Stanford defeats Oregon State, 27-24

Chance Nolan and the Beavers put together a solid performance, but it wasn’t enough to bring home the victory Saturday night in Reser Stadium. Here’s how Stanford escaped with a win:

FIRST HALF

Chance Nolan looked much improved after another week of practice. The Beavers opened the game with a beautiful 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Jermar Jefferson moved the chains, but the drive was capped off with a nice 18-yard strike from Nolan to Tyjon Lindsey. The Beavers were missing top receiving options in Trevon Bradford & Champ Flemings. But it was no problem for the offense as newly eligible receiver Tre’Shaun Harrison had a big game (5 catches, 91 yards) and Tyjon Lindsey had his best game of the season. Stanford quickly answered with a touchdown and missed PAT, 7-6 Beavers. Oregon State’s next touchdown was set up by a gorgeous 61-yard throw/catch by Harrison. Later Jet Toner (Stanford kicker) hit a long field goal and Oregon State took a 14-9 lead into the break.

SECOND HALF

Both teams scored touchdowns on their opening possessions of the 2nd half. The Beavers touchdown came on a gorgeous pass for Lindsey’s 2nd touchdown of the game. Things went south for the Beavers after taking a 21-16 lead. The defense played well for the most part, but they couldn’t pull off the big play that the team desperately needed. Unrecovered strip sacks, dropped interceptions etc etc. It was very frustrating because it felt like the Beavers were outplaying Stanford. Late in the game with the Beavers down 24-21 Oregon State drove to the Cardinal 5-yard line. They couldn’t convert the 3rd down and decided to go for it on 4th-and-2. Instead they were hit with a delay of game penalty and kicked the field goal to tie it up. On the next Stanford possession a 30-yard throw to Humphreys was a back breaker. I mean just look at this crazy lucky catch.

That catch set Stanford up for a field goal to take the lead, 27-24. The Beavers still had one last drive in them though. Chance Nolan and the offense was moving the ball, but a Nolan fumble at the Stanford 16 (his knee was ALMOST down first) shut down Oregon State hopes for a win.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

• The Beavers really missed Trevon Bradford, Champ Flemings & Jesiah Irish tonight; but boy is it nice to see Tre’Shaun Harrison out there. He’s going to be a dynamic option for this offense.
• Prayers up for Avery Roberts and Jermar Jefferson. Roberts forearm seemed more serious than Jefferson’s lingering ankle injury.
• Chance Nolan is really good when he’s on.
• Jack Colletto is a wildcat QB pro. He was a clutch 4-for-4 on picking up the first down when called upon.
• The Beavers out gained Stanford in yards (458 vs. 408), but penalties were a killer for Oregon State.
• This was a rough loss. The ball didn’t bounce their way (literally). If Oregon State could have recovered any of those fumbles or grabbed an interception it could have changed the outcome. Also that tipped catch to set up Stanford for the game-winning field goal was insane.
• Tomorrow morning the Pac-12 is going to announce the match-ups for ‘week 7’ in the Pac-12. The Beavers record of 2-4 is disappointing considering how close all of those losses were, but Oregon State and UCLA are the only Pac-12 schools to play six games so far. That’s why I think the Pac-12 will pair Oregon State and UCLA up next week.