With the demolition of Reser Stadium starting following the conclusion of the 2021 season, the Beavers look to carry on the prior season’s success in an updated setting.

The Oregon State Beavers will open their 2022 football season at home, inside half of Reser Stadium, against the Boise State Broncos on Saturday, September 3.

Last season showed what coach Jonathan Smith promised of the program when he first joined the team in 2018. The Beavers finished with a 7-5 record, including a handful of close games that were close to going Oregon State’s way, and made their way to the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl game in which they lost to a good Utah State team.

Although the season did not end in the glorifying way that a bowl game victory would deliver, it showed that the Beavers are here to compete, and have no plans on taking their foot off the brakes.

If the Beavers want to start hotter than they did last season in their season opener against Purdue, their task at hand for the start of the 2022 season is that of a good Boise State Broncos team. 

Coming from the Mountain West Conference, the Broncos were able to achieve a 7-5 record, matching the Beavers, and were invited to the Arizona Bowl to play Central Michigan, but were forced to withdraw themselves from the bowl game due to a rise of Covid-19 within the program.

Coach Smith is familiar with the Bronco program, as he spent two years coaching with the school before Oregon State, and respects the consistent effort and tradition that they bring to their conference.

“They have a big-time quarterback, these guys can score points in bunches, defensively, one of the best defenses year in and year out,” acknowledged Smith when asked about the Broncos roster.

In usual Coach Smith fashion, the week one depth chart for the team was not announced until the Monday before the first game of the season. There are few surprises on the depth chart, but a few notable players to point out for the season.

Coach Smith has chosen redshirt junior, Chance Nolan, to lead the team yet again for his second season leading the offense as the starting quarterback. 

The 6’3”, 209-pound, 22-year-old quarterback put up a solid sophomore season for himself, leading the Beavers to their first bowl game appearance since 2013. Nolan threw for 2,677 yards off of 204 completions at a 64% success rate, which led to his impressive 19 touchdowns thrown season. He has always proven to be a reliable quarterback that is not afraid to attack through the air or on the ground, and all hopes can go to his confidence growing, even more, this season.

As for the rest of the offense, expect to see redshirt juniors Deshaun Fenwick and Trey Lowe dominate the backfield for the majority of the season. Redshirt seniors Tyjon Lindsey and Tre’Shaun Harrison spread out the offense to the receiver positions, finding more depth from Anthony Gould and Silas Bolden.

With the absence of NFL draftee tight end and Oregon State captain, Teagan Quitoriano, junior Luke Musgrave now has his time to shine as the starting tight end of the Beavers. Although the 6’6”, 250-pound, Musgrave shared minutes with Quitoriano the prior season, this season is expected to be his breakout year.

Defensively, the program welcomes back redshirt senior captain Jaydon Grant, and more familiar faces from last season, such as Kitan Oladapo, Rejzhon Wright, Omar Speights, Kyrei Fisher-Morris, and Isaac Hodgins.

Many times during training camp and preseason scrimmages, the Beaver coaching staff was impressed with their defense, and are comfortable with the veterans on the defensive side of the ball to lead the team through this season.

When it comes to the task at hand this Saturday in Corvallis, Coach Smith is not one to sugarcoat their opponent to the media.

“I got a bunch of respect for them and know that they are going to present a big-time challenge,” said Smith following a press conference on Monday afternoon.

On August 23, the Beavers announced six members of the football team as their team captains, which are voted on by the players only.

The results of the team captain voting elected Jake Levengood, Tristan Gebbia, Omar Speights, Jaydon Grant, Kyrei Fisher-Morris, and Brandon Kipper.

This is the second season in a row for Tristan Gebbia and Jaydon Grant as team captains, although Gebbia has not played in a game for the Beavers since his injury against the University of Oregon during the 2020 season.

Notable players for OSU:

Offensively, the ball will be in the hands of Chance Nolan, Deshaun Fenwick/Trey Lowe, and be thrown to a variety of receivers as the Beavers have a deep depth chart of wideouts for the season.

This will be the final season for hometown native, Jaydon Grant, and making it to his first bowl game was not enough for him to hang up his cleats with the Beavers. This season can prove to be a final farewell to the university for him and other redshirt seniors with the ultimate goal of a bowl game victory for the program.

Kitan Oladapo stepped in following the injury to fellow safety, Alton Julian, during the 2021 season and did not disappoint. Starting in the safety position for the game against the Broncos, Oladapo can be a force on the defensive side of the ball if the Broncos get sloppy.

Notable players for Boise State:

Boise State is led by their dominant quarterback, four-year starter Hank Bachmeier, who was named to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Watch List during the 2021 season. Bachmeier threw for north of 3,000 yards and was able to throw 20 touchdown passes on the season as well. Where Bachmeier struggles to move his legs outside of the pocket, his arm makes up for it, completing his passes last season with a 63% success rate.

Running back, George Holani, is healthy for this season and is listed as their starter for the game against the Beavers. Following an injury from the previous year, Holani is expected to be starting at running back and punt returner, so the ball can be in his hands quite frequently.

Facts:

• Former Oregon State quarterback, redshirt freshman Sam Vidlak, has found a spot with the Boise State Broncos, although he is not expected to be getting any minutes in the game against the Beavers.
• The Beavers have not won a season-opening game since September 4, 2015, when they beat Weber State by a score of 26-7.