Oregon State Beavers College Football Pregame Quote, 08/25/2025

Our team’s extremely excited to get to play the quality of the opponent that we’re playing to start the season. Very excited about a lot of new faces on both sides, for Cal in for us. Some people were familiar with, though, that we played against in the past, but we’re excited to get rolling and excited to have a first game with this much on the line.” Q: With spring ball, fall camp and everything in between in the rear view, what’re you and the team excited for this weekend? “Yeah, I think from a prep standpoint, it’s business as usual.

The excitement part is, very (excited), for players and coaches. We’re excited about the team we got, the talent we have, the group of young men that are on this team and we’re excited to go out there and get a chance to showcase it really for the first time.” Head coach Justin Wilcox is heading into his ninth year at Cal, that’s rare in today’s game. What makes him so successful and what do you expect from the team he’s put together? “Cal, since (Wilcox has) been there, has been very good on defense. It’s always been a consistent thing with Cal. And then, you know, over the last couple of years, they’ve tried to create and they’ve had some good quarterback play.

And they got a young kid starting for him right now, but he’s a very talented player. We know through recruiting. And so I think those kind of staples of what his teams are will be what we see on Saturday.

What’re your thoughts on the depth chart?

I think we’re definitely deeper than we were a year ago at just about every position.

I like our depth. I think we got guys — outside of just the starting group — that can come in and play winning football and can do some really good things. So that’s just going to help you, not only in the first game, but as the season goes on.

With Cal naming Jaron Keawe-Sagapolutele its starting quarterback, how do you prepare for a true freshman quarterback?

I think you’re preparing for what they do schematically.

Who the quarterback is matters a little bit, as far as his tendencies. You can watch him, you know it’s high school, but you watch the way he reacts to a rush and how he likes to escape and what he’s good at, what are strengths and weaknesses. But as far as game planning and getting ready to win, you’re preparing for what Cal does and how they’re going to try to attack you with formations, motions, those kinds of things.

How confident do you feel in the roster’s ability to improve on last season?

Talking about this group, just what they’ve shown me. That’s where the confidence comes from. What they’ve done throughout spring (and) winter conditioning, spring football, and fall camp. They’ve played the game the way we want to play, as far as their effort, toughness, (and) physicality. Then that’s where the confidence comes, because of what they’ve done and the work they’ve put in.

A lot of people are curious and concerned about senior wide receiver Darrius Clemons’ health, do you have an update you can provide about his status for week one and beyond?

Yeah, (with) injuries, I’ve said it in the past and handled (it this way), if Darius wants to talk about it, he’s more than welcome to. I’m not going to talk about an injured player.

Playing Cal last season was a low point in your first year, is there any extra motivation going into this matchup because of that?

It’s just important to open up the way we want to open up, regardless of the opponent. (Facing) a team of the quality of Cal makes it that much more exciting and important. Because it’s not a warm up game, right? It’s not like playing some team that you know or expect to win.

This is going to be a tough game. They’re a great opponent, a great team, and we’ve got to be at our best to go out and play the way we want to.

Putting the depth chart together, whose name were you most excited to pencil into the starting lineup or in the two-deep rotations?

I mean, there’s a number of guys that I’m excited to get on the field. (Guys that are) new this year or guys that were really young last year that we feel are going to have really good, breakout seasons this year. There’s a number of them. And so it’s just exciting to see the growth in the guys that have been here, but then I think we’ve added some really nice pieces through the portal that are going to help us.

What can you tell us about Jaron Keawe-Sagapolutele?

Yeah, he’s extremely talented kid. You know, he’s got a great arm, he is a good athlete, he can move around.

So, he can pose problems that way (and in) his ability to escape and throw on the run. So I think he’s a very, very good quarterback and was very sought after — by us as well. So I think he’s a really good player that can come in and run (their) offense.

They obviously have a bunch of confidence in him and feel great about him if they’re starting him as a true freshman. So that says a lot.

In your first year as the defensive coordinator, what do you feel are your strengths and weaknesses on defense?

Oh, I won’t talk about that stuff … Anything that would give Cal an upper-hand, no, I won’t discuss.

Without film on this 2025 Cal team to watch, how do you get prepared for week one?

