Oregon State Beavers

It was an offseason of change in Corvallis. Gone is Jonathan Smith. Gone is the Pac-12. Gone is Damien Martinez. And gone is DJ Uiagalelei.

You get the idea—a lot of change and a lot of pieces missing from the top down and on both sides of the ball.

Trent Bray takes over as head coach after running the Beavers defense. Despite all the changes the Beavers will still rely heavily on their defense and running game.

Ryan Gunderson takes over the offense. He prefers mobile QBs so that option will again be available this season.

And despite the loss of Martinez, the running back room is still in good shape with Jam Griffin and Anthony Hankerson in the mix.

The line blocking for those backs will once again be one of the best in the nation with Joshua Gray and Grant Starck and their combined 61 starts holding things down.

Zachary Card offers a lot of speed on the outside and Darrius Clemons could be a weapon in the passing game, but again, the Beavs are going to be a run-heavy team.

The defensive front will make life difficult on opposing teams with the pass rushing of Nikko Taylor and Oluwaseyi Omotosho along with run-stuffers Jacob Schuster and Tygee Hill in the middle.

OSU always seems to have solid linebackers and this season will be no exception. Melvin Jordan, Isaiah Chisom, and Aiden Sullivan should all pile up loads of tackles.

The secondary has experience and depth at corner with Jaden Robinson and Kobe Singleton leading the way.

Replacing talents like Kitan Oladapo and Akili Arnold at safety is a tall order but Skylar Thomas could put together a huge season for OSU.

Washington State Cougars

The Cougars opened last season 4-0 and then the wheels fell off as they went 1-7 down the stretch. Fortunately, Jake Dickert had a pair of winning seasons before last season’s meltdown.

Wazzu ranked 35th in the nation in total offense last season, racking up 421.7 yards per game. And the Cougs did so with no running game to speak of, ranking No. 130 nationally with 84.8 rushing yards per game.

Last year Cam Ward was a big part of the offense, but he is at Miami now. Either John Mateer or Zevi Ekhaus are in line to replace him.

Whoever wins the QB job will have the benefit of Kyle Williams at wide receiver. Williams is without question the Cougars’ top offensive weapon.

If Carlos Hernandez can step up at the other WR spot and Cooper Mathers thrives at TE, WSU has a chance to field a quality passing game.

But again, they need production in the running game and the line has to get a lot better.

WSU allowed 3.17 sacks per game, ranking 114th in the nation while opponents tallied 6.3 stops per contest behind the line. Opposing defenders spent a lot of time in the WSU backfield in 2023.

On defense, WSU improved as the season progressed, but the unit was not great; the pass rush often went missing.

Leading tackler Kyle Thornton and Tariq Al-Uqdahare back in the middle, offer WSU a good look at LB, but the line will need to be rebuilt.

The secondary also has some holes to fill but it looks like there is talent in the mix in the form of Kapena Gushiken. The cornerback duo of Jamorri Colson and Stephen Hall will need to get better in a hurry.

It has been a long year for WSU since that 4-0 start, both on and off the field. Some struggles might continue into the new season.