Washington State at No. 18 Virginia
After forcing a three-and-out of the Cavaliers to start the game, Washington State took a 7-0 lead on their first possession with a 32 yard TD pass from Senior QB Zevi Eckhaus to Senior WR Joshua Meredith. After that they never trailed in the game until they did. For the second week in a row the Cougars almost upset a Top-20 ranked team. Of the two losses this one had to hurt the most as they had the upset in hand against No. 18 Virginia and were leading 20-17 up until the last three minutes of the game when the Cavaliers tied it with a field goal. After making the field goal and kicking-off to the Cougars, Senior WR Leyton Smithson–playing on Special Teams–would mistakenly fair catch the ball at Washington State two yard line instead of letting it roll into the end zone for a touchback. With less than three minutes left in the game and after an incompletion on their first play the Cougars would commit a false start penalty moving the ball back half-the-distance to the 1 yard line. Sitting 3rd and 11 after another incompletion, QB Zevi Eckhaus would hand the ball off to Sophomore RB Kirby Vorhees who would get stopped in the end zone by Junior DL Hunter Osborne for a two point safety and a 22-20 lead. Washington State would kick the ball off to Virginia who simply ran the clock out for the win.
For the Cougars, Senior QB Zevi Eckhaus completed 18-of-27 for 183 yards, 1 TD to Senior WR Joshua Meredith and 2 interceptions while also rushing 10 times for 33 yards and a rushing TD. On the ground Washington State collectively ran the ball 35 times for 143 yards and just the one TD by Eckhaus. For Virginia, Senior QB Chandler Morris was 15-of-25 for 179 yards, no TD’s and no picks. On the ground, the Cavaliers ran the ball 32 times for 122 yards and 2 rushing TD’s—one each by Senior RB Harrison Waylee and the other by WR Cam Ross. Washington State led in first downs, 18-13; total yards of offense, 326-to-301; had possession of the ball almost nine minutes longer but were only able to convert their 3rd downs 25% of the time and had two turnovers to none for the Cavaliers. Washington State will head back to the Palouse to take on Toledo. With a 3-4 record and five unranked teams left on their schedule the Cougars are very capable of becoming bowl eligible.
Lafayette at Oregon State
Hey, Oregon State finally got their first win, albeit against a non-major FCS school that plays in the Patriot League—a conference I ignorantly had never heard of until writing this recap. That aside, Senior RB Anthony Hankerson seems on his way to back-to-back 1,000+ yard rushing seasons picking up 204 yards on 25 carries and 4 TD’s in this one. The game started out slow with just a field goal each in the 1st Qtr. Oregon State would go ahead halfway through the second quarter after gaining great field position on a short punt by Virginia and a 27 yard return by Senior WR Trent Walker down to the Lafayette 18 yard line. Five consecutive runs later Hankerson would pick up his first TD of the day to put the Beavers up 10-3. But the Leopards would match them 10 plays later with a 15 yard TD pass from Senior QB Dean Denobile to Freshman WR Matthew Scerbo to tie the game up at 10 each. After holding Oregon State to a three-and-out Lafayette’s Junior Place Kicker Jack Simonetta would put them out in front 13-10 going into the half.
But that three points were the last points that Lafayette would score in this one as the Oregon State defense pitched a shutout in the second half while the offense would explode with back-to-back-to-back TD’s in the 3rd Qtr to go up 31-13 and two more trips to the end zone in the 4th Qtr including a 65 yard run to the house on the first play from scrimmage—Hankerson’s fourth of the day to give us a 45-13 final. Junior QB Maalik Murphy and Sophomore Gabarri Johnson shared quarterbacking duties for the Beavers with Murphy starting the first half and Johnson taking over in the third quarter. Collectively they connected on 17-of-23 for 152 yards, 1 TD to Senior Tight End Gabe Melbourne, and 1 interception—both by Murphy while Johnson also rushed 6 times for 82 yards and 1 TD. On the ground Oregon State rushed 42 times for 365 yards and 5 TD’s. For Lafayette, Senior QB Dean Denobile connected on less than 50% of his 40 passing attempts for 176 yards, 1 TD to Freshman WR Matthew Scerbo, and 1 interception. On the ground the Leopards rushed 37 times for 80 yards but never made it into the end zone. Oregon State will take this coming weekend off before hosting the other lone survivor of the PAC-12—Washington State.