Final Score: Oregon State 26, UCLA 19
Quizz got his 100 yards on the ground. James got his 100 yards in the air. The Beaver defensive front pressured UCLA's quarterbacks, and got some sacks.
The Beavers lead 16-0 at halftime, but still needed a touchdown with under a minute left in the game to take the lead for good. But even then, the Beaver defense needed to stop the suddenly-streaky UCLA offense, who got the ball back with :39 seconds left, trailing by seven.
For whatever reason, UCLA is just a hard team for Mike Riley and Oregon State to beat. How did all this happen?
"So many things change ballgames," Mike Riley said after the game. " Penalties were one of the main things that did that today."
The Beavers were penalized ten times for 78 yards. By comparison, UCLA received two penalties for a measly 11 yards.
"They happen in the blink of an eye, but they really change a game," said Riley.
Jacquizz Rodgers rushed for 114 yards on 24 yards in the game, his third straight 100-yard game. Quizz also threw the first pass of his Oregon State career, a 14-yard spiral to tight end Brady Camp out of offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf's Wildcat formation.
"(Camp} was wide open so it was an easy throw for me," Quizz said after the game. It was Camp's second receiving touchdown of the season.
Quarterback Sean Canfield was 25 of 34 for 305 yards in the game with no touchdowns or interceptions. Of Jacquizz's touchdown pass, Canfield said, "I went to him on the bench and asked him if he was trying to take my job.The first time we ran that he threw a terrible ball and that was months ago but every week he has gotten better at it and it paid off for him."
Justin Kahut was four-of five on field goal attempts. The Beavers had a difficult time converting in opponent territory, as they did last week at USC.
James Rodgers came through with 106 rushing yards and 32 more on the ground. His most important yards of the game came on a 17-yard touchdown run with under a minute remaining in the game, with the score tied and the Beavers looking to escape with a win. It looked as if the Beavers would look to whittle down the clock and attempt a game-winning field goal with Justin Kahut, but the coaching staff thought otherwise. Mike Riley's perspective:
"It was perfect timing because at that time, they were anticipating that we would run the ball toward the middle of the field and set it up for the best position for Justin [Kahut] to try that field goal and their outside linebacker was blitzing right in on Quizz [Rodgers] as James [Rodgers] was running in for a touchdown. It was a great [play] call and terrific timing for what they thought we were going to do and what we needed to do."
The Beavers now move to 5-3 on the season, and will play at California next week.
--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)