Oregon State wants to run the ball, throw it short, and grind clock. Purdue will have to tackle better than they did against Notre Dame to have a shot.
Oregon State Offense
Offensive Line
Left Tackle
71 – Gerard Chirstian-Lichtenhan – RSr. – 6’9”, 329
69 – Jacob Strand – RSo. – 6’5”, 297
Left Guard
67 – Joshua Gray RSr. – 6’4”, 310
78 – Nathan Elu – RSo. – 6’5”, 316
Center
55 – Van Wells – Jr. – 6’2”, 315
63 – Luka Vincic – RSo. – 6’5”, 303
Right Guard
77 – Flavio Gonzalez – RSr. – 6’5”, 293
63 – Luka Vincic – RSo – 6’5, 297
Right Tackle
66 – Grant Starck – RJr. 6’4”, 288
74 – Jacob Anderson – RFr. – 6’5”, 297
Player(s) to Watch
Joshua Gray is a monster at left guard. He was All-Pac 12 Second Team in both 2022 and 2023. He was named Pac-12 offensive lineman of the week twice last season. When Oregon State runs the ball, they tend to run behind Gray on the left side.
Right guard Flavio Gonzalez made the first start of his career last week after opening day starting Tyler Voltin suffered a season ending knee injury. That could be a good place for the Boilermakers to bring pressure.
Tight End
84 – Jermaine Terry II – Sr. 6’4”, 245
89 – Bryce Caufield – RJr. 6’4”, 240
82 – Gabe Milbourn – RJr. – 6’4”, 246
85 – Cooper Jensen – RFr. – 6’5”, 235
88 – Andy Alfieri – Jr. – 6’3”, 240
Player(s) to Watch
Oregon State lists 5 tight ends on their depth chart, but only Bryce Caufield has caught a pass this season. He has 3 receptions for 49 yards and a touchdown. If one of the tight ends is used for something other than blocking, it will probably be Caufiled.
Wide Receiver
Wide Reciever
7 – Trent Walker – R.Jr. – 6’2”, 194
6 – David Wells Jr. – RFr. – 6’1”, 178
9 – Jamai East – RSo. – 6’1”, 209
Wide Receiver
18 – Jeremiah Noga – RJr. – 6’2”, 187
14 – Jordan Anderson – Fr. – 5’11”, 165
3 – Jailen Holmes – Jr. – 5’10”, 172
Wide Receiver
1 – Darrius Clemons – Jr. – 6’3”, 211
or
10 – Taz Reddicks – RFr. – 5’11”, 192
12 – Zachary Card – RFr. – 5’9”, 164
Player(s) to Watch
Trent Walker is the man for Oregon State. He leads the team with 20 receptions for 192 yards. He’s not much of a deep threat, but at 6’2”, 195, he uses his body to shield off defenders and has an excellent set of hands. He’s who the quarterback looks for at the sticks on 3rd down.
Taz Reddicks is listed in an “or” situation, but he’s the other guy the Beavers throw to ball to, but like Walker, it’s usually in the short passing game. He has 10 receptions for 10.2 yards in the first 3 games.
Purdue will need to be physical with this group and tackle because Oregon State won’t hesitate to chip away on the outside with Walker and Howard extending drives.
Quarterback
4 – Gevani McCoy – RJr. – 6’0”, 182
17 – Ben Gulbranson – RJr. – 6’3”, 218
Player(s) to Watch
McCoy is the man for Oregon State. He started his career at FCS Idaho where he picked up several awards, including the Jerry Rice trophy (awarded to the best FCS freshman in the nation). He’s small in stature but deadly accurate in the quick passing game. He’s completed 67.1% of his passes on the season but is only averaging 6.7 yards an attempt.
He’s been careful with the ball so far this season and hasn’t thrown an interception, but he also only has 2 touchdown passes. Consider him more of a game manager type quarterback, but word of warning, he can run the ball a little. He broke off a 40+ yarder against Oregon last week and looked good doing it. Purdue needs to contain him in the pocket and get their hands in the passing lanes to disrupt the quick game and limit his vision.
Running Back
8 – Jam Griffin – RSr. – 5’9”, 208
0 – Anthony Hankerson – Jr. – 5’8”, 203
Player(s) to Watch
Running back is the deepest, and for my money, the best position group for the Beavers offense. I’m not sure why they don’t list Griffin and Hankerson in an “or” situation, because Hankerson has 55 caries on the season to Griffin’s 45. Either way, expect to see a heavy dose of both backs on Saturday.
Hankerson has 5 touchdowns already and is averaging 5.1 yards a carry. At 5’8”, 200 pounds, he’s a tough guy to tackle, and as we saw against Notre Dame, tackling isn’t exactly what Purdue does best. He had two touchdowns against Oregon but was limited to 3.8 yards a carry. If things are going well for the Beavers, he’ll have 15+ carries on Saturday.
Like Hankerson, Griffin is a 5’9”, 208 load in the backfield. When he lowers his pads, all the defenders have left to tackle is a pair of giant churning quads.
Combined with Handerson, Oregon State may have the two most physical backs Purdue faces this season. If you’re looking for a Purdue comp, think D.J. Knox.
Overall
This isn’t an overly talented offense. They want to hold the ball, grind clock, and put together 10+ play drives. They did that against Oregon in the first half and had Dillion Gabrial sitting on the sidelines.
Expect the same gameplan against Purdue. You’re going to get a heavy dose of both bowling ball backs in combination with a short, precise passing game. This team is frustrating to play against because when they’re at their best, they play keep away.
In my opinion, this game comes down to tackling. Oregon State runs the ball and gets it out quick to their receivers in the short passing game. Purdue can’t give up crazy yards after first contact or Hudson Card and the offense may only see the ball 6 or 7 times.
Over their first three games, they’ve picked up 67 first downs compared to their opponents 49. They are dominating time of possession as well, averaging 37 minutes with the ball compared to their opponent’s 23 minutes. They have converted on 23-45 (51%) 3rd down attempts this season, Purdue has to hold them well under that if they want a shot to win, and that means they can’t consistently let the Beavers turn 3-yard runs into 5 yards runs and 5 yards completions into 7-yards completions. The coaching staff had a week to work on tackling. Hopefully it paid off.