Beavers put up 68 in Portland

Sep 18, 2022 - 3:35 AM

Oregon State" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Elus9QATNzB3BSYjxcO9weBmT7w=/0x0:5812x3269/1920x1080/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71382210/usa_today_19070098.0.jpg" />

It wasn’t a perfect night, but it was close as Oregon State rolled to a 40 point victory in Providence Park. 10 touchdowns, 546 yards, 10-for-11 on third down! It was Oregon State’s best offensive performance in quite sometime. Defensively the Bobcats were able to do more damage than the Beaver coaches would have liked, but in the end it didn’t come back to bite the team. All in all it was a successful night, setting up a huge showdown vs USC in Reser Stadium next weekend. Here’s how it went down:

FIRST HALF

The Beavers got the ball to start and Chance Nolan helped engineer an efficient 90-yard drive capped off by a Deshaun Fenwick touchdown. On the flip side the Bobcats had a nice kick return and they answered with a 10-play run heavy drive to tie the game. Montana State’s two athletic quarterbacks and pre-snap motion really caused the Beaver defense fits to start the game.

Thankfully Oregon State’s offense scored touchdowns on their first 5 possessions jumping out to a 20 point lead. Montana State returned a kickoff for a touchdown which temporarily stymied momentum, but the Beaver offense would not be denied tonight. A missed field goal at the half was the only thing that could stop Oregon State’s offense tonight, but they took a 34-14 lead into halftime.

SECOND HALF

The Beavers forced a punt to start the third quarter and Anthony Gould returned the punt for an 80 yard touchdown.

Tommy Mellott had a nice night for Montana State (rushing and throwing for over 100 yards a piece). Sean Chambers capped off each of the Bobcats drives though (3 TDs on the night). Giving up 28 points isn’t great, but the Beavers limited Montana State to just 269 yards of offense and picked off Mellott three times.

Ben Gulbranson got in late in the third quarter and made some nice throws, but was mostly asked to hand off because of the big lead. Jam Griffin and Kanoa Shannon added touchdown runs in the 4th quarter to cap off the scoring. Eight different players scored touchdowns tonight!

---

The Pros:

• THE OFFENSE
• Zero Oregon State turnovers; 3 interceptions
• Tre’Shaun Harrison (8 receptions, 133 yards) looks like someone Chance Nolan can rely on.
• Efficient quarterback play (over 75% completion, 11.2 yards per pass attempt)
• Well-balanced offense. 10 different guys caught passes and 7 different guys registered a carry.
• Big returns in the special team game thanks to Anthony Gould and Silas Bolden.
• Despite missing a number of starters the Beavers had no problem utilizing the ‘next man up’ approach.
• Providence Park was rocking, that was a lot of fun!

The Cons:

• Another tough time containing an opposing quarterback who likes to run.
• Missed some kicks and leaving a few points off the scoreboard. Everett Hayes is not 100%.
• Was hoping to see a little more disruption from the defensive line. Montana State seemed a bit too comfortable running their misdirection plays.
• Can’t complain too much, the Beavers were just 16 point favorites and won by 40!