Beavers Blasted 52-7 by Utah

Oregon State’s offense and defense both looked utterly unprepared to compete against a team of Utah’s caliber, as both sides of the ball failed to contend for nearly the entire game. Utah’s offense was able to march down the field with impunity, while their defense constantly harassed Jake Luton and shut down the running game. The Beavers were down 35-0 at the half, and shambled to a 52-7 loss, dropping them to 2-4 overall, and 1-2 in the Pac-12.

Things started rough for Oregon State. The first Beaver drive went three and out, and then Utah got into OSU territory with a few big plays. A targeting penalty got Utah Center Orlando Umana removed from the game, but it didn’t seem to slow down the Utes. A few plays later Utah Quarterback Tyler Huntley connected with Brant Kuithe for a 21 yard touchdown, giving Utah a 7-0 lead.

Jake Luton and Hodgins began working that connection to get the offense some momentum, but a pair of penalties cost the Beavers big and once again the drive ended in a punt. Once Utah had the ball, running back Zach Moss pulled off a 91 yard run to immediately give the Utes another TD. 14-0.

Oregon State’s next possession went nowhere, and with the ball back Utah once again capitalized on big plays for a score. This time, a 54 yard pass from Huntley to Demari Simpkins got the Utes to the OSU 35, and then a 30 yard pass to Samson Nacua got the TD. 21-0 Utes.

On their next possession, the Beavers finally got into Oregon State territory thanks to some big throws from Luton. The drive stalled out at the Utah 19, and Jordan Choukair came on to attempt the Field Goal. It was another miss from Choukair.

The defense finally forced a stop on the next drive, and the offense finally found some momentum. On 4th and 1 on the OSU 41, the Beavers decided to go for it, and BJ Baylor got the 1st down. The Beavers went for it again on 4th and 1 a few plays later, and a Luton pass to Artavis Pierce got them to the Utah 31. And then, on 2nd and 11, Jake Luton threw his first interception of the season. Devin Lloyd stepped in front of the ball and ran it 70 yards the other way for a Utah touchdown. 28-0 Utah.

The Beavers kept on going for it on 4th and 1 on their next possession, but this time it didn’t work out and Utah took over in Beavers territory. Just three plays later Zach Moss ran for his second TD of the day, although this one was only a 6 yarder. 35-0 Utes.

That was just about it for the first half. With under a minute to go, Oregon State had one more chance to put points on the board, and got down to the Utah 20. But with just 2 seconds left in the half, they elected to go for a field goal. With Choukair struggling, the team decided to send in back up Everett Hayes. He also missed.

Oregon State got the stop on the Utes first drive of the second half, but the offense went three and out. The Utes got the ball back and marched down the field effortlessly for another rushing touchdown. This time from Devin Brumfield. At this point, Utah began pulling starters. 42-0.

Then; a glitch in the Matrix. The Oregon State offense went three and out. The Utes got the ball back and marched down the field effortlessly for another rushing touchdown. This time from Devin Brumfield. 49-0.

After a couple more series resulted in nothing more than a Utah Field Goal, Oregon State decided to give Tristan Gebbia some game time. He completed one pass to Isaiah Hodgins, but two more of his his passes were swatted down by Utah linemen.

The Beavers managed to recover a fumble on Utah’s next possession, and Gebbia managed to get his first completions of the game. Gebbia then kept the momentum going, rushing for a first down, and then connecting with Calvin Tyler Jr. for a touchdown, and the Beavers first points of the day. There was less than a minute to go, but 52-7 feels better than 52-0.

Now that homecoming is ruined, the Beavers look forward to another team coming off a bye week. They’ll travel to Cal next week, on October 19th, take on the 4-2 (1-2 in conference) Golden Bears.