CORVALLIS, OR – The USC Trojans continue their winning streak by defeating the Oregon State Beavers, 38-21.
Most of us predicted a potential blow out at Reser Stadium when the Trojans came to town. Well, we thought wrong – the Beavers showed us some excitement on the field and rose to the occasion by filling in a 21-point deficit in the second and third quarter. After coming from a huge comeback from playing Colorado last Saturday, we come to wonder, will this become a trend for the Beavers?
The Trojans had a handle on Oregon State’s running game for most of the night and by the fourth quarter, the Beavers lost momentum, allowing the Trojans to add another 10 points on the scoreboard to keep themselves alive for the Pac-12 South Title.
Quarterback, Jake Luton, made his first start since the season opener and wowed us by completing 31 of 45 passes for 301 yards and a touchdown. Luton is the first quarterback at OSU to throw more than 300 yards in consecutive games since 2014.
Luton got the offense moving by helping them run 31 yards against USC and scoring drives late in the second quarter. Jack Colletto runs a long drive, scoring on a 6-yard run. The Beavers’ drive goes 81 yards in 11 plays, and Oregon State cuts the USC lead to 14 points with a little bit over 4 minutes to play in the first half making the score 21-7.
In the final minute of the second quarter, Luton hits Isaiah Hodgins for a catch and run of 43 yards, down to the USC 31. Luton then hits up Jermar Jefferson for a 5-yard gain. With 25 seconds left on the clock, Luton throws the ball to Trevon Bradford for a first down. After an incomplete pass to the end zone, Luton finds Noah Togiai on the left side of the end zone for a touchdown. The Beavers caught up with a 21-14 with only 4 seconds left before halftime.
The fans are riled up coming back from halftime, excited to see what happens next. After taking a sack, Luton throws a screen to Pierce on third and 21. He picks up just 10 yards, but USC is called for a late hit, which bails out OSU with the first down. Jack Colletto comes in as quarterback and hands off to Artavis Pierce, adding another touchdown for the Beavers.
“Our emphasis has always been start fast,” says receiver, Trevon Bradford. “It’s something we need to work on and continue to get better.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Beavers drove to the USC 19 where they lined up for a field goal. The Trojans sniffed out a fake-out and shut the play down. However, the Beavers were back in business when Matthew Tago forced a fumble that Jalen Moore recovered. A call was made to replay if running back, Vavae Malepeai, was down before the fumble, but the replay overturned the call, leaving a bitter taste for the Beavers. “That would be one way to do it… the mistake is, the call on the field was incorrect and they overturned it,” say coach Smith.
Throughout the fourth quarter, seemed like Oregon State wasn’t able to catch a break. The Trojans continued with an aggressive push which lead them to score the last 10 points to finish off the game, leaving them with a win.
“That’s a good football team,” Coach Smith says. “We just didn’t quite have enough tonight.”
We see a few trademarks coming from the Beavers but one is for sure and that is they don’t quit. Watch Oregon State take on Stanford next Saturday at 6 PM, PST.
