Last year, the Beavers opened the season at home and lost to Sacramento State. This year, the Beavers knocked off Wisconsin in Reser Stadium 10-7. Bullet point time.
- D.J. Welch. What a game, what a player. Stopped Montee Ball many times, and chased O'Brien out of the pocket once.
- The referees, overall, did a great job on this game. There were 2 or 3 pass interference calls and non-calls that went against the Beavers, and obviously there was the controversial overturn on Wisconsin's onside kick. In my opinion, there wasn't indisputable video evidence that Tyrequek Zimmerman avoided touching the ball before it hit the Badger kicker. Oh well, that's football.
- The Beavers offense wasn't as balanced as head coach Mike Riley would like. Oregon State rushed for just 67 yards.
- Sean Mannion had quite a game. Not all his throws were perfect, many were far from it, but when he threw into traffic, his throws were perfect.
- The Beavers rush defense was shockingly good. I don't know if the Badger O-Lineman didn't care, or if they're just really overrated, but they just did not open up the holes for Montee Ball and James White to run through. Wisconsin rushed for just 35 yards.
The short, quick pass game worked very well for the Beavers. Rarely did Mannion throw the ball more than 15 yards through the air. Oregon State's 30 receptions went for 285 yards, a 9.5 yard average.
Brandin Cooks had a huge game. 7 receptions for 89 yards, including the 20 yard touchdown pass in the second half.
Trevor Romaine needs to just forget the 40 yard field goal that was wide right by about 40 yards.
Malcom Agnew ended up being the leading rusher for the Beavers. He had 47 yards on 11 attempts to Storm Woods' 36 on 9. I don't know if Woods lost his job, or if Riley was planning on spreading the touches around from the beginning. Either way, having two weapons out of the backfield would be a nice boost for the offense.
The Beavers pass defense was as advertised. They began to soften up towards the end of the game, but Jordan Poyer, Rashaad Reynolds, Feti "don't call me Unga" Taumoepeau company locked down the Badger receivers, and Ryan Murphy took advantage of a terrible Badger pass and got an INT. He could've had another, but it went through his hands.
The Oregon State line play wasn't spectacular, but it was obviously good enough to get the job done, and they made some big plays. The sack and forced fumble by Dylan Wynn (recovered by Scott Crichton) with Wisconsin on the 9 yard line comes to mind.
0 Oregon State turnovers. Only 1 sack allowed.
Great opener for the Beavers. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.
Go Beavs!
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