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| Courtesy: seattle.sbnation.com |
By: Michael Rivera
The LBCC Commuter
Video/Sports Editor
With a school-record attendance of 46,579 people strong at Reser Stadium, the Oregon State Beavers fight penalties and turnovers to beat the Washington State Cougars, 19-6. This win jumps Oregon State from #14 to the #10 team in the country, after such losses as #3 Florida State, #4 LSU, #6 South Carolina an #11 Texas lose. With these the fall of these, Oregon State glides up four spots as they go to visit Brigham Young this weekend.
This will prove to be tough game for Oregon State, as Sean Mannion will undergo knee surgery, according to Mike Riley. The injury was sustained during a handoff in the Washington State game. Mannion, the No. 2 passer in the Pac-12, has been the locomotion in the Oregon State offense; averaging 339.5 passing yards a game, completing 63.3 percent of his passes and a QB rating of 139.8 (5 highest in the PAC-12). Junior QB Cody Vaz will get the start for the Beavers this Saturday. Vaz does have some game experience, but hasn’t played in a game since 2010.
Much of this season will ride on how well the Beavers can do in Mannion’s absences. They have surprised the nation by going 4-0 (haven’t since 2002) and now ranked 10th AP poll. Oregon State will be relying on a highly aggressive defense, led by players such as Jordan Poyer and Scott Crichton. Poyer was named player of the game and nominated for the PAC-12 Defensive Player of the Week for his 4 tackles, 3 interceptions, while recorded 3 sacks against Washington State. The Beavers look to continue their success away from home and keep an unblemished record. Coach Mike Riley seemed unaffected and kept a positive tone with the media on Monday (http://bit.ly/SKdsXw).
“We’re gonna go win the game with Cody (Vaz),” said Mike Riley in an interview with osubeavers.com, “Cody is a good quarterback and he’s been preparing for this for a long time. So, he’ll be good and we’ll be ready to go.”
Vaz had a chance to talk to the media on Monday and he came off confident about his team and moving forward together. He mentioned that Sean Mannion had offered his support, saying that he is Cody’s “No. 1 fan”. The Beavers will need the their unity as they head for a tough, physical game in Provo, UT.
“Being the back up (QB), you have to prepare yourself; you have a good mental approach every week,” said Vaz in a osubeavers.com interview. “I’m not really nervous; more so more excited. It’s a great opportunity for our team. We’re going into a tough place to play; their a really good football team (BYU), a really good defensive team.”
On the other side of the page, ESPN.com reports that freshman QB Tayson Hill will be out for the season with a left-knee injury. Riley Nelson, a senior, will get the starting job for the Cougars. Nelson was originally the starter for BYU until a string of injuries put Hill into the starting role. This is an opportunity for Nelson to improve and lead his team.
With both teams without their young (Mannion a Sophomore, Hill a Freshman), starting QBs, both teams are at an equal level. Nelson may have a slight advantage since he started out the season as a starter, but his tendencies to throw interceptions could make the difference when the Beaver Nation travels to Utah.
Game Recap:
After the first half of play, it proved to be a tough day for passers. Mannion, who finished 25-42, 270 yards and a touchdown, also threw three interceptions. #12 Connor Halliday got the start over senior Jeff Tuel for the Cougars. He showed his lack of experience as he threw 9-20 for 81 yards and three interceptions. Jeff Tuel throws 11-17 for 126 yards and an interception. WSU fumbles as Oregon State recovers. Both teams struggled with turnovers (OSU had 3, WSU had 4), which proves that this was a defensive effort on Oregon State’s behalf.
WSU had trouble getting their running game going, while Storm Woods (15 attempts, 54 yards) and Malcolm Agnew (10 attempts, 44 yards) had much success. Much of the credit going to the Beaver’s defense as they hold Washington State to 40 yards on 14 attempts.
In the second half of play, Halliday gets benched as Tuel comes in after Halliday’s 3rd interception. The Beavers defense continuously let WSU into the red zone due to penalties, but shows its resilience as they kept the Cougars to two field goals. The defense put a hard stop to the Washington State offense.
Oregon State took first blood as Mannion set up a 30-yard Trevor Romaine field goal. Oregon State led 3-0 with 11:45 in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Andrew Furney kicks a 24-yard field goal to cap a 7 play, 60 yard drive by Washington State to tie the game at 3-3.
Even though Mannion struggled with 3 interceptions, his poise was not affected. Mannion throws a 12 yard lob to Markus Wheaton in the corner of the endzone. A 10 play, 75 yard drive lead by Mannion with 9:17 in the 3rd; Beavers lead is 13-3. As Storm Woods continues to drive down the WSU defense, Mannion
Fourth quarter, WSU is able to put up another field goal to make it 13-6, Oregon State lead. Oregon State continued to move forward, as Tyler Anderson gets the 4th quarter TD on a 1 yard goal line run as Oregon State extends their lead to 19-6, as Romaine missed the extra point. This capped a 12 play, 86 yard drive led by Mannion.
With 2:45 left in game time, Poyer’s 3rd interception of the day was returned it for 50 yards to put the Beavers in Washington State territory. Poyer was called for a 15 yard penalty for unsportsmanlike, but with Mannion taking a knee, OSU beats WSU 19-6.
Game Notes:
- Storm Woods left in the first half with an injury but returned in the second half. Malcolm Agnew stepped in to give the Beavers a much needed boost in the running game.
- Oregon State controlled the clock, 39:15 to WSU’s 20:45.
- Oregon State was stymied on many drives due to 11 penalties for 110 yards. WSU had 6 penalties for 40 yards.
- Oregon State will travel to Brigham Young University next Saturday, Oct. 13th.
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