Notre Dame to play Oregon State in their second appearance in the Sun Bowl

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind – A top 20 matchup in the Sun Bowl will be interesting with significant players missing from both rosters.

College football rosters becomes a guessing game during bowl season as players hop in and out of the transfer portal.

Oregon State is currently planning to start their backup Ben Gulbranson after DJ Uiagalelei entered the transfer portal.

“There will be some challenges not knowing exactly. Maybe if there's not a lot of film of a certain individual playing. In the game at that position,” head coach Marcus Freeman said.

Unfortunately for the Beavers, when former head coach Johnathan Smith took the head coaching job at Michigan State, he took defensive coordinator Legi Suiaunoa with him.

“I just think in all these situations, when there's some positives, there's some, some opportunities that come up. And this is one of them, Oregon State interim head coach Kefense Hynson said in regard to changing up the roster for the bowl game.

With the flexibility of the transfer portal, both teams are publicly experiencing the loss of key players.

“I’m always disappointed when a guy leaves without his degree,” Freeman added.

That statement referring to Freeman’s wide receiving room. Not only did Freeman release wide outs coach Chansi Stuckey, but following the dismissal, Tobias Merriweather, Rico Flores Jr and Chris Tyree all entered the portal. Possibly causing a void in offensive production.

“I really look at as a great opportunity for the core nucleus of our team as we continue to move forward into next year to one improve, but two, showcase our ability in the Sun Bowl was a great opponent,” Freeman added.

If you’re Oregon State prepping to face Notre Dame, you want to know if the draft eligible players like Sam Hartman and Audric Estime will play on December 29th in the sun bowl.

“I know and we know who's playing and who's going to opt out. We're moving forward with the guys that we have but I want to make sure we let those guys that are not going to play, make their announcements in the next few days and I want to give them the opportunity to do that,” Freeman mentioned.