Arizona runs over Oregon State, 35-14

The Beavers could not stop Arizona’s rushing attack this afternoon in Reser Stadium. The Wildcats racked up 594 yards of offense and 442 rush yards on the day. JJ Taylor ran for 284 yards himself and added 2 touchdowns.

The Beavers stayed within striking distance for most of the games thanks to a couple of missed Arizona field goals and other miscues. Despite thoroughly getting outplayed in the first half, Oregon State found themselves down by just one score at the half (14-7).

In the second half Arizona really starting working their running run game. The Beavers forced a fourth down, but a fake field goal run moved the chains and kept the drive alive which lead to another Arizona touchdown. The Beavers struggling to stop the running game wasn’t a huge surprise, but their offensive struggles were something Beaver fans haven’t seen this season.

Conor Blount and the rest of the offense struggled to move the chains and it took them until midway through the 4th quarter to surpass 200 yards of total offense. A 17-play drive resulted in a punt thanks to consecutive holding penalties and some odd play calling.

The Beavers managed just 238 yards of offense total despite holding a slight time of possession advantage over Arizona. A couple of nice Touchdowns from Trevon Bradford and Timmy Hernandez kept the Beavers from being shut out. Seriously, Timmy Hernandez’s catch and run touchdown was awesome.

TAKEAWAYS

Conor Blount really struggled today and was replaced by Jack Colletto late in the 4th. Blount was sacked multiple times and was knocked down countless other times. The offense probably would have benefitted from Luton’s strong arm especially as they got down by double-digits.

Jalen Moore was a tackling machine with 14 total tackles. The Beavers true freshman made some significant contributions; like Matthew Tago’s forced a fumble near the end of the game. Jermar Jefferson was effective with the ball, but the coaching staff was obviously trying to limit his touches especially as the game got out of hand.

The most obvious takeaway is that the Beavers defense has to improve if they are going to be competitive in Pac-12 play. Arizona realized as the game went on that they had a significant advantage every time they handed the ball off. Evidenced by their 51 rush attempts vs. 17 pass attempts. Oregon State will try to regroup as they head to Tempe to take on Arizona State next weekend.