2013 Oregon State
College Football
Preview
Schedule and Odds
The downfall for Oregon State is that they play in the Pac-12 North. With Stanford and Oregon to compete with, the Beavers chances at a BCS bowl are extremely slim. Mike Riley surprised everyone last year as he took a 3-9 team to nine wins in the matter of a year. The good news is that they will be returning 15 starters and most of their studs. That includes significant players at every skilled position on the offensive end and their top five tacklers on defense.
The current odds for Oregon State to win the PAC-12 are roughly 9 to 1, at 5 Dimes Sportsbook. That places them 7th overall in the conference.
The main problem for the Beavers last year was at the quarterback position where they had to deal with injuries which led to a controversy at the end of the year. Time is winding down to the 2013 season and Sean Mannion and Cody Vaz are still battling for the starting job. Both did respectable jobs last year with Vaz seemingly having the spot locked up until his zero TD, two INT performance in their bowl Game against Texas. Running back Storm Woods should have even better numbers in his sophomore season after totaling 940 yards and 13 TDs last year. Markus Wheaton is gone from the receiving Game, but Brandin Cooks can slide into the top spot. He just needs some others to step up and complement him.
Oregon State’s biggest hole on the defensive side will be on the line where they lose three of their Four starters. Riley picked up a few JUCO’s to help in that situation. And after the turnaround made defensively in 2012, it should come as no surprise if they can mirror last year’s success. They’ll have plenty of returnees at linebacker and in the secondary which should help against some of the pass-heavy teams of the Pac-12.
2013 Oregon State College Football Schedule
Aug. 31 vs. Eastern Washington
Sept. 7 vs. Hawaii
Sept. 14 at Utah
Sept. 21 at San Diego State
Sept. 28 vs. Colorado
Oct. 12 at Washington State
Oct. 19 at California
Oct. 26 vs. Stanford
Nov. 1 vs. USC
Nov. 16 at Arizona State
Nov. 23 vs. Washington
Nov. 29 at Oregon
The Beavers will need to capitalize on their early Schedule if they want to finish with nine wins again because their final five Games will be the most difficult. Early road Games at Utah and San Diego State will be big confidence boosters for this team. Just after that they get Washington State and California on the road which need to be wins.
From there, Oregon State finishes up the season with the three best teams in the Pac-12 North as well as two of the top teams in the South. The goal will be to get out of those five Games with three wins. If not, it’s going to be hard for them to match those nine wins unless they go undefeated in their first seven.
However, if their offense shows a little more consistency and the defense can build on what they started last year, going undefeated in those first seven Games is a good possibility which means nine or 10 wins is on the radar.