Oregon State football looking for 'opportunity to feel good,' in matchup with Tulsa
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The sun is starting to set on the 2025 Oregon State football season.
After a shocking, sum-up-the-season defeat to then-winless Sam Houston last week, Beavers fans have just two more games to watch this season.
In the loss to Sam Houston, Oregon State dominated the visiting Bearkats in total offense gained, 474 yards to 157 yards. OSU was superior in nearly every facet of the game — 28 first downs to Sam Houston’s eight and 82 to 48 in offensive plays.
It’s a loss that deflated the two-win momentum that Oregon State put together under interim head coach Robb Akey. But it hasn’t deterred Akey’s motivations: keep the team happy, smiling and developing.
“It’s time to go and get our minds right and move forward,” Akey said. “Build off of what good things we found on the tape, make those be better and put it toward the attack that we need to have for the Tulsa guys.”
‘It’s a chance to play the game that you love’
Since his initial press conference after he was appointed as interim head coach, Akey has time and again insisted his main priority is to help Oregon State players have fun. On top of that, he hopes that players recognize the position they are in and are grateful to be playing football at this level.
“It’s a chance to play the game that you love and do what you love to do, so that’s what we’re fired up about and that’s the way we’re going to attack it,” Akey said.
The two wins brought a sense of joy back to the program, helped develop some game tape for players and rejuvenated a drained squad and fanbase.
Akey recognized the senior night home loss was a setback, but his mentality is unwavering.
“This one is an opportunity for us to get ourselves to feel good again if we go play well,” Akey said. “That’s what we have to pay attention to right now.”
A battle between two struggling programs
Like Oregon State, Tulsa has just two wins this season.
The Golden Hurricanes sit second to last in the American Athletic Conference with a 0-6 conference record and 2-7 overall. Tulsa’s wins have come at home against Abilene Christian (35-7) and at Oklahoma State (19-12).
Tulsa’s defense sits in the bottom 25 nationally in points per game allowed (38.1 points) and has allowed a total of 277 points (30.8 per game).
Offensively, both Oregon State and Tulsa sit in the bottom 30 nationally in points per game, with OSU at 19.6 points per game and Tulsa at 21.9.
Oregon State play-caller Danny Langsdorf, who formally holds the title of senior quality control analyst, spoke about the opportunity this presents for Oregon State.
“They don’t give you a crazy ton of different looks, they play their defense and they play it well,” Langsdorf said. “They’re in good position, they play hard and physical so we’ll have to match that intensity.”
“They beat Oklahoma State, which was a matchup problem for them, and they beat them,” Langsdorf added.
With Anthony Hankerson playing his best football this season over the last three games —he’s averaging 167.3 rushing yards per game and has scored seven touchdowns. With a new quarterback stepping into the role in Gabarri Johnson, Oregon State’s offense has the ability and freedom to be creative and play stress-free football.
“We’ll continue to go about it the same way, and I’d like to think we’re going to see much more growth this week,” Akey said.
Landon Bartlett covers high school sports and Oregon State for the Statesman Journal. He can be reached at lbartlett@salem.gannett.com or on X or Instagram @bartlelo.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon State down to two games left with Saturday visit to 2-7 Tulsa
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