Bowl or bust: Oregon State Beavers football at No. 11 Boise State Broncos Preview

November 29, 2024

Bowl eligibility will be on the line for Oregon State on Friday when the Beavers face No. 11 Boise State at 9 a.m. at Albertson Stadium in Boise.

The Beavers ended a five-game losing streak last week when they beat Washington State 41-38 at Reser Stadium. Boise State has won nine straight games since losing by a field goal to Oregon on Sept. 7 in Eugene.

For the Broncos, running back Ashton Jeanty is one of the frontrunners for the Heisman Trophy.

Here’s a preview of this week’s game:

Oregon State (5-6) at No. 11 Boise State (10-1)

When: Friday, November 29th

Time: 9am PT

Where: Albertsons Stadium, Boise

Trainer: OSU’s Trent Bray (first season) vs. Boise State’s Spencer Danielson (first season/second including interim)

Latest line: Boise State through April 19th

• WATCH NOW: Oregon State vs. Boise State Football Live FREE with Fubo (free trial version), or with DirecTV Stream (free trial).

TV channels: Fox (KPTV 12 in Portland)

How to watch live streaming: You can Watch this game live for FREE with Fubo (free trial) or with DirecTV Stream (free trial). If you already have a provider, you can also watch this game live on Fox Sports Live using your cable or satellite provider login details.

2024 Oregon State football season schedule, results

A LOOK AT BOISE STATE

Boise State has already punched its ticket to the Mountain West Conference championship game, but there’s a lot more at stake here. With a win on Friday and the MWC championship game, the Broncos are likely headed to the College Football Playoff. But one misstep against the Beavers and that dream could fail. The Broncos have extended their overtime and picked up wins over the last three weeks: 28-21 over Nevada, 42-21 over San Jose State and 17-13 over Wyoming. Last week, Boise State scored a win against the Cowboys with 5:02 left. The San Jose State final appeared to be one-sided, but the Broncos scored two goals in the final two minutes to extend a one-point game.

Boise State has running back Ashton Jeanty, who is the favorite for the 2024 Heisman Trophy against Colorado’s Travis Hunter. Jeanty has rushed for 2,062 yards and 27 touchdowns this season. He has an incredible 1,512 yards after a defender makes initial contact. Jeanty also forced 118 missed tackles. OSU defensive coordinator Keith Heyward said the focus was on getting multiple defenders to attack deep on the 5-foot-11 Jeanty because “his center of gravity is already low and he’s strong…he’s different.” He’s unique .” Jeanty has rushed for at least 100 yards in every game this season and has rushed for more than 200 yards three times. Jeanty joins Barry Sanders, Ricky Williams and Melvin Gordon as the fourth player in FBS history to rush for 2,000 yards and score 25 touchdowns in a season. Offensively, Boise State ranks in the top 10 in the country in points (41.2/game), rushing yards (252.0/game), total offense (479.5/game) and third-down conversions (49th). .6%). The Broncos are stingy with turnovers, fourth-best among FBS schools with just seven this season. Quarterback Maddux Madsen started all 11 games, rushing for 2,361 yards, 19 touchdowns and three scores. The Broncos’ biggest threats are Cameron Cooper (45 catches, 738 yards, 4 TDs) and Matt Lauter (35-415-6).

Defensively, Boise State is available through the air. The Broncos are giving up 261.2 passing yards per game, 123rd among FBS schools. The trick is to get the ball in the air before Boise State’s two-headed pass-rush monster gets to the quarterback. Edge rusher Jayden Virgin-Morgan has a team-high nine sacks and Ahmed Hassanein has 8½. Boise State has 43 total sacks and is ranked No. 2 nationally behind only Mississippi. Boise State’s running game is difficult as it gives up 105.7 yards per game. Boise State’s leading tackler is Ty Benefield with a team-high 63 stops and two interceptions. Twelve different Broncos have at least one sack. Aside from Hassanein and Virgin-Morgan, Seyi Oladipo has 5½ sacks.

YOU SAID IT

“We have to attack deep, shut down his engines and get control of the ball. He’s the guy who makes their entire operation work,” Heyward says of Jeanty.

HISTORY OF THE SERIES

Oregon State leads the series 6-4. The last time the teams played was in 2022, when the Beavers won 34-17 in Corvallis. Boise State is 3-1 against OSU in Boise, including wins on the Beavers’ last three trips.

THIS AND THAT

Boise State’s nine-game winning streak is its longest since 2010. The Broncos have won 10 straight home games.
Oregon State running back Anthony Hankerson needs 28 rushing yards to reach 1,000 yards this season.
Beavers receiver Trent Walker has 77 receptions this season, which is 10th in school history. Next on the list is a tie for eighth with 78 (Dave Montagne, Jacquizz Rodgers), a seventh with 81 (James Newson) and a tie for fifth with 86 (Mike Hass, Isaiah Hodgins).
Walker also has 849 receiving yards. Against Boise, he needed 151 yards to become the 14th player in OSU history to break 1,000 yards.
This is OSU’s second game on Fox this season. The other was Oregon on September 14th.
The Beavers are 21 of 37 in fourth place, No. 3 in the country.
A week after its first shutout since 2015, Oregon State scored a season-high 41 points against Washington State.
The last time the Beavers won two straight games against a top-25 opponent was in 2012 (No. 13 Wisconsin/No. 19 UCLA). WSU was ranked No. 25 last week.
The temperature at game time is expected to be around 31 degrees. This is by far the coldest temperature for a game between Oregon State and Boise State. The previous low temperature at kickoff was 58 degrees for the 2016 game in Corvallis.