Fresh off of a 10-7 victory over the Washington State Cougars, the Oregon State Football team welcomes the Sam Houston State University Bearkats to Corvallis and Reser Stadium on Saturday.
The game will be broadcast on The CW, and the Orange Media Network student radio broadcast can be heard on 88.7 FM.
According to ESPNBET, the Beavers have an 89.6% chance of victory and are favored by 18.5 points.
Sam Houston State plays in Conference USA, and stands at 0-8. Earning 320.5 yards of offense per game, the Bearkats rank 117th nationally out of 136 FBS teams. SHSU scores an average of 16.6 points per game, or 129th nationally. They allow 40.9 points per game, which ranks 136th, or the worst in FBS.
Oregon State, meanwhile, stands at 2-7, looking for Robb Akey to reach 3-0 as head coach. The Beavers earn an average of 348.1 yards of offense per game, ranking 98th in FBS. Scoring 19.9 points per game slots them in at 117th, and allowing 29.9 points per game ranks them 101st in FBS.
“We all trust him (Akey)… he’s a great leader, so I do like the choice that was made for him to step into that role,” Beavers’ junior linebacker Takari Hickle said in the Washington State post game press conference.
The Bearkats are led by QB Hunter Watson, who has completed 104 out of 182 pass attempts (57.1%) for 1,108 yards, averages 6.0 yards per attempt, and has five touchdown passes to four interceptions. Watson has been sacked 18 times and has 276 rushing yards on 74 attempts.
Oregon State’s Malik Murphy, who started the Beavers’ first seven games, has completed 156 out of 266 pass attempts (58.6%) for 1,749 yards, averaging 6.6 yards per attempt. He has nine touchdown passes to eight interceptions. Being sacked 12 times, Murphy has -58 rushing yards on 23 attempts.
Gabarri Johnson, who has started OSU’s last two contests, has completed 26 of 43 passing attempts (60.5%) for 173 yards, averages 4.0 yards per attempt, and has two touchdown passes to one interception. Taking three sacks on the season, Johnson has 104 rushing yards on 23 attempts.
In attempting to move to 3-0 as head coach, Akey is presumably trying to secure his place as Oregon State’s permanent head coach. Before Akey got the tag as interim coach, the Beavers were 0-7, but have churned out consecutive victories over Lafayette and Washington State.
As for motivation to finish the season strong, senior running back Anthony Hankerson is focusing on the team’s legacy:
“Oh man, it means a lot, especially that we win.. I’m a guy that emphasizes ‘how do you want to be remembered?’ You can be remembered as the team that changed the season around…so we’re talking about going out there and executing,” Hankerson said in the Washington State post game press conference.
Akey appears to be relishing the apparent change in fortunes for the Beavers, given his statements in the Washington State post game press conference:
“To see our guys smiling the way that they are right now was really, really cool, and to see them overcome adversity and fight themselves through and find a way to finish…that was really, really cool.”
