Houston at Oregon State
After scoring a TD at the start the 4th Qtr and taking a 24-10 lead, Oregon State was held scoreless the rest of the way while giving up two TD’s to Houston and missing a 45 yard field goal with just five seconds left to send the game into overtime where they lost 27-24 at home on an Ethan Sanchez 24 yard field goal. Intercepting Houston on their second possession of the game, deep in their own red zone, Oregon State would take an early 7-0 lead just two plays later on a TD run by Junior RB Jake Reichle and score again at the top of the 2nd Qtr on a 5 yard TD pass from Junior QB Maalik Murphy to Senior RB Marquis Crosby to go up 14-0. Eating up almost 8 minutes of the clock, Houston would come back on their next possession to kick a field goal at the end of a 21 play drive that stalled deep in the Beaver red zone to make it 14-3. Forcing Oregon State to punt after just four plays, the Cougars would score again seven plays later on two pass completions and three runs by their Junior QB Connor Weigman, including one into the end zone to trail just 14-10. The Beavers had a chance to extend the lead right before the half but would miss on a 49 yard field goal attempt by Junior Place Kicker Caleb Ojeda.
Both teams were held to three-and-outs to start the 3rd Qtr, but on Oregon State’s second possession Ojeda would make up for that missed field goal at the end of the first half and nail one from 31 yards out to give the Beavers at 17-10 lead. Holding Houston to another three-and-out Oregon State would extend their lead to 24-10 on an 18 yard TD run by Freshman RB Cornell Hatcher Jr. to start the 4th Qtr. But the wheels came off after that for the Beavers as they were forced to punt three consecutive times while Houston caught up and tied the score on back-to-back TD’s. In spite of that, Oregon State still had a chance to win in regulation but missed a 46 yard field goal attempt with time expiring to send the game into overtime and their fifth loss of the season.
For Oregon State, Junior QB Maalik Murphy connected on 20-of-33 for 201 yards, 1 TD to Senior RB Marquis Crosby, and no interceptions. Freshman RB Cornell Hatcher Jr. and Senior Anthony Hankerson led the way on the ground collectively rushing 40 times for 167 of the team’s 189 yards, with Hatcher and Junior RB Jake Reichle recording a TD each. Oregon State led in first downs, total yards of offense, had fewer penalties, no turnovers, had the ball 11 more minutes, but still found a way to loose this one and now sit 0-5. After spending $153 million dollars upgrading Reser Stadium in Corvallis for what seemed like an up and coming football power, maybe a trip out of town will help as the Beavers will hit the road to Boone, North Carolina to take on the Appalachian State Mountaineers of the Sun Belt conference this coming Saturday.
Washington State at Colorado State
Although the Cougars didn’t score another point after the break, the two TD’s and field goals that they put up in the 1st and 2nd Qtr was all that they needed. Colorado State, after getting the ball to start the game and kicking a field goal on their first possession to take a 3-0 lead didn’t score another point the rest of the way loosing it at home 20-3. According to the AP writeup of the game for ESPN; “Washington State’s defense held Colorado State without a touchdown at home for the first time in 85 games . . . “ and it had been 19 years since the Cougars had gone on the road and denied their opponent even a single touchdown.
For Washington State, Senior QB Zevi Eckhaus was 16-of-28 for 189 yards, 2 TD’s—one to Senior WR Jeremiah Noga and the other to Senior TE Ademola Faleye—and no interceptions. On the ground the Cougars rushed 33 times for 158 yards on 33 attempts, a 4.8 yard per carry average without ever finding the end zone. The defense recorded 4 sacks and 9 tackles for loss which partly helps to explain why the Cougars never got anything going in the air or on the ground. Their QB, Sophomore Jackson Brousseau, connected on 19-of-28 for 188 yards with no TD’s and no interceptions in addition to rushing 12 times for 21 yards. On the ground, Colorado State collectively rushed 37 times for 146 yards with Freshman RB Jaleen Dupre and Sophomore Lloyd Avant accounting for over 100 yards of that total.
Between the two teams there was only 1 first down difference, 1 passing yard of difference, and 13 yards of difference in total offense. Neither team performed very well on third and fourth down; Colorado State had the ball about three minutes less and had more penalty yards as well as one turnover to none for the Cougars. After taking a week off Washington State will have back-to-back really tough games on the road as they take on No. 4 Ole Miss on Saturday, October 11th and then travel to No. 24 Virginia to play the Cavaliers on the 18th.