLAUGHTER'S PICK
As the Joker famously said in The Dark Knight, "And here we go..."
This is not only the biggest game of the year in Reser Stadium, it's arguably the biggest at Reser in 23 years...
Not since the likes of the Civil War in 2000 was there a game at Reser with this much on the line between two top-10 opponents, and when you add that it's the last Pac-12 game at Reser Stadium, this matchup takes the cake.
It's only the fourth time in the history of the Oregon State-Washington series that the two teams have been ranked, and coincidentally, the first time since that 2000 season when the 23rd-ranked Beavers fell to the 13th-ranked Huskies by three.
Add in senior day and the emotions that come along with honoring a class that has done so much to elevate the program and I'm betting you'd be able to feel the bolts of electricity in the air. This is shaping up to be one of those, 'where were you' type of moments in the history of Oregon State football and I'm confident saying it'll be a fond memory for the orange and black.
While Washington enters the matchup with a shiny 10-0 record and playoff hopes, they've not played an opponent as good as Oregon State on the road this season. The Huskies' most difficult road game based on opponent ranking and crowd noise would be playing USC in the Coliseum, but that venue isn't known for having the loudest crowds and doesn't quite compare to the atmosphere the Huskies are entering this weekend.
The Beavers are 16-1 in their last 17 games in Reser Stadium, so in other words, it's been incredibly tough for opponents to win amongst the rowdy Beaver faithful.
One of the bigger factors I see entering this matchup is what the weather ultimately does... Ironically, it harkens me back to last season in Seattle when a lot of rain was expected only to get one of the windiest days I can remember.
As of writing this prediction, there's a 98% chance of rain at kickoff, and if that's the case, the advantage greatly swings the direction of Oregon State. If Michael Penix and the Husky passing attack are limited at all by the weather, that'll greatly help the Beavers' chances of winning.
Defensively, it's all about limiting big plays for Penix and his abundance of talent at receiver around him... UW likely had their blunder of an offensive game against Arizona State earlier this season, so I expect them to make plays in this one. The big test for the OSU defense will be limiting those plays by getting a solid pass rush on Penix and having the secondary play their best coverage all season.
If the weather proves to be a factor, the Beavers' run defense could be busier with the Huskies looking to utilize Dillion Johnson in the backfield. The Huskies play better one-dimensionally than most, but if you give them a ground game, they become very tough to stop...
The Beavers have proven capable of playing elite defense at Reser, but they've yet to face a challenge like Penix and the Husky offense. Wins against Utah and UCLA, while impressive, came against a backup and a true freshman quarterback respectively, so Penix will offer the biggest test for Trent Bray's defense to overcome this season.
While the personnel were indeed different, it's worth noting that the Beavers held Penix and the Huskies to their lowest-scoring output of the season, so there's a decent chance Bray has a good instinct for slowing down this Husky offense.
The offense should be able to provide a solid amount of scoring support, so the pressure isn't on the OSU defense to play perfectly, but they'll need a couple of momentum-changing plays to take away possessions from UW.
On the flip side, If the Beavers can get their ground game going and own the time of possession on offense, they'll be in good shape. Long, sustained drives that keep Penix and Co. on the sidelines are critical to success... This also strikes me as THE game where DJ Uiagalelei makes throws that will determine the winner of this ballgame.
It's hard not to recall the game last season where at times, Washington sold out to stop Damien Martinez and Co. and forced the Beavers to beat them through the air. Lest we forget, the Beavers had just 87 passing yards in the loss to the Huskies last season...
That being said, I still expect the Beavers and offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren to keep Martinez and Deshaun Fenwick very busy. However, there will be times when the Beavers look to attack a vulnerable Washington secondary, and that's where DJ's play becomes a determining factor.
Silas Bolden, Anthony Gould, and Jack Velling figure to be important pass-catchers in this matchup, and they'll need to make plays to complement the ground attack. This may also be the game where we see the Beavers throw in a trick play or two, pulling out all the stops.
I see the Beavers having to score to keep up with Washington before their defense secures a late-game turnover or fourth-down stop to seal the win. Give me Oregon State by three as the Beavers earn their first win over a Top-Five team at home since taking down No. 1 USC at Reser Stadium.
The Beavers make a statement to close out the Pac-12 history in Corvallis...
PREDICTION: Oregon State 38, Washington 35
Brenden's season record (8-2)