Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys are Back in Town” blared over the speakers ahead of the Oregon State University football team’s fourth day of fall camp on Saturday.
Now in the same month as their season opener on Aug. 30 versus the California Golden Bears, the Beavers’ roster is ramping up for Trent Bray’s second full season as head coach.
The day’s biggest highlight came in an 11-on-11 team period when fifth-year defensive back Tyrice Ivy Jr. leaped over receiver David Wells Jr. for a sideline interception on a deep pass.
“I need to make some plays. Some big plays, actually,” Ivy said after practice on how he can impress NFL scouts this season. “And then just be consistent – detailed as possible, and show them that I can cover, I can tackle, and I know my role.”
At the end of the 2024 season, Ivy didn’t think he’d be around to make plays at fall camp again. He had used up his four years of eligibility and was planning to “try to get a shot at the (NFL).”
But a December lawsuit by Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia soon turned into a NCAA Division I Board of Directors ruling that gave players such as Ivy, who transferred to OSU from a junior college in 2023, an extra year of eligibility.
“Now the shot can be even better,” Ivy said.
Ivy found out about the NCAA ruling on social media. He verified with his coaches that he could return; for him, it was an “easy decision.”
“It just motivated me even more,” Ivy said. “You know, the season ended last year, and it wasn’t how I wanted it, right? So just getting this chance just means everything.
“So I’m just going to go full go and give it everything I got to this program, to these guys.”
Ivy said that the Beavers’ defensive back room has always had talent, but its increased experience headed into the 2025 season will take it to the “next level.” He cited another veteran defensive back, Skyler Thomas, as being like another coach on the field: “Without him, it would be really hard to function.”
The younger defensive backs have impressed Ivy as well.
“The thing I like about our room is we go above and beyond, right?” he said. “What I like about the young guys, man, is they’re always willing to give an extra hour, an extra 45 minutes – doesn’t matter how long – but they’re always willing to go extra.”
The team practiced in shells on Saturday: helmets and shoulder pads, but no tackling. It wasn’t a replica of the intensity of gameday, something special teams coordinator Jamie Christian, entering his second year in the role, was all too aware of.
“You won’t get to the physicality part until the first game,” he said regarding the return game. “The last thing you want to do is try to go live on kickoff or kickoff return in practice and lose a guy doing that. … I don’t think anybody in the country does that.”
Christian said he’s pleased with the progress his players have made and that the group is further along compared to last year. “They’re not stinking as much. There’s a lot of carryover. So that’s why I feel like there’s a lot of improvement.”
Due to injuries, he said the team is down to just one kicker in Caleb Ojeda, but Christian complimented the depth at the other special teams positions. “We got two real good long snappers. I think we’re good at punter. We just kind of got to find what we’re going to do.”
One of those long snappers, Dylan Black, has 46 games worth of experience with Oregon State. However, he missed the 2024 season as he battled testicular cancer.
Black was declared cancer free on Oct. 17, per The Oregonian.
“I feel like I’m back,” he said. “I definitely think that I’m in a good spot right now. It took a little time to get back to where I was, just physically, but I think I hit the ground running in spring. And I had a good start and I’ve been building on that.”
Despite his experience, Black said he’s prepared to compete for the starting job. The Beavers’ other rostered long snapper is redshirt sophomore Jackson Robertson, who played in nine games last year.
“I mean, I’d like to go in there and have the confidence to think that the job is mine,” Black said. “But just like anyone else, you gotta get out there and prove yourself … got to go out there and win the job again.”
However, Black said his nearly 50 games played as a Beaver mean returning to the gameday atmosphere won’t be a cause for jitters, calling his experience an “absolute advantage.”
But no other player Christian coaches on special teams has that many games under their belt. Ojeda has never attempted a kick at the FBS level.
How to manage that first career attempt? “I pray,” the special teams coordinator said.
Still, the Beavers’ practice emulated a real game in some ways. During one team period, coaches yelled “Field goal! Field goal!” as the special teams unit ran onto the field to replace the offense and set up for a kick in a hurry.
As for the battle for the starting punter job, Christian said the competition between A.J. Winsor and Max Walker will likely come down to the “first week of the first game.”
The Beavers aren’t returning 2024’s starting kicker, Everett Hayes, or punter, Josh Green. And if Black beats out Robertson, OSU will have a new long snapper from 2024 to 2025 as well.
Despite the uncertainty of the team’s starting lineup in Week One, Christian said his familiarity with his players has improved from 2024. With the exception of kicker Tetsuta Tsuyumine, who still tried out for the Beavers last season, every specialist on the team has spent at least one year on the roster.
“The guys that are new have been here, so it’s not like they’re fresh off the streets,” Christian said. “So I feel good about that.”
