Cougars and Beavers Combine To Defeat Beavers
Washington State quarterback Cam Ward ran for 12 yards on the first play of the game, and connected with Kyle Williams for a 63 yard tocudown on the next play, and the Cougars didn't look back until the 4th quarter, when the Beavers rallied from 3 touchdowns down to get within 3 points.
But the game deciding on-side kick ended in a major scrum, and a Cougar recovery, and the first ever battle between the Beavers and Cougars when both were undefeated and ranked went Washington State's way 38-35.
Ward completed a 90 yard drive with a 1 yard touchdown run before the 1st quarter was half over, and completed 3 touchdown throws to Josh Kelly over the middle quarters.
Which more than offset 2 Deshaun Fenwick touchdown carries, above and below.
The defining sequence of the game, and the difference determining one, came just before half time, when on 4th and long with just over 2 minutes to go, Oregon State Coach Jonathan Smith declined to pin Washington State deep, and get to the locker room down only 21-14. Instead, the Cougars' Jaden Hicks sacked Beavers QB DJ Uiagalelei, and Ward instantly had about a 40 yard shorter field to navigate.
Which he did, connecting with Kelly for a touchdown just 10 seconds before the break, above. This disastrous stategic blunder has cost Oregon State the game in Pullman before, and it would again.
Leading 35-14 in the 4th quarter, Washington State needed only a Dean Janikowski field goal that caromed off the left upright, but went thru, at the 9:12 mark to build enough of a lead to hold off the Oregon State rally.
Uiagalelei ran for a 26 yard touchdown, above, to start the quarter, and Fenwick's 3rd touchdown run of the night, with still over 6 minutes to go pulled the Beavers within 38-28.
But instead of Oregon State's last scoring drive, completed with only 1:12 left, that should have been at a minimum to tie the game, likely forcing overtime, but ended in Uiagalelei's 5 yard touchdown throw to Jack Veiling still left the Beavers needing the unlikely recovery of the onside kick, instead of in the lead for the first time in the game at the most important minute of the game.
Ward was brilliant, completing 28 of 34 passes for 404 yards, 293 in the first half, and the 4 touchdowns, as well as running for 1 score.
Uiagalelei was not until the 4th quarter rally, completing only 17 of 34 passes, for only 198 yards, and the 1 touchdown. Much of that was due to Oregon State's game long inability to deal with Washington State's pass rush. Uiagalelei was only sacked twice, but one was the disastrous 4th down just before halftime, and the other came only 2 seconds into a play. But the Cougars managed 12 other hurries, and got a hand on Uiagalelei's release of a pass that easily turned into his only interception of the game, by Sam Lockett III at the Washington State 13 to stop Oregon State's first drive of the 2nd quarter.
The Cougars receivers were brilliant, with Williams catching 7 for a game high 174 yards, including the game beginning sprint past any and all Beaver defenders by more than 10 yards. Kelly, above, had a game high 8 catches, for 159 yards and 3 touchdowns, including a one handed highlight grab.
The Beavers only got the ball to Silas Bolden, above, 5 times, for just 76 yards. One of the many mysteries of the game was why Anthony Gould only touched the ball 4 times.
The one bright area for the Beavers was their running game, where the offensive line that struggled with pass protection opened openings that facilitated Fenwick picking up 101 yards, and the 3 TDs, on 11 carries, Damien Martinez getting another 81 yards on 17 rushes, and Uiagalelei picking up 74 more, before subtracting 13 yards on the 2 sacks.
But the OSU secondary, mainly playing zone, but also beat in man coverage because of the lack of safety help on many routes, was out run and overmatched all night, whetner because the lack of closing speed meant yards, sometines lots of them (Kelly, above), after catch on underneath routes, or big plays when WSU took the top of the OSU secondary that was constantly chasing.
Oregon State (3-1, 0-1) will have a short turnaround to correct numerous deficiencies that were exposed, having a Friday game at Reser against Utah (4-0, 1-0), 14-7 winners over UCLA in a game that immediately preceeded the Beavers' 5th consecutive loss in Pullman.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com
(Photos by Andy Wooldridge)