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With the Oregon State football team (7-2, 4-2 Pac-12) taking down the Colorado Buffaloes 26-19 in Boulder on Saturday night, BeaversEdge gives five important takeaways from the win!
MORE: WATCH: OSU Talks Win Over CU | Highlights + Social Media Reaction | RECAP - Beavers Bounce Back
1. Beavers Find A Way To Take Care Of Business Without Playing Their Best
It's often said that nothing good ever comes easy, and that's apropos for the Oregon State football team against the Colorado Buffaloes in their 26-19 victory at Folsom Field.
Fresh off a gut-wrenching loss to the Arizona Wildcats a week ago, the Beavers were in desperate need of a victory to right the ship and keep their Pac-12 Title Game hopes, albeit slim, alive.
A convincing win would have been icing on the cake for a team that needed to build up all the confidence it could before the final two games of the regular season, but that wasn't quite how it ended up shaking out Saturday night in Boulder.
"A good team win... it's tough to win on the road," head coach Jonathan Smith said. "It wasn't perfect, but we needed it and got a win."
While the Beavers didn't play perfect football, defensively, it was a big step in the right direction after the past few road games, and offensively, there was just enough in the tank to get the job done despite some turnovers and drive stall-outs.
One of the key moments that stand out as game-changing was right before halftime when Colorado's clock mismanagement allowed the Beavers to get in position for a late touchdown to take a 14-3 lead into the break rather than a 7-3 one.
After scoring a touchdown on their third drive, OSU's offense went cold as they had three punts and a fumble, allowing the score to remain within striking distance.
The Beavers punted to the Buffs with :49 seconds left in the first half and pinned the ball on the CU four-yard line. They had two timeouts remaining, not enough to stop it unless Colorado helped. And helped the Buffs did as they had two incompletions and a run for no gain, allowing the Beavers to get the ball back with 22 seconds left at the CU 20-yard line after an Anthony Gould punt return and a penalty.
The Beavers scored on the very first play as DJ Uiagalelei found Deshaun Fenwick on a perfectly placed throw right in between the safety and cornerback on a wheel route for a 20-yard score. It was much-needed breathing room, and most importantly, it jolted the offense into gear as the Beavers would score on their next three offensive possessions.
The final score makes the game look closer than it was as the Beavers held a 20-5 advantage with 3:55 left in the third quarter after Uiagalelei found the endzone via the QB sneak.
It could have been 21-3 or 22-3, but an errant snap on a two-point conversion attempt went over quarterback Uiagalelei's head. It was one of the rarest plays in college football as Colorado picked it up and returned it 80+ yards back for two points the other way.
That was the sort of funky, weird play that can shift the momentum of the game and at the time, because of the point swing, Colorado now trailed by just two scores with nearly 19 minutes of action remaining.
The Beavers wouldn't score another touchdown after the said play but managed to add six points on a pair of Atticus Sappington field goals to keep the Buffaloes at bay, which turned out to be critically important as Colorado found life offensively.
This was the sort of gritty, tough, grind-it-out game that suits the Beavers, their skillset, and their play-style under Smith, but the potential here was much greater. With how well the defense was holding Colorado and how porous the Buff defense had been this year, this could have been a blowout, rather than the seven-point margin it ended up being.
But, a win is a win, and this is one the Beavers had to have. OSU's Pac-12 title game hopes took a hit last week, but it's not out of the question. They don't 100% control their destiny with USC and Arizona as potential obstacles, but those obstacles could clear in the coming weeks.
2. Offensive Attack Leans On Ground Game, Passing Game Effective In Spurts
After a season-low in rushing yards and handing out the second-fewest carries in a game this season in the loss to Arizona a week ago, one could have guessed that the Beavers would go right back to their bread and butter against the Buffs.
And did they ever...
After having 29 total team carries a week ago, the Beavers nearly added 20 more to the total this week as they had 46 carries for 195 yards and two touchdowns.
Damien Martinez was the leading man in the backfield once again, going for 115 yards on 21 of those carries. He did lose a fumble, but it was the first time in Pac-12 play he broke the 100-yard mark this season, and was his highest number of carries this season.
Fenwick added 39 yards on 10 carries and a 20-yard receiving TD, but also lost a fumble, while Uiagalelei added 11 carries for 16 yards and a score, and Aidan Chiles with two carries for 29 yards and a score.
Speaking of Chiles, he was electric with the ball in his hands as he tallied the Beavers' first points of the night on a 23-yard scamper after the first two offensive possessions were a three-and-out and a fumble.
Chiles found a unique way to impact the game positively on his solo drive of the night as he put the Beavers on the board and looked comfortable running with the ball in his hands. It's easy to overlook a moment such as that, but for a true freshman, putting your team up on the board first is huge for your mental confidence and builds trust with your teammates.
The passing attack had moments, but Uiagalelei only completed 12-of-24 throws for 223 yards and a touchdown. He was arguably under the most duress he has been during a game this season as he was sacked a season-high three times.
Jack Velling was the leading receiver for the second-straight contest with three catches for 69 yards, but Gould (three for 37) and Silas Bolden (three for 40) had quieter nights than you would have expected against a Buffs defense that was amongst the worst in the country.
Colorado came into the matchup allowing their opponents to score 35 points per game while allowing 475 yards of total offense, so in that regard, the Beavers left some meat on the bone regarding the point-total in this matchup.
Some of that is one on the pair of lost fumbles, but four drives ended in punts, not quite what you expected to see from the offense against a get-right opponent.
Stanford isn't exactly a get-right opponent either, but should serve as a serviceable opportunity to fine-tune the offense before it needs to be at its peak against Washington and Oregon...
