Every Friday during game week, the BeaversEdge.com staff will give its predictions for Oregon State's matchup. With the Beavers set to face Cal Poly this Saturday, Slaughter, Halus, and Monge give their two cents on the matchup and who's going to come out on top.
BRENDEN SLAUGHTER'S PICK
It’s taken longer than I originally predicted, but Oregon State gets its first win of the season in style in front of a solid crowd at Reser Stadium.
While the first two weeks of play have seen the Beavers drop contests vs Oklahoma State (52-36) and Hawaii (31-28), this is the Beavers’ cupcake game so to speak and they’ll certainly not overlook the Mustangs.
Defensively, I like the Beavers to continue to build on solid progress shown against Hawaii (less than three yards per carry) as I believe the triple-option offense will test, but not break the OSU defense.
On the other side, Weber State just tuned the Cal Poly defense to the tune of 41 points and 457 yards a week ago. Given that the Beavers boast far superior offensive weapons than the Wildcats, look for the Beavers to run up a lot of points and win this one in style.
Prediction: Oregon State 55, Cal Poly 21
JARED HALUS' PICK
I am currently 0-2 in my picks and both times I have predicted an Oregon State win. Perhaps this week I'll predict a Cal Poly win and the Beavs will be 1-2 by the end of the weekend.
In all seriousness, Oregon State wins this game. There have been surprises so far this season such as Georgia State over Tennessee and Army nearly topping Michigan in the big house, but that will simply not be the case this weekend in Corvallis.
This weekend, what is important is that the team comes into this game with the mentality that it is the Pac-12 championship, and they play their hearts out to ensure the first win of this young season.
Similar to Mitch, I would really love to see the team perform to their fullest potential for all four quarters, but hopefully this will not be a game in which they need to. The team has shown flashes of being very dangerous, but have failed to put it all together at once for long enough to secure the win. That changes Saturday.
Prediction: Oregon State 56 Cal Poly 20
MITCH MONGE'S PICK
Oregon State needs a win Saturday to get their mojo back. After dropping to 0-2 versus Hawaii, the Beavs have a very ‘winnable’ opponent in FCS Cal Poly. The offense looked solid in the first half, and then put up a goose egg in the second half. With Jake Luton making some bad decisions compounded by penalties and questionable coaching calls, the Beavs fell flat on their face after halftime. A positive spin is that these are all fixable mistakes, but they need to be addressed immediately. This is the week for the team to put the first two games in the past, and come out sharp and to execute.
I still question the ability of this team to perform at its full capabilities for four quarters. The offense has looked high-powered at times and nonexistent at others. The defense has showed they can stop the run and limit third downs against Hawaii, but is hasn’t shown that for an entire game against a Power 5 team. It is still early in the season, but Oregon State has much to clean up versus Cal Poly.
That being said, Cal Poly doesn’t have much of a passing threat—they have had only three receivers catch a pass in each of their first two games. Receivers JJ Koski and Quentin Harrison receive the majority of the limited targets, as the Mustangs prefer the ground ‘n’ pound attack. Regardless, Oregon State has struggled to limit the rushing attack, ceding 352 rush yards to Oklahoma State. However, I see the Beavs being able to win this one with pure talent alone.
Prediction: Oregon State: 49 Cal Poly: 21
