BEAVERS WIN! 41-38

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Have yourself a night Mr. Jefferson! A new rivalry game record (for either team) as he ran for 226 yards (and 2 touchdowns). What a wild night and absolute crazy ending. The ultimate result was a Chance Nolan quarterback sneak (after a Gebbia injury) with 33 seconds left for the game winning touchdown. There was a bunch of fog, questionable referee calls and of course plenty of offense. Here’s how Oregon State got their first rivalry win since 2016.

FIRST HALF

Oregon got the ball to start the game and quickly took a 7-0 lead thanks to some bad tackling. Jermar Jefferson decided to repeat his first carry performance from last week with an 82-yard touchdown run to tie the ball game up.

The Ducks would not go away though scoring touchdowns on 3 of their first 4 possessions to take a 21-10 lead in the 2nd quarter. Major kudos to Oregon State though, they were down double-digits at multiple points this game (31-19 in the 3rd) and they kept fighting. This team has a major competitive spirit. Oregon took a 24-13 lead into the halftime break.

SECOND HALF

After trading three-and-outs, SIX touchdowns were scored on the next seven possessions! Thankfully Tyler Shough threw his 2nd interception of the game and Jefferson punched in a 2-yard touchdown run to give the Beavers their first lead of the game 34-31. Oregon answered with an impressive 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to retake the lead 38-34, ensuring a dramatic finish. Oregon State drove deep into Oregon territory, but hopes for a Beaver victory seemed dashed after an incomplete pass on 4th-and-7. The Oregon State defense came up huge though forcing a quick 3-and-out and the Beavers had new life! A handful of nice quick strikes from Gebbia got the Beavers into first-and-goal territory and then all hell broke loose. On 2nd-and-goal Gebbia appeared to score a touchdown, but the refs called him short and Beaver fans everywhere had to re-live the terrible spot against Washington costing them the game. On 3rd-and-goal another Gebbia QB sneak was just barely short, but no one (including the refs) knew which team was calling a timeout or who was reviewing the play. To add to the chaos Tristian Gebbia was clearly injured and in a lot of pain. Finally things got sorted out and the Beavers had to utilize backup QB, Chance Nolan, for the first time this season. I’m not sure you could script a more dramatic time to come into the game! You could see Chance working with Nathan Eldridge during the timeout to practice the Center/QB exchange. Finally on 4-and-goal with the game on the line Chance Nolan was able to punch it in for the game-winning touchdown and Beaver victory.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

• Wow is Jermar Jefferson good. I don’t think he’s coming back to Corvallis after this season and I hope he makes a gazillion dollars in the NFL because he deserves it. Jefferson carved up the Oregon defense and they really had to focus all their attention on him in the 2nd half.
• I’m really bummed for Tristian Gebbia and am praying his injury isn’t serious. He was definitely in the end zone on 2nd-and-goal and shouldn’t have had to run the ball on the next play when he was injured. Gebbia played his best game as a Beaver tonight.
• I thought the tight ends would play a bigger role in this game, but it was all about Kolby Taylor and Trevon Bradford. Hats off to the two wide receivers. They helped keep the offense balanced and kept Oregon from completely stacking the box against Jefferson.
• That fog was wild. It kind of got forgotten because it cleared up in the 4th quarter, but for most of the game the camera man/announcers had little clue as to what was happening on certain plays.
• The Beavers only punted twice. Some fans will argue that Jonathan Smith is too risky on 4th downs, but I absolutely LOVE IT. Never punt again!
• It wasn’t a great performance by the defense (particularly in the first half), but boy did they deliver when they needed too. Avery Roberts had 12 tackles, Andrzej Hughes-Murray recorded 3.5 TFL, Jaydon Grant and Nahson Wright had clutch interceptions. Kitan Oladapo and Omar Speights each notched 9 tackles. The defense isn’t perfect, but they are figuring it out and making great adjustments at halftime.
• Everett Hayes has been great this season (yes, I know he missed that extra point when Oregon was offsides). But he drilled a 48-yarder in heavy fog. That’s big time.
• The Beavers have just two games remaining on the schedule. Utah and Stanford. Both games seem very winnable, it’s a great year when Oregon State is in every single football game. Go Beavs!