You know what you can expect. You kind of look at what they’ve done in the past, (what) the offensive coordinators have done in the past. And not just what he’s done, but the tree that he comes from. Because that’s just kind of how the coaching works. You communicate and you talk, and you kind of do the same things within those trees. So that’s what you’re looking at — even though he wasn’t coordinating a year ago — the people that were in his tree were coordinating a year ago, and so that’s what you’re looking at. What’s that family tree look like?

How have you prepared for your return to play-calling on defense?

It starts with having a great help, not only from the staff, but then the additions we’ve made to the staff. We’ve got a plan on how that’s going to work in-game. It’s worked really well from just the game planning, the practice, how practices run. When we scrimmage, we’ve ran through how that’s going to work, (too).

And so I feel great about our plan and moving forward. It’s been really seamless for me, and that’s because of their help.

Tygee Hill is on the depth-chart this year after being ineligible for last season, what does his status look like for this season

Yeah, kind of same thing is the injury part. Anything with availability is on the player, not me.

How do you feel about quarterback Maalik Murphy and how he’s mastered the playbook?

(Murphy) has done a great job. He’s grown just from spring to fall camp to where he’s at right now, and his understanding of not only the offense and how to get the formations and motions and redirect protections, but also the reads based on what Coach Gunnerson calls … He’s just grown tremendously in that area and (I) feel great about where he’s at right now.

What’s it been like having Mike Cavanaugh back coaching offensive line?

It’s been great.

He hasn’t changed a bits since the last time he was here. But he’s a great coach and a great teacher. He’s bringing a toughness that his offensive line groups have been known for in the past. His ability to develop and get guys to get better as we continue to go and I think we saw that in fall camp. The offensive line’s improvement from spring to where they’re at now has been tremendous. And (Coach Cavanaugh) has been a big part of it.

What’s your comfort level heading into year two as a head coach?

I think in every regard (I’m more comfortable). Just understanding what the job is and what it entails and how you need to manage your time and allocate certain things, just being able to know that and do that has made life easier for me and hopefully for our staff and players.

Where do you feel like this team has grown the most since your final game last year?

Especially in this day and age of college football, the way that they’ve been able to work together. The way they work together on the defensive side of the ball, the communication that has to take place.

Trusting and believing that the guy next to you is going to be in his fit so you can be in yours. That kind of growth has been great.

Same thing on offense, with the offensive line, new quarterback, all those things that take time to get comfortable and understand each other and know where each other is going to be and the communication that has to take place to get everyone on the same page.

That’s been the biggest growth, and it’s necessary nowadays to be successful in college football.

What’re your thoughts on the hiring of a general manager for the athletic department and the partnership with Blueprint Sports?

It makes it easier, just who I have to deal with and who I don’t.

It takes the load off of that. That part’s really good. But, yeah, I think it’s turning into professional sports — or it is professional sports. And so having people in those places is necessary.

What can you tell us about the hiring of Rob Akey as the Special Assistant to the Head Coach and what he’s brought to the program?

(Coach Akey has) helped me tremendously. I’ve known him since I was in high school.

He worked with my father at Washington State and then he went on to become the defensive coordinator and then head coach at Idaho. So he’s got coordinating experience at a high level. He’s worked in the NFL, college, and he’s been a head coach.

He can help me out with certain things as a head coach and the head coaching job and take some pressure off me at certain times when it comes to that, and he’s done it himself.

And just the advice he can give me on being able to handle those things has been great for me.

Do you feel like there were wins left on the table last year? And if so, does that make you more hungry for this year?

Well, I think the new year thing is every year… Maybe it takes players a little bit longer, but as coaches for sure, we don’t even think about what happened.

You watch and you learn from, what the mistakes were that were made or where did we get hurt and correct those mistakes?

But as far as looking in the past or trying to, you know, have redemption from last year, that’s really not a thought process. It’s this group, this season, this game, moving forward.

Linebacker Makiya Tongue announced his medical retirement, what was the conversation like with him?

(That’s) extremely tough for a young person, especially a guy as talented as (Tongue) is. He’s just battled a bunch of injuries and not just small injuries, you know, knee injuries and long rehabs. When he came in, we just talked about that (and) when he told me that’s what he felt he should (retire), I mean, I completely understand.

It’s been about three, four years where he’s been battling injuries. That can weigh on you anyway, and then just moving forward with multiple knee injuries (and) the quality of life you want to continue to have when you’re out of college and moving forward. So that’s the big reason he made that decision and I totally support him. He’ll be successful in whatever he does, because he’s just a motivated, hardworking person, that I enjoyed being around.