Oregon
WATCH: Trent Bray Talks Final Stretch of Oregon State’s Football Season
With three games left in the season, the 4-5 Oregon State State Beavers need to win two in order to reach the postseason. For now, Beavers’ head coach Trent Bray is keeping his team focused on the challenge that a trip to the Air Force Academy presents and what lessons there are to learn from last week’s loss to San Jose State.
Bray met with the media this week to discuss what’s ahead for OSU and how his younger players can continue to get better. Watch the full presser below.
NOTES
-Reviewing the San Jose State game: “After watching the film of the San Jose State game, it was a lot like I thought. I thought we moved the ball pretty well, but just stubbed our toe in the red zone. Four drives in the red zone and we only get three points out of them. That’s a problem so we got to
be better in the Red Zone. Would have changed that game. And same thing with the explosive plays over our head in the back end on defense we we can’t allow that to happen to play the way we want.”
-Ben Gulbranson will continue to be the starting quarterback, moving forward.
-On Salahadin Allah’s development: “As you go through the season you get more and more work and more and more reps in practice and in games. You become a better player…I thought he played well and had some really good runs and still had some runs that, you know, we need him to break that he could have. So I’m excited about where he’s at and his progression.”
-On the morale of the team currently after a 4-5 start: “You watch us practice and you wouldn’t know what our record is. Which is great to come to work with those guys every day. We are process oriented and getting those guys to buy into the results will come as we continue to do the right process. It’s frustrating right now and there’s some things that are painful but we stick to the process and we’ll continue to get better and in the long run it’ll help us.”
-On improvements to the run defense: “It’s more guys just getting better, more experience in the system. I think early on in the run game problems were a lot of misfit issues. I think the players have done a great job. Coaches have done a good job of of just continuing to coach those guys and they’re starting to figure it out and play faster because they they know how to play off the front and I think a lot of that showed up.”
-On defending a triple option offense: “If you’re going to take away the inside part of it, there’s always things out on the perimeter as well. And so there it creates one-on-one plays. Whenever you have one-on-one tackles that have to be made, you break a couple tackles, they make you miss, and it’s an explosive play. So that’s what these offenses do. They make it a one-on-one game for most of the game.”
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RECAP: Oregon State Drop Fourth Straight Game, Fall To San Jose State 24-13
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The good times keep on rolling for the Oregon Ducks in the recruiting world. Dan Lanning and the Ducks scored a massive commitment from five-star quarterback Will Mencl out of Chandler, Arizona.
Oregon had been rumored to be leading the race for Mencl’s services for months, but the No. 1 quarterback in the country, per Rivals, cleared the air and committed to the Ducks on Wednesday evening. Mencl chose the Ducks over Auburn and Penn State, both of which battled hard for him down the stretch.
However, Mencl has been connected to Oregon for a long time. While he was offered last fall before breaking out in his junior season, Mencl has been a fan of the program long before he popped up on the Ducks’ recruiting radar. In a post shared by Rivals recruiting expert Steve Wiltfong, Mencl was announced as a quarterback for the Ducks when he was a kid at the 2019 NFL Draft fan experience in 2019.
Now, Mencl is ready to don the green and yellow for real and make his childhood dreams come true. The Ducks have made a point to get Mencl on campus as often as possible and as recently as last week. The continued connection between both sides is ultimately what made the decision easy for the nation’s top passer. Mencl said he told Lanning and the Oregon staff about his decision on Sunday.
“The biggest thing was the relationship with the staff,” Mencl said after committing. “I feel like that continued to grow over time, especially when I first got there last spring. Being able to sit down with Coach Koa, really being an underlooked guy at that time, and kind of blowing up my junior season. And then, the path to the NFL. You can’t deny what they do with quarterbacks and the type of scheme they run. I felt like that was the best fit for me and my family to get to the next level.”
Koa Ka’ai, Oregon’s new quarterback coach, made waves earlier in the offseason after his recruiting test about ice cream flavors went viral, but that doesn’t appear to have scared Mencl off. In fact, the two have a close connection that Oregon hopes will translate to success on the field in the near future.
“My relationship with Coach Koa, I feel like that is super, super strong,” Mencl told Rivals. “I’ve had a lot of discussions with Coach Lanning about the culture there and how they’re going to continue to sustain greatness throughout the program.”
Mencl exploded onto the national recruiting scene with a massive junior season for Chandler. He completed more than 70% of his passes for 3,815 yards and 33 touchdowns against five interceptions in his junior season, leading Chandler to a state title berth. He also rushed for 741 yards and an additional 17 touchdowns.
The Ducks expect to have some competition for Mencl to compete with when he joins the team for the 2027 season, with Dylan Raiola and Akili Smith Jr. already on the roster and competing for a role as the backup. Oregon has gone to the transfer portal as well in recent seasons, finding success with Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel, and now Dante Moore.
Oregon has recruited well at quarterback in the past, establishing an NFL pedigree that attracted Mencl. Maybe he will be the one to buck the trend and give the Ducks a true, homegrown product under center.
Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.
‘Pour in the largest glass you can find while slow dancing in your socks,’ a Wine Enthusiast contributor said of an Oregon wine
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Wine Enthusiast released a list of the top 40 sparkling wines around the world in 2026 – highlighting two bottles of bubbly from Oregon.
“While it can seem like you need a fortune to enjoy high quality sparkling wine, you honestly don’t. Excellent affordable bubbles are being produced around the world, often in places you might not expect. Each of the selections on our inaugural Top 40 Sparkling Wines list delivers personality, freshness, and celebration for under $75,” Wine Enthusiast wrote.
Wine Enthusiast divided its list into separate sparkling categories including, Champagne, Italian Bollicine, American sparkling and bottles $25 and under.
Snagging a spot on the American sparkling list: Corollary Wines in McMinnville.
Corollarly’s 2021 Momtazi Carbonic Rosé Pinot Noir scored 96 points from Wine Enthusiast.
“This is a Peter Max print of a wine, with vivid aromas and flavors to match the wine’s electric Kool-Aid color. It is filled to the brim with aromas and flavors of macerated strawberries, candied rose petals, apricots, and a bitter note similar to watermelon rind. Pour in the largest glass you can find while slow dancing in your socks,” wrote Wine Enthusiast contributor Michael Alberty.
The second Oregon winery to earn a spot on the list: Lytle-Barnett in Dundee.
Wine Enthusiast also gave Lytle-Barnett’s 2018 Brut Rosé Pinot Noir Chardonnay 96 points.
“Bubbles as persistent as an eight-year-old with a question deliver aromas of dried rose petals, macerated strawberries, and a touch of fresh hay and talc. This 70/30 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay blend is packed with flavors of lemon zest, Honeycrisp apple slices drizzled in caramel, and a dollop of raspberry,” Alberty wrote.
The nods to Corollary and Lytle-Barnett come as the wineries recently helped launch Method Oregon, a nonprofit made up of 50 Oregon wineries aiming to turn Oregon into a global sparkling wine destination.
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