After finishing with a woeful 4-8 slate last season, Oregon State head coach Gary Anderson deemed it necessary to shake the Beavers offense up. That he did, naming Jake Luton as their new starting quarterback. He transferred to Oregon State in January from Ventura College, where he was a junior college All-American last season. In his lone season there, Luton threw for a school-record 3,551 yards and 40 touchdowns. He was also named his conference’s offensive player of the year.
And even though his participation in the spring was limited due to a mysterious illness, Luton’s achievements were enough for Anderson to hand him the job over Marcus McMaryion and Darell Garretson. With McMaryion electing to transfer after that QB demotion, Garretson will now serve as the Beavers’ primary backup.
All eyes will be on Luton, though, who’s raring to make his Oregon State debut against Colorado State. What makes Luton such a prime talent is his ability to run with the football. As a rusher for University of Idaho, Luton actually ran for 73 yards and five touchdowns in 2015 including three in a single game against Arkansas State. He displayed that same kind of skill when he moved to Ventura, rushing for 175 yards and six touchdowns. Luton will help boost a Oregon State offense that averaged 191.7 yards per game on the ground last season, 49th in the FBS.
One guy who’s expected to step up for that vaunted Oregon State backfield is junior Ryan Hall. He wreaked havoc against opponents last fall, amassing 951 yards and 13 touchdowns. Hall will be joined this year by ex-Oregon running back Thomas Tyner, sophomore Artavis Pierce and TCU graduate transfer Trevorris Johnson.
The Beavers are 0-10 SU and 5-5 ATS in their last 10 road games.
Colorado State will look to christen its new stadium with a victory on Saturday against Oregon State. The Rams are going to be hard to stop if they unleash the same kind of attack they displayed in the second half of last season. They finished 2016 on a tear, averaging 48 points per contest over their last six games. They even scored a whopping 63 points over Mountain West champion San Diego State. That team remains pretty much intact for the upcoming season and that’s certainly great news for head coach Mike Bobo.
Leading the way for Bobo’s squad is quarterback Nick Stevens. He recorded 1,936 yards and 19 touchdowns last season and should push for All-Mountain West honors this year. Stevens formed quite a partnership with Michael Gallup who caught 76 passes for 1,272 yards and 14 touchdowns last year. The Rams’ running game, for that matter, is nothing to sniff at either.
Colorado State brings back three running backs that eclipsed the 500-yard mark last year, including Dalyn Dawkins who posted a mammoth 919 yards on the ground. He is currently on a four-game streak in which he accumulated 100 rushing yards, dating back to last season. Dawkins and co. will look to punish an Oregon State defense that allowed a whopping 218 rushing yards per game last season, 102nd in the FBS.
The Rams are 6-4 SU and 5-4-1 ATS in their last 10 home games.
Writer’s Prediction
Colorado State (-4) opens the season in style with a 35-21 victory.
