Oregon State at Washington State
Tough loss for the Beavers up in the Palouse against Washington State, but man-oh-man what an entertaining game to watch with the Cougars coming back from a 10-3 deficit at the half to score 28 points after the break to win it 31-24 to put an end to Oregon State’s short-lived undefeated conference record. Even though the Beavers couldn’t be stopped on the ground with Junior B.J. Baylor carrying the ball 18 times for 145 yards and Sophomore DeShaun Fenwick picking up 127 more and two of their three rushing TD’s, QB Chance Nolan struggled under pressure and although throwing for 158 yards couldn’t connect in the end zone—throwing up two interceptions instead, one leading to a TD and the lead for Washington State late in the 3rd Qtr.
Washington State Sophomore QB Jayden DeLaura averaged 12.5 yards per completion while connecting on 70% of his passes for 1 click short of 400 yards, 3 TD’s, and 1 pick that led to nothing. And although they collected slightly less than 100 yards on the ground it was enough for Senior RB Max Borghi to pick up a TD and for the Cougars to out pace the Beavers in total yards.
The 2nd half was a whirl-wind with the Cougars scording a TD each of their first four possessions, finally going ahead 31-24 on a 12 play, 75 yard drive with 5:25 left to play in the 4th Qtr. Oregon State came right back down the field after the Cougar TD but got stalled on the Washington State 28 yard line after two incomplete passes and a run for no gain. Sitting at 4th and 10 with 1:17 left to play, Nolan threw a pass that was ruled incomplete but got bailed out by a pass interference penalty that took the Beavers half the distance to the goal, down to the 14 yard line, and gave them a 1st down with 1:11 left to play.
It sure looked like the game was headed to overtime. But that’s when Cougar DE Ron Stone Jr. picked up the biggest defensive play of the game for Washington State. Sitting at the 14 yard line with just 1:11 left to play, Oregon State QB Chance Nolan was sacked by Stone back to the 22. In a game of momentum, it was huge for the Cougars who pushed Nolan back another yard on his next play. An incomplete pass later and Oregon State was sitting at 4th and 19 at the Washington State 23 yard line with only about a half-minute left to play. Nolan’s next pass was complete but the pass was exactly one yard short of the first down they needed turning hte ball back over on downs to the Cougars on their own 5 yard line with just 33 seconds left to play.
Even with the loss Oregon State is still on top of the PAC-12 North but will need to win their upcoming games against Cal and Stanford and ultimately their end of the season rivalry game on the road against the Oregon Ducks to represent the North In the PAC-12 Conference Championship game on December 3rd in the newly built Las Vegas Allegiant Stadium. This coming Saturday they’ll be back at home to host Utah with the Cougars stay home to take on Stanford.