Oregon State Football Opponent Preview: Idaho State

With the start of the 2024 season just around the corner, BeaversEdge kicks off the first in an opponent preview series diving into all 12 of Oregon State's opponents in 2024...

Up first is a home opener against the Idaho State Bengals...

THE GAME

Date: Saturday, August 31st

Time: 3:30 p.m.

Location: Reser Stadium - Corvallis, Ore.

TV: CW

Oregon State 2023 record: 8-5 (5-4 Pac-12)

Idaho State 2023 record: 3-8 (2-7 Big Sky)

ISU Head Coach: Cody Hawkins 2nd Year (3-8 overall)

Idaho State 2023 Recap

Following the resignation of former head coach Charlie Ragle after his first and only season in 2022 (1-11), the Bengals hired Cody Hawkins ahead of the 2023 campaign.

The son of longtime college football coach Dan Hawkins, the younger Hawkins served as his father's OC at UC Davis before being hired in Pocatello.

Considering how uncompetitive the Bengals were in 2022, Hawkins improving the win total from one to three with a lot closer games was a step in the right direction.

Idaho State went 3-8 (3-5 Big Sky) with wins over Eastern Washington, Portland State, and Northern Colorado, and losses to San Diego State, Utah State, Northern Iowa, Montana, Sacramento State, Weber State, and Idaho.

With offense as his background, Hawkins made big improvements to the Bengal offense, as the passing game averaged over 300 yards per contest and scored just under 26 points per game. For perspective, the Bengals scored 13 points per game in 2022...

Defensively, it was a real struggle for ISU in 2023 as they allowed some lopsided numbers on the scoreboard and were near the very bottom of total defensive statistics in the national rankings.

Best Win: 42-41 vs Eastern Washington

Worst Loss: 78-28 vs Utah State

2023 Schedule

Idaho State 2024 Outlook

Entering the 2024 campaign, the Bengals will continue the rebuild under Hawkins, now entering the second year...

In terms of returning personnel, ISU is in the middle of the pack with seven starters back on offense and 11 on defense. The Bengals played two quarterbacks in Jordan Cooke and Hunter Hays last season, and both guys are back in the fold again after putting up over 300 yards per game.

Defensively, it's always great to have an entire unit return, but if their experience is bad, it'll still be a sizable work in progress. It's reasonable to assume the defense won't be as bad as last season, but it's still not going to be at a level that gives OSU any sort of concern.

Idaho State hasn't reached the FCS playoffs since the early 1980s, and that streak isn't going to end this season either. With the returning talent on both sides of the ball, ISU will be much less of a pushover, but still not enough to make real noise.

The schedule is pretty decent for the Bengals when diving into it. They've only got one true "power" team on the schedule in Oregon State and outside of that game, only North Dakota State, Montana State, & Idaho stand out as particularly tough matchups.

That being said, I expect the Bengals to be in the 4-8, 5-7 mark on the season. Hawkins has a great offensive mind, and I think having both quarterbacks back this season after splitting time a year ago gives them some solid options to work with offensively.

Defensively, it's going to have to start with being more productive in limiting opposing points...

They allowed 78 points to Utah State, 62 to Idaho, and 51 to Sacramento State in lopsided examples last season, so that'll have to improve for the Bengals to have a shot at increasing their win total.

Idaho State is in no way the worst team in FCS, but they're not good enough to be able to put a real scare into the Beavers at Reser Stadium to open the campaign. It'll be a great test in numerous respects, potentially figuring out/finalizing rotations, getting a lot of guy's reps, and thus making it the perfect home-opener for OSU...

Season Projection: 4-8 or 5-7

Key Returnees: DB Calvin Pitcher, DL David Rowe, QB Jordan Cooke, QB Hunter Hays

Early Prediction

Facing a low-level FCS team coming off a 3-8 campaign a season ago, this is a matchup where Oregon State should dominate from the opening kick.

FCS opponents can sometimes put a scare into FBS teams in week one, but this Bengals' team just doesn't have the juice of an Elite FCS squad and the Beavers should be able to cruise in this matchup.

This is also a game where we could see multiple quarterbacks if the position hasn't yet settled, as the Beavers should be able to take this contest handily with any combo of Ben Gulbranson, Gabarri Johnson, and Gevani McCoy.

Defensively, it'll be a good barometer for Beavers against Idaho State. While they aren't world-beaters on offense, they'll likely throw in a few trick plays or designs to throw off the new-look Beaver defense.

There are more than a handful of new full-time starters on defense, and having an opponent like ISU where you can actively work through mistakes and still win is a great benefit to have

Look for the Beavers to pile up the points and put this game out of reach early, building momentum heading into San Diego the following week.

PREDICTION - Oregon State 45, Idaho State 14

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