It’s hard enough to play on the road anyway, but Oregon State really dug themselves a hole early with two interceptions in their first three possessions, one a pick six. They did come back after the first interception and subsequent Utah TD—a 19 yard pass from Cameron Rising to Jaylen Dixon—to put seven of their own on the board on a seven play 79 yard drive and 29 yard TD run by Silas Bolden to tie the score at seven a piece. After they held Utah and forced a punt, Beaver QB Chance Nolan threw up his 2nd interception of the quarter, this time a pick six to put Utah up 14-7 at the end of the 1st Qtr. It would be just the beginning of a series of mistakes that just killed Oregon State’s chances to win this game. At half-time the Beavers were ahead in first downs, 11-8; total yards, 220-139; and time-of-possession but were behind on the scoreboard 21-13.
There was a point right after the break and holding Utah to a three-and-out that Oregon State got to within five points, 21-16, on a 31 yard field goal by their Place Kicker Atticus Sappington. It certainly seemed at that point that the momentum had shifted—especially after holding Utah to a quick punt on their first possession after the half.
Utah did come right back though on their next possession to score at the end of an eight play 75 yard drive on a Cameron Rising 16 yard pass to Devaughn Vele to push the score back out to 28-16. But with more than six minutes left in the 3rd Qtr it wasn’t completely out of reach until on their next drive Oregon State’s Backup QB Ben Gulbranson, in for an injured Chance Nolan, threw up yet another Beaver interception deep in the Utah Red Zone, this one at the end of a six play 51 yard drive—a drive that if successful would have gotten Oregon State back to within five points with 2:40 left in the 3rd Qtr. But it did happen and two plays later Utah was back in the end zone—now ahead 35-16–and this game was over as the Beavers didn’t score another point the rest of the game. You could feel the wind come out of their sails and see it in their eyes. The Utes would put up another score to make the final 42-16 and Oregon State would add yet another interception—their fourth of the game. That’s eight turnovers the last two games. Too bad because they have the personnel to have beaten both USC and Utah, but were their own worst enemy.
Oregon State led Utah in first downs, passing yards, rushing yards, and time-of-possession, but also in turnovers—4-0, which is what killed them. Collectively the Oregon State QB’s connected on 16-of-30 for 246 yards and no TD’s to go with the 4 picks. The Beavers rushed 37 times for 171 yards and that 1 TD run by Sophomore WR Silas Bolden while Sappington scored on all three of his field goal attempts. For Utah, Junior QB Cameron Rising connected on over 75% of his passes for 199 yards, 3 TD’s, and no interceptions while also leading the team in rushing with 75 yards and 1 of their 2 TD’s on the ground. Sophomore CB Clark Phillips III produced all the defensive highlight reels for Utah with the AP describing it like this; “Clark Phillips III intercepted Nolan twice in the first quarter, becoming the first Utah player since Julian Blackmon in the 2017 Heart of Dallas Bowl to have multiple interceptions in the same game. The sophomore cornerback finished with three interceptions – the first Utah player to do since Robert Johnson had three picks against Colorado State in 2009. Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said Phillips combines natural speed and quickness with unrivaled preparation to make his mark on the football field. ‘There’s nobody who studies more film than Clark and that leads to big plays. The more film you study, the more big plays you’re going to make.’ Whittingham said.”
Oregon State stays on the road and will travel to Palo Alto to take on Stanford this next week while Utah heads to the Rose Bowl to play a UCLA team that’s hitting on all cylinders right now. Should be a good one.