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With the Oregon State football team (5-6) taking down No. 25 Washington State (8-3) 41-38 on Saturday evening at Reser Stadium, BeaversEdge gives five important takeaways from the win!
MORE: WATCH: BeaversEdge Talks Win Over WSU | WATCH: Beavers Talk Win Over WSU | Highlights + Social Media Reactions | RECAP - Beavers Knock Off WSU
1. Beavers Show Out On Senior Day, Deliver Signature Win
Following Oregon State’s 28-0 loss to Air Force a week ago, I wrote in our five takeaways piece about how the Beavers needed to come out against Washington State and just have something positive happen for the team to get back on track heading into the final week and ultimately, into next season.
Well… Something positive sure happened alright at Reser Stadium on Saturday evening…
Like a new football team was born this week… Oregon State completely flipped the script on their recent stretch of bad play against the Cougars, looking equal parts hungry, efficient, and opportunistic as the Beavers immediately said that they wouldn’t be a pushover to their new Pullman rivals.
After honoring seniors like Jaden Robinson, Josh Green, Joshua Gray, Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan, Everett Hayes, and many more pregame, the Beavers made sure those seniors went out with a bang in their final rodeo at Reser Stadium, delivering their best win of the season and giving the Beavers a massive building block entering next season.
On the same token, the Beavers also gave their fans something to clutch onto this offseason heading into next… It was a rough month plus for the football program, and if the Beavers had just gone quietly into the night, perhaps there would have been a few less season ticket renewals next season, or guys on the current roster who would have a wandering eye with how the season would have closed out.
None of those negative what-if questions matter now as the Beavers took to the field on Saturday and simply wanted it more, and played with a chip on their shoulder. Now obviously you would have liked a performance like this earlier in the season, but rebuilds aren’t always linear. There are ups and downs, and I’m betting the Beavers just got the worst monkey they’ll have in the Trent Bray era off their backs.
Just about everything that could have gone wrong this season has in terms of coming up short, dealing with injuries, inconsistencies, and many more factors, but the Beavers didn’t quit on the season, or their coach, and that tells me the Beavers 100% still have the right guy, it’s just been one of those seasons where a lot of adversity was sent your way.
Interestingly enough, Gray said postgame that the lion's share of the credit has to go to senior offensive lineman Grant Starck. A native Oregonian (Springfield), Starck brought the team together after practice one day this week and sold the team on a “Why Not Us” mentality and Gray said credit to him for lighting the fire.
Additionally, you add in some of the chatter the Beavers were getting from up north in the media this week, and the Beavers said it definitely played a factor in their motivations.
This season has been such a struggle, with so many frustrations along the way, but as we discussed on our podcast this game was crucial for the Beavers to be able to right the ship, find a pulse, and give themselves something positive to build on…
And oh you’re still in the realm of bowl possibility as well…
Not bad for a night’s work and credit has to be given to these coaches, players, and particularly seniors, because this was a football team from a different galaxy than we saw against Air Force a week ago.. Also de-facto PAC-12 Champions on top of that.
2. Defense Struggles To Contain Mateer, WSU Passing Attack
While the Beavers were able to show out on senior night and upset a top-25 team, it wasn’t all perfect in the performance, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
Washington State quarterback John Mateer was getting it done for the Cougars both on the ground and through the air. While Mateer is the focal point of the offense for Washington State there were times when the Beavers looked like they had him dead to rights in the backfield he’d make something happen out of nothing.
Mateer accounted for 250 yards through the air with a couple of passing touchdowns and rushing touchdowns for the Cougars offense. He also was very efficient with the passes that he completed, posting a 74% completion percentage against the Beavers.
While Mateer wasn’t otherworldly like he had been for the Cougars in recent weeks, the Beavers were able to just do enough to slow him down to give themselves a chance to win this game.
Oregon State’s defense played a bend don’t break style of defense and came up with the plays needed to keep themselves in a game against a team ranked No. 25 in the country with a high-powered offense.
As the late great Raiders owner Al Davis said “just win baby,” and well the Beavers were able to do just enough to slow down Mateer and Co. en route to a 41-38 victory at home.
The biggest test for the Beavers is to be able to carry that style of play against a Heisman candidate in Ashton Jeanty. However, for right now the Beavers having something to hang their hats on to close out the final home game of the season is huge despite the statistics in the box score on defense.
