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With the Oregon State football team (6-3, 3-3 Pac-12) falling to Washington 24-21 in Seattle on Friday night, BeaversEdge gives 10 important takeaways from the loss...
MORE: WATCH: Oregon State Breaks Down UW Loss | WATCH: BeaversEdge Breaks Down UW Loss | RECAP - OSU Falls To UW 24-21
1. Running Game Leads The Way
Despite the loss, Oregon State’s running game was the focal point of the offensive attack as Damien Martinez (19 carries for 107 yards), Deshaun Fenwick (five carries for 37 yards and two scores), and Jam Griffin (eight carries for 38 yards).
With the Beavers unable to generate much of a passing attack throughout the evening, they had to lean on the trio of backs to keep the offense on the field and scoring points. OSU’s ground-based attack was arguably the most one-dimensional its been all season, yet Martinez and Fenwick averaged 5.6 and 7.4 yards per carry, respectively, while Griffin averaged 4.8 yards per tote.
The running game was something to hang your hat on if you’re OSU, especially early on, but this game was a prime example of how being one-dimensional isn’t going to get wins on the road against good Pac-12 teams.
The Beavers have something special in Martinez, and Griffin and Fenwick have been stellar in their roles, but all too similar to last season, the run game can’t carry the weight all the time if this team is going to reach a higher level…
2. Oregon State's Quarterback Play Isn't Good Enough
Oregon State needs Chance Nolan back in a big way…
Ben Gulbranson finished with a season-low 87 passing yards and there’s no question the lack of an aerial attack is a big part of why the Beavers came up just short in this contest. OSU boasts one of the deeper if not the deepest running back rooms in the conference and they’ll put you in a position to win a good amount of games.
However, you’ve got to have offensive balance to keep a decent defense like UW’s honest and the Beavers were almost a non-factor in the passing game tonight.
Taking a look at Gulbranson’s last four starts:
20-of-29 for 250 yards and two touchdowns vs Stanford (W)
12-of-24 for 141 yards one touchdown and one interception vs WSU (W)
14-of-22 for 202 yards and two touchdowns vs Colorado (W)
12-of-19 for 87 yards vs Washington (L)
Now comparatively, let’s look at Chance Nolan’s line’s through the first four games:
14-of-23 for for 251 yards two touchdowns and two interceptions vs Boise (W)
14-of-27 for 219 yards and one touchdown vs Fresno (W)
19-of-25 for 276 yards and four touchdowns vs MSU (W)
17-of-29 for 167 yards and four interceptions vs USC (L)
Given that Nolan was named the starter coming out of camp, now is the time we’ll see him re-take the quarterback job given that he’s returned to full health. There’s definetly a case that Gulbranson is more cautious with the ball than Nolan, but Nolan offers a much higher ceiling when it comes to deep ball accuracy, mobility in the pocket, pocket awareness, chemistry with the receivers, and much more…
The notion that perhaps Gulbranson was a better fit could have been made with three straight wins, but this matchup against UW, throwing for less than 100 yards while UW nearly put up 300, is a huge reason why the Beavs came up on the losing end…
Lastly, it’s worth mentioning again… what would Oregon State’s record be if they had stellar quarterback play in all nine games this year?
3. Michael Penix Jr. Far Too Efficient
If the original weather forecast panned out with heavy rains throughout the game it may have drastically changed what UW could have accomplished in the passing game, but outside of some occasionally strong winds, it was dry and cold. This played to UW’s strengths as a passing-first team and would allow Michael Penix Jr. to finish with nearly 300 yards on 30-52 passing.
UW was able to finish with 9.9 yards per completion and their receivers continued to find separation downfield to get open, especially on 3rd-down; the Beavers on the other hand would finish with less than 90 yards passing as Gulbranson completed just 12-19 passes and did not record a passing touchdown.
The overall performance by Penix is certainly not his best so far this season but it was the way in which he often looked comfortable and relaxed in the pocket that allowed him to be as efficient as he was on the night.
When the game was in the balance late, it was Penix who put the team on his back during what would become the 18-play, 92-yard game-winning drive.
