Well you have to know that Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham was grinning from ear-to-late Saturday night as it will be the Utah Utes and not the Oregon Ducks that have earned that 2nd spot in the PAC-12 Championship game. On a night in which Oregon had more 1st downs, 26-19; way more passing yards, 327 to just 60; and were ahead 34-17 to start the 4th Qtr the loss to Oregon State in Corvallis was incredibly shocking to those watching. In the end they just couldn’t combat the belief that Oregon State Head Coach Jonathan Smith has made a bedrock of the culture he has developed since arriving five years ago after a dismal 1-11 season and a 69-10 loss to the Ducks in what was then called the Civil War. As his Senior Captain Brandon Kipper said after the 38-34 come from behind win; “This culture has really changed . . . There is belief that, no matter what the score is, keep executing, keep playing, never stop and make it hard on the other team and we can win.” Smith had this to say about it; “Didn’t play our best for a long period of time. But knowing this game was a long, long game, they found a way at the end.”
Austin White describes what happened in that 4th quarter for the Portland Tribune; “The entire Beavers squad came together to make the comeback win happen. [Senior LB] Kyrei Fisher-Morris knocked down two Bo Nix passes, [Freshman RB] Isaiah Newell had two runs that both went for TDs, and even [Junior PK] Everett Hayes had a kickoff that pinned Oregon at its own 10-yard line [and] the Beavers gnawed away at the Ducks’ beanstalk until it timbered midway through the fourth quarter after OSU scored 21 unanswered points in a span of just over three minutes to go up 38-34 and hold on for the win.” Nick Daschel wrote for the Oregonian Oregon/Live that “The Beavers rally from a 21-point second-half deficit, is thought to be the greatest in the 126-game history of the series.” As Oregon’s 1st Year Head Coach Dan Lanning said after the game; “Coach Smith was very well prepared for this game. We were prepared for [just] half or three quarters of the game as it turned out.” Finishing with a record of 9-3 and ranked in the Top 25, Oregon State has to be feeling really great about the turn-around in Corvallis.
It’s amazing that Oregon State QB Ben Gulbranson could have such an off-night in a winning effort. After taking over for the team’s starter Chance Nolan, who was injured earlier in the season in their game against Utah, Gulbranson had been connecting on 65% of his passes and averaging over 150 yards per game along with 1.5 TD’s and no interceptions in the four games prior to Saturday. On Saturday he was a dismal 6-of-13 for a mere 60 yards, no TD’s and 2 interceptions—one on the first play of the Beaver’s first possession after the half and trailing just 14-10 at the time. 1st and 10 at their own 27 yard line after the Oregon Punt, Gulbranson’s pass was intercepted by Jeffrey Bassa and returned to the Oregon State 2 yard line where the Duck’s Jordan James ran it in one play later to go up 21-10. His rushing yardage was even more dismal, 4 attempts for just 7 yards. But his point-per-yard rushing average [new stat I just made up] was great as he scored twice to add to what was an outstanding ground game by the Beavers. Freshman RB Damien Martinez led the way in attempts and yards while rushing 15 times for 103 yards and Sophomore RB Jam Griffin, Junior DeShaun Fenwick, and Freshman Isaiah Newell combined for another 18 attempts, 149 yards, a TD by Fenwick and two more by the Freshman Newell. On the night Oregon State rushed 43 times for 268 yards and five TD’s. Look out for that backfield of Martinez and Newell next year.
For the Ducks, Bo Nix connected on 65% of his passes for 327 yards, 2 TD’s and no interceptions. But where he was limited, due to injury, was the running game which as far as points on the board go he has been a huge part of–sometimes the only part for Oregon. Going all the way back to Week 3 against BYU, Nix scored all of their 4 rushing TD’s, against Stanford he scored two of the four, against Arizona 3-of-7, against Cal all three, and against Colorado 2-of-the-4. He’s a phenom but Oregon really should have been using him less in their running game instead of giving him free rein to call the plays himself. How did he get injured? While no where near the goal line where you could justify a QB sneak or on a play where unique circumstances emerged and gaping holes opened up making sense for him to run, it was a running play where you normally hand the ball off to your running back, but instead he called a play where he just ran it himself—not even using misdirection or faking a handoff. I put his injury on the head coach and offensive coordinator—it just shouldn’t have happened. It was a play in which him running the ball made no sense whatsoever and in the end it cost Oregon a trip to the PAC-12 Conference Championship and Bo Nix a possible Heisman Trophy. On the night the Duck’s rushed 42 times for 143 yards, well under the team’s average for the year, with Sophomore RB Noah Whittington accounting for more than half of those as well as one of two TD’s with the other picked up by Freshman RB Jordan James.
Both nationally ranked with combined records of 9-3 and wins against other ranked opponents they’ll definitely be headed to one of the 43 post season bowls. The Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl on Saturday, December 17th will feature teams from the Mountain West and PAC-12. A match-up between Oregon and Boise State is a possibility. After beating the Ducks the Beavers could be headed to the Sun Bowl which pits the PAC-12 against the ACC on Friday, December 30th to take on Louisville.