– Last Updated on July 25, 2018 10:36 am
2018 Football Preview – Pac 12 – Beavers
Looking for 2018 Oregon State Beavers predictions? The Beavers have had a rough go about their last three seasons. They haven’t had a winning campaign since 2012 (9-4), but the last three years have seen them go 2-10 (2015), 4-8 (2016) and 1-11 (2017) with both 2015 and 2017 seeing them go winless in conference.
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2018-18 College Football Preview – Oregon State Beavers
Head Coach: Jonathan Smith
2017 Record: 1-11
Oregon State Beavers Odds to win the 2018 FBS Championship: +100000
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Now, with another new head coach (Jonathan Smith) set to take over, the only direction the team can go is up.
The problem is that the hill they’re climbing is about as steep as it gets for Pac-12 teams.
2018 Oregon State Beavers Predictions: Team Strengths
Experience on offense: Let’s get one thing out of the way right now. If you say the Beavers have any true strengths entering the 2018 season, you’re either being far too kind or wearing orange and black lenses. Picking a strength for this team is difficult, but we’re not here to provide optimism—just real analysis.
The good news for Oregon State fans is that while their own “strengths” may not be considered positives against the national competition, there are a few things they’ll hang their hats on within their own practice facility.
The first is experience on offense. Again, we’re not saying this is one of the more experienced teams in the country—just that having Jake Lutton back is a big deal, along with junior running back Artavis Pierce and big bodies on the outside like Isaiah Hodgins and TE Noah Togiai.
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Talent on defense: Again, don’t mistake this as us claiming the Beavs have a talented defensive roster in comparison to their conference or national competition. This is within the context of their own roster.
Although the team is without former team captain and starting linebacker Manase Hungalu, Jonathan Willis will look to take his place as a leader at the inside LB position. Xavier Crawford and Dwayne Williams will be making their returns from injury as well.
2018 Oregon State Beavers: Team Weaknesses
Consistency behind center: Having your starting QB back is a big deal, and Oregon State (obviously) wouldn’t have it any other way. But Lutton needs to protect the ball and complete his passes at a higher percentage.
If Oregon State can get the short game going, that’s not only going to open up the running attack but also the long ball.
OSU’s big-play offense was non-existent last season, and fixing that isn’t going to happen by throwing deep every single possession.
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Defensive line: The truth is that you can look at most of what Oregon State is putting on the field on the point-preventing end and struggle to find anything that doesn’t count as a weakness. But the line is what’s going to set the tone, and that’s a problem for this Beavs squad coming off a single-win season.
Oregon State Beavers Prediction: 2-9
The Beavers have a legitimate chance to double their wins from last season. That’s a good thing regardless of who you are.
The catch, of course, is that doubling their wins from last year puts them at a paltry two victories on the year, and that means rough times are ahead if that’s our optimistic view.
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Assuming the Beavs don’t shock the world and come up with an all-time upset in Week 1 against the Ohio State Buckeyes, Oregon State can feel confident about going 2-1 against non-conference competition. But in the Pac-12, it’s just too tough to see them pulling out a win in any of their nine competitions.
2018 Oregon State Beavers Football Schedule
- 9/1/18 12:00 PM ET @OSU
- 9/8/18 8:00 PM ET SUU
- 9/15/18 7:00 PM ET @NEV
- 9/22/18 TBD ARIZ
- 9/29/18 TBD @ASU
- 10/6/18 TBD WSU
- 10/20/18 TBD CAL
- 10/27/18 TBD @COLO
- 11/3/18 TBD USC
- 11/10/18 TBD @STAN
- 11/17/18 TBD @WASH
- 11/23/18 4:00 PM ET ORE
What do you think about our 2018 Oregon State Beavers predictions? Please leave us a comment below telling us how you think they’ll do in 2018!
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