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Oregon State played a solid 2 and a half quarters before the wheels fell off. They trailed by just a field goal with 10:41 left in the third quarter, but then surrendered 28 straight points. The Beavs turned the ball over way too much in the second half, but I don't think it mattered much. The Beaver defense never had an answer for the Duck run game, and only stopped them when the Ducks misfired on passes.
Oregon did to the Beavers what they'd done to countless opponents in the past, pulling away in the second half, and taking advantage of mistakes. The Beavs turned the ball over 6(!!!) times, all in the second half. Sean Mannion threw 4 INT's, and the other two turnovers were on special teams disasters. The Beavs were surprised by a squib kick, which they fumbled and the Ducks fell on, and Markus Wheaton tried to make a diving catch on a punt, which didn't go well, and was also fallen on by the Ducks.
The Ducks were 5-6 on 4th down, their only failure coming in garbage time, and had two rushers gain over 100 yards, in Kenjon Barner and De'Anthony Thomas, and Marcus Mariota had 85 yards on the ground. The Beavers, plain and simple, could not stop the Ducks offense.
Oregon State looked pretty good in the first half, and were a missed tackle by Scott Crichton from stopping the Ducks on fourth down from ending a drive that ended in a touchdown. They were a Markus Wheaton drop from keeping a promising drive alive. If Terron Ward stayed outside on 3rd and inches, maybe the Beavs score a touchdown instead of settling for a field goal at the end of the half.
Storm Woods had 70 yards on 16 carries, DJ Alexander had 14 tackles, and Michael Doctor had 9, including 3 for a loss. Beyond that and Markus Wheaton's 98 receiving yards, which are tainted by some drops and the muffed punt, nobody on the Beavers had a very good game.
Even though Oregon State couldn't stop the Ducks, they still had a chance to win, if they could limit their possessions. But after they fumbled the squib kick down by 10, it was over. The floodgates were open, and the Ducks took advantage.
The Beavs play Nicholls St. next Saturday.
Go Beavs!