Oregon State football put its 2025 team on display for the first time, hosting its annual spring game at Reser Stadium on Saturday, April 19.

The roster was divided into two sides, a black team and a white team. The Beavers quarterbacks, offensive line and special teams units donned orange jerseys and played as needed.

The game was not broadcast nor were stats recorded from it.

The following is a transcription of everything Oregon State head coach Trent Bray said in his postgame press conference. Questions have been shortened for brevity.

Q: What did you think of the performance today? 
Bray: It was good, just watching them compete. We did separate teams, so some guys were playing with guys they hadn’t necessarily (played with) all of spring ball. So we mixed it up a little bit that way, just getting used to playing with different guys next to you. But good competition, (we stayed) healthy. Can’t ask for much more now.

Q: There were lots of guys out, was that for safety reasons or are that many hurt? 
Bray: There are some guys that we don’t need to see a ton of. Today was more about young guys and guys getting an opportunity, put more on film to see what they can do and how they can help us.

Q: What did you see from the quarterback position? 
Bray: (They) were pretty good as far as (throwing) the ball where it needed to go based on the coverage. We missed some shots down the field that I thought we could have got, so thats probably how I’d sum it up.

Q: Looking back to the first spring practice, what are the areas where this team has grown? 
Bray: The understanding of the scheme. I think we’re way of ahead with where we’re at now (compared to) where we were this time last year. Very happy with how they’ve learned the system, bought in to what we’re trying to do and executing at a high level.

Q: What did you think of the pressure the defensive line was getting? 
Bray: I think the edge play has been much improved from a year ago. I’m very happy with where we’re at — continuing to get better – but happy with where we’re at.

Q: Linebackers were also getting lots of pressure, what did you make of them? 
Bray: We got some natural guys who can rush the passer at inside linebacker. Dexter Foster, Raesjon Davis, Aiden Sullivan, Gyriece Goodman, Makiya Toungue, we’ve got some athletes that can apply some pressure, which is a good thing.

Q: What did you like about the edge rushers? 
Bray: Kai Wallin, for a new guy, he’s come in and played really well. Nikko Taylor is taking that next step that we’ve needed him to take. Shamar Meikle has shown up a lot. It’s still his first year on campus and he’s grown a lot.

Q: How much different is this year’s game compared to your first year at the helm of the team last season? 
Bray: I was just trying to figure out what I was doing. Much more comfortable in my work (this year) for sure.

Q: What did you make of the offensive line? 
Bray: We’re pretty dinged-up with a lot of guys that will play for us and will be back in the fall, which is good. But those guys (who played) got the opportunity to get a lot of reps this spring. So when you talk about finding… more guys who can play winning football, the better we’re going to be. I thought this spring was really good for (the offensive line).

Q: Wide receiver Montrell Hatten Jr. took a lot of reps at running back, will that be a full-time position switch? 
Bray: It was to get us through spring depth-wise. (Now) we’ll take a look at it and see what’s best for him and us going forward.

Q: What do you like about Hatten Jr. as a running back? 
Bray: He’s a good athlete. He’s got a bigger body, so moving him in that position, it kind of looked natural for him. So we’ll definitely evaluate and see if he’s (sticking) there.

Q: A lot of new coaches on staff, how has everyone assimilated? 
Bray: Its been great. The help they’re giving me, the help they’re giving the players. We were able to add three coaches — Robb Akey, Danny Langsdorf and Mark Criner — that have a ton of experience at high levels. So it’s just been great for our players and it’s a big part of our improvement.

Q: Freshman edge rusher Bleu Dantzler made a lot of plays, what have you liked from him? 
Bray: Young guy, athletic (and) can rush the passer. He’s got to do some stuff in the weight room to get where we need him to be in the run game in particular, but he can rush the passer. I like that.

Q: With a couple months to go until the season, what’s the biggest improvement you need to make before the regular season. 
Bray: Its the work in the weight room in the offseason. Getting guys bigger, stronger, faster (and) buying in to focus there. Obviously school, spring terms (are) the eligibility term as we call it. So making sure they take care of the classroom and the weight room Then we’ll get back into football stuff later in June to ramp them all back up.

Q: With so many teams moving away from a traditional spring game format, why was it important for Oregon State to keep it? 
Bray: It’s great, fan support has always been great here at Oregon State. And (we) love to come out on a nice day and play football. Our players appreciate it, so it was a great day.

Q: You’re obviously taking over defensive play calling duties, how was it calling the defense again? 
Bray: It was great, it felt good to be back coaching, involved and hands on. Like I said, the addition of Akey and Criner on defense has helped me a ton balancing defensive coordinating, head coaching and (coaching) inside linebackers.

Q: What are some positions you’re looking to add to in the spring transfer portal window? 
Bray: We’ll look at that. We’ve got a couple guys on campus right now. I can’t talk about them, but there are a couple positions.

Q: How important is player retention this spring? 
Bray: To me, that was the No. 1 goal after the season, retain the players we have. We’re a program about development. We don’t want to flip our roster every year in the portal. So we did a good job in retention and then we added some good players from the portal. Retention is always the No. 1 goal.

Q: Did you see any separation in the quarterback battle? 
Bray: What I like thats going on is competition. Gabarri Johnson has had a heck of a spring, he continues to grow and get better and better. (Johnson) is going to play, whether he’s QB1 or not. Maalik Murphy is going to play. We’ve got two really good quarterbacks that can both be in the game at the same time. We can do a bunch of different things with those two, which is exciting with how our playbook can grow with those guys.

Q: What do you make of Murphy? 
Bray: He’s got big time talent and he’s growing in the scheme. Like any quarterback, you’ve got to learn the scheme and be comfortable with what (his) read is, where does the ball need to go. I thought as spring went along, you got a lot better. And there’s no questions about the arm talent.