Idaho State vs Oregon State Prediction College Football Picks 8/31/24

The Idaho State Bengals and the Oregon State Beavers meet in week 1 college football action from Reser Stadium on Saturday. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s an Idaho State vs. Oregon State prediction.

Idaho State Team Preview

The Idaho State Bengals come into the 2024 season hoping to rebound from a disappointing 3-8 mark in 2023, including a 3-5 record in Big Sky conference play. That being said, it was a nice sign for an Idaho State team that achieved their best record since 2019, and it was a 2-win improvement from the season prior. It also led to the top passing offense in the country, averaging 330.1 yards per game and Jordan Cooke threw for 2,453 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Whether it’s Cooke or Hunter Hays at QB, the Bengals have a lot of returning production elsewhere, like at wide receiver where Christian Frederickson comes back after logging 791 receiving yards last year. Justice Jackson transfers in from Eastern Washington after putting up 493 rushing yards and 5 TDs.

On defense, the Bengals bring back a slew of starters, but they’re starters from a defense that was 121st in total defense. David Rowe will lead the charge on the defensive line but it’ll take an improvement from all three levels of the Bengal defense to take another step forward in 2024.

Why the Idaho State Bengals will win

• Oregon State has lost each of its last three games.
• Oregon State has failed to cover the spread in five of its last six games.

Oregon State Team Preview

The Oregon State Beavers come into this season with a new voice leading the charge after a solid 2023 season where Oregon State finished 8-5 overall, including a 5-4 mark in Pac-12 conference play, but the Beavers would go on to get crushed by Notre Dame 40-8 in the Sun Bowl. Jonathan Smith took the Beavers to glory and is now at Michigan State, leaving head coach duties to Trent Bray.

Ben Gudbranson is expected to be the QB1 to start, but Gevani McCoy and Gabarri Johnson transfer in to put pressure for playing time. Anthony Hankerson comes in from Colorado and Jam Griffin comes back to Corvallis after a decent rushing season two years ago for the Beavers. Oregon State lost a lot of production on the outside at receiver, but Darrius Clemons transfers in from Michigan in what is a very green receiving group for Oregon State.

On defense, the defensive line is starting fresh with Tevita Pome’e and Tygee Hill transferring in, while Melvin Jordan and Oluwaseyi Omotosho are back at linebacker. Kobe Singleton and Jaden Robinson make a formidable corner combo in Oregon State’s secondary as well this season.

Why the Oregon State Beavers will win

• Oregon State has won each of its last 11 games against non-AP-ranked teams at Reser Stadium.
• Oregon State has covered the spread in 10 of its last 11 games against non-AP-ranked teams at Reser Stadium.

Idaho State vs. Oregon State Prediction

I’m on the Bengals and the points. It wouldn’t surprise me if Oregon State used this game as a tune-up to work out the kinks and question marks that they have going forward, but there are just too many of them for me to lay over four touchdowns with the Beavers in a relatively unknown spot. The Bengals are not a good football team on the surface, but even in a down year, the passing game worked and I think the Bengals can find just enough big plays to sneak inside the backdoor. Give me the Bengals and the points.