Game 11 Snap Counts: Razor Thin Margins Lead to a Painful Loss

If all you knew was that the Oregon State offense dominated time of possession by a near 15-minute margin and held Michael Penix Jr. to under 200 passing yards, you would be wondering how low a number would be next to the Beavers name in the next College Football Playoff rankings.

...but for the second time this year, the Beavers losing margin can be referenced back to a single play. Earlier this year it was a fake field goal with 3 seconds left in the half, this week it was a botched snap leading to a safety in the first quarter. Clearly there were plenty of other opportunities (fumbling the ball and throwing an interception inside the OSU 30 and settling for a field goal from the UW 17 in the 2nd half come to mind), but in a game where the margins were going to be thin, it was OSU that blinked more.

Offense

Oregon State ran up a substantial advantage in time of possession, including a 9:56 touchdown drive to bring the game within five points in the third quarter. It was one of three OSU’s drives in the 2nd half went for 10 plays or more. That contributed to the Beavers a season high 78 offensive snaps all while moving at the deliberate pace they look to establish.

Quarterback: DJ Uiagalelei (75), Adian Chiles (3)

DJU had the biggest Colleto game he has had this year. His 56 yards rushing makes up a quarter of his season total. He averaged 8 yards per carry and was highlighted by a 26-yard rumble on 4th and 1 with the game on the line.

The passing game was a different story. Uiagalelei struggled to hit open receivers in the downpour in the first half. His first interception amounted to a glorified punt, but the second would have been a backbreaker if it wasn't for a missed field goal by UW.

Running Back: Damien Martinez (60), Deshaun Fenwick (18), Isaiah Newell (4), Isaac Hodgins (2)

It was clear that the coaching staff had saved their Damien Martinez bullets for this game. His 26 carries were a career high, and Fenwick saw a correspondingly season low 3 carries. It was boom or bust for most of the night, 5 of Martinez’ carries went for 10 or more yards, while 13 were 3 yards or less (which to be fair includes his first touchdown).

Wide Receiver: Anthony Gould (65), Silas Bolden (50), Jesiah Irish (47), Rweha Munyagi Jr. (29), Jeremiah Noga (11), Jimmy Vaslin III (7), Trent Walker (5)

The Beavers broke out a throwback Rogers Brothers offense on the first drive, mixing in fly sweeps and WR screens that forced the UW defense to respect the edges and opened up some wide lanes for Martinez. Those plays fell off in favor of downfield throws as the game went on, which when combined with those short runs made the OSU offense too inconsistent to pull out the win. Those lateral plays are something to keep in mind when game planning for next weekend.

Tight End: Jack Velling (58), Jermaine Terry II (33), Riley Sharp (1)

For the first time since week 4 against Utah Velling was a non-factor in the passing game. The sophomore had one catch for a single yard on 3 targets. He was the only tight end to see a target, although Terry was a contributor to a solid run game (23 of his 33 snaps came on run plays).

Offensive Line: Tanner Miller (78), Joshua Gray (78), Taliese Fuaga (78), Jake Levengood (78), Heneli Bloomfield (63), Flavio Gonzalez (15)

Bloomfield’s injury came at a crucial point of the game. He went down as the Beavers got a 1st and 10 inside the red zone down by five. With primary backup lineman Grant Stark out for this game, Flavio Gonzalez got his first action of the season with the starting unit and was beaten twice on his first three plays in the game. Oregon State settled for a field goal to bring them within two and would not get another opportunity as good as that for the rest of the game.

To rub salt in the wound, it came out Monday that Bloomfield will miss the remainder of the season. It’s a tough loss for one of the stalwarts of arguable the best offensive line in the country.

Defense

The corollary to the Beavers time of possession domination was a season-low 57 snaps for the defense. Even with some injuries in the secondary, OSU used a total of 16 players on defense throughout the game, which is tied with the Arizona game for the fewest players to see the field on the defensive side of the ball. Despite those injuries, the secondary had their game of the season and held a Heisman candidate to a 46% completion percentage and just 162 yards.

Defensive Line: Joe Golden (50), James Rawls (45), Isaac Hodgins (18)

It was a quiet night statistically from the defensive line. Washington had some success running the ball, averaging 4.4 yards per carry, and Golden was the only one of the interior linemen to pick up a pressure on Penix. Golden led the team in pressures with 2 and was the only player to have more than one.

Edge Rusher: Sione Lolohea (39), John McCartan (39), Andrew Chatfield Jr. (26), Cory Stover (18)

In a continuation of the theme the Beaver pass rush had its quietest night of the season. Collectively OSU had 5 pressures, a season low and a dramatic drop-off from the last two games when Oregon State racked up a total of 61. Washington’s offensive line was in top form, and it was a testament to the defensive backfield and offensive ball control that the score was as close as it was.

Linebacker: Easton Mascarenas-Arnold (57), Calvin Hart Jr. (57)

For the second consecutive game the Beavers tackled well. The contrast was stark with UW, who missed 20 tackles to the Beavers 9. Mascarenas led the team with 5 stops, and only allowed one catch on a single target for 3 yards.

Cornerback: Ryan Cooper Jr. (57), Jermod McCoy (54), Jaden Robinson (37), Andre Jordan Jr. (16)

McCoy was matched up one-on-one with likely All-American Rome Odunze for much of the game. Penix and the UW play callers responded as you would expect, throwing it the freshman’s way 8 times. McCoy responded by only allowing 2 catches for 29 yards, which was crucial with Jaden Robinson out of the game for a solid stretch. Cooper Jr. also saw 8 targets and only allowed 2 catches, one being a long touchdown to Odunze which seemed to involve a push off that sent Cooper to the ground.

Safety: Kitan Oladapo (57), Akili Arnold (30), Jack Kane (20)

Oladapo’s forced fumble in the 2nd quarter was one of the most impressive individual efforts we have seen this season. It was his first forced fumble of the year, and a textbook play. Frustratingly it was basically nullified by Gould’s fumble two plays later and the sequence ended with a missed Washington field goal.

In additional concerning injury news, Arnold was seen wearing a boot on the sidelines, which would call into question his availability in the Civil War next week. Jack Kane has seen regular action since the UCLA game and would likely see those snaps increase if Arnold is indeed out.