The Offense Is The Thing To Watch At The Oregon State Spring Game
By 750 THE GAME STAFF
The Oregon State spring game is Saturday and there are a lot of things that fans should be looking for. It’s a brand new coaching staff. Brand new players. Brand new conference.
John Canzano on the Bald Faced Truth will be watching the spring game with close eyes on new offensive coordinator Ryan Gunderson. Gunderson is a former quarterback at Oregon State and he comes over from being the quarterbacks coach at UCLA. Canzano thinks the world of Gunderson, but remains curious to see what his offense will look like. Will it have some Chip Kelly to it? Or is it going to be like the Beavers of the past? Canzano can’t wait to find out.
“I have a lot of faith in Ryan Gunderson,” Canzano said on 750 The Game. “I think he’s a hell of a coach. I think he’ll figure it out. But it’s a curiosity that I have because so much of Oregon State’s identity was the offense. It was Jonathan Smith, Brian Lindgren, play calling, creativity. It reminded me of the Niners, a lot of play action, tight end heavily involved, but they’re going to run the football first and if you can’t stop the run they will not stop running it at you. I’m not sure what they’re going to be on offense.”
Kyle Bonagura of ESPN has another thought about the Oregon State offense. Bonagura is very intrigued with the quarterback position battle between three players – returning quarterback Ben Gulbranson, Idaho transfer Gevani McCoy, and Missouri transfer Gabarri Johnson.
“Gevani McCoy, Ben Gulbranson and Gabarri Johnson make up a unique quarterback battle as Oregon State navigates a period of uncertainty following the collapse of the Pac-12. First, there’s Gulbranson, who went 7-1 in eight starts for the Beavers in 2022 before being replaced by D.J. Uiagalelei last season. Then there’s McCoy, who had a brilliant two-year run at FCS Idaho, where he was the Jerry Rice Award winner in 2022 (best freshman in FCS) and was a Walter Payton Award finalist last year and a first-team All-Big Sky selection. Finally, there’s Johnson, ESPN’s No. 7 ranked quarterback in the Class of 2023, who spent his freshman year at Missouri before opting to return to the Pacific Northwest.”
Read the full article by ESPN by clicking here.
Listen to the full show of the Bald Faced Truth with John Canzano by clicking the podcast below. Catch the Bald Faced Truth live weekdays 3-6 p.m. in Portland exclusively on 750 The Game.
