Oregon State defeats Washington State, 24-10

The Beavers took care of business Saturday night in Reser Stadium snapping an 8-game losing streak to our good friends Washington State. Oregon State set the tone early with an excellent Silas Bolden kick return leading to a touchdown on the first drive. The Beaver defense kept the pressure on Washington State all night guiding OSU to their 5th victory of the season.

Here’s how it all went down:

FIRST HALF

We mentioned the first drive which was of course highlighted by a Jack Colletto touchdown run. The coaching staff must have heard the criticism of poor goal line execution and tonight said we are running Colletto inside the 5-yard line no matter what (very good decision in my opinion).

A Ben Gulbranson interception on the next OSU possession didn’t hurt the Beavs as their defense forced consecutive WSU 3-and-outs to start the game. Atticus Sappington hit a 26-yard field goal after a long Oregon State drive stalled inside the ten yard line. Finding themselves down double-digits early the Cougars answered with a long drive of their own, but had to settle for a field goal after getting themselves in a 3rd-and-22 situation. The next seven possession went (punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, downs/halftime, punt). As the Beaver offense struggled to put together effective drives Washington State could have seized control of the game; but this Oregon State defense was not allowing it tonight.

SECOND HALF

On the Beavs first possession after halftime they put together an awesome 11-play, 74-yard touchdown drive. It was capped off by an insane Anthony Gould touchdown catch (that was probably intended for Tre’Shaun Harrison). I mean look at the photo of this TD catch, it’s bonkers. I’m still not sure how he snatched this and got a foot in.

Washington State was determined not to roll over though answering with their first (and last) touchdown drive of the night. Slot receiver Robert Ferrel got wide open a few times on the drive for big chunk plays. Ferrel was really the only Cougar that caused Oregon State problems tonight, it’ll be interesting to see if more teams target their slot receivers going forward. Anyways WSU cut it to a one possession ball game, 17-10. Oregon State quickly answered with another Jack Colletto TD (set up by a 50-yard Damien Martinez run). Martinez looked like the lead RB back tonight and I think all of Beaver Nation loved to see it. The Beavs held on the rest of the fourth quarter after that final score. Late in the game Sappington missed a field goal in a situation I thought Jonathan Smith would have opted to try and get the first down instead. Cam Ward threw for 345 yards, but it took him 50+ attempts and the OSU defense did not make it comfortable for him as he was scrambling for his life at times.

The Pros:

• Winning is the best. Chance to get bowl-eligible next week!
• 200+ rushing yards is a huge win for the Beavs. I think I enjoyed holding WSU to just 23 rushing yards even more though. Oregon State won the battle at the line of scrimmage tonight.
• Tyjon Lindsey had just 2 catches tonight, but they were both HUGE grabs on 3rd down that kept really important drives alive.
• Jack Veiling and Jake Overman both being involved in the passing game was big for the offense.
• Defense was really impressive tonight. Jaydon Grant, Easton Mascarenas, Kitan Oladapo and Rejzohn Wright all jumped off the screen with impressive plays.
• Using Jack Colletto is always a plus. Six carries and a reception. Love it!

The Cons:

• Four 3-and-outs is just too much. Ben Gulbranson has been serviceable these past two games, but they’ve got to find a way to generate a bit more offense if they want to beat tough teams like Washington, ASU and Oregon in the 2nd half of this season.
• There were a few missed sacks and tackles on defense and Robert Ferrel was left wide open at times; but can’t nitpick the defense too much tonight. Phenomenal defensive effort overall.
• It was a great win, but it seemed like Oregon State could have put the pedal to the metal in the 2nd or 4th quarter to turn this game into a blowout and get revenge for 8-straight losses. Some were calling for Tristan Gebbia to get a shot at quarterback. I expect Gulbranson to start and play the whole game against Colorado leading up to the ‘bye’ week. But it’ll be interesting to see what the coaching staff decides to do for the final four games of the season.