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With the Oregon State football team (7-5, 5-4 Pac-12) falling to No. 11 Oregon 38-29 at Autzen Stadium on Saturday afternoon, BeaversEdge.com gives five important takeaways from the loss.
MORE: WATCH: Oregon State Breaks Down Oregon Loss | RECAP: Beavers Fall 38-29 To Oregon
5 Takeaways
1. Oregon State's Defense Reverted To Old Habits
-> Fool's gold against Stanford & Arizona State?
Following two weeks where Oregon State's defense looked to be rounding the corner under interim defensive coordinator Trent Bray, things came crashing back down to reality in a hurry against the 11th ranked Oregon Ducks on Saturday.
From the opening kickoff, Oregon's offense was able to hum all afternoon long, getting whatever they wanted via the run and pass, only punting one time and scoring points on every other drive minus the very end of the contest.
Head coach Jonathan Smith and defensive back Jaydon Grant didn't have much of an answer as to why the Beavers didn't come out with the same defensive fire we saw the past two weeks, noting that Oregon simply won their one-on-one battles more often and out-executed them.
To put it simply, at times, OSU's defense looked like they reverted to old habits and that's ugly every time it rears its head. All told, they ended up allowing 506 total yards which are the most allowed by OSU since the Cal game where the Bears finished with 517 yards of total offense.
In a lot of ways, the script of that Cal loss felt very, very similar to what we saw at Autzen today. Additionally, the Beavers couldn't get off the field on third downs as they allowed Oregon to convert 10-of-13 attempts and couldn't seem to manufacture much pressure on UO QB Anthony Brown.
The Beavers showed quite of bit of promise in holding Stanford & Arizona State to a combined 24 points in recent weeks but allowing 38 to Oregon after they only had seven in their loss to Utah a week ago proves there's still work to be done.
The Beavers still have work to do on that end of the field and with the team having several weeks to get ready for the bowl game, look for interim defensive coordinator Trent Bray to design up some new tweaks.
2. Oregon Controlled Every Aspect From Start-To-Finish
-> Coming into this contest, UO & OSU both boasted offenses with dynamic ground attacks that open everything else up. The Beavers led the Pac-12 in rushing per game, while the Ducks came in third.
Because of those similar styles, you knew that the team that was able to establish their run game and control tempo/clock was going to be in the best position to succeed and that's exactly what we saw play out.
Oregon ended up winning the time of possession 37:00 to 23:00 and that's a big credit to how effective its ground game was with Brown, Travis Dye, & Byron Cardwell. While the Ducks didn't bury the Beavers in this matchup, it was the slow & steady consistent four and five-yard gains that ultimately gave Oregon the edge it needed.
Sure, the Beavers gave up a big play here and there, and missed coverage/assignments on several more, but it was the inability to get Oregon off the field that ultimately cost the Beavers. Oregon averaged 7.3 yards per play and that ended up being a big reason why the Beavers were consistently behind the eight-ball.
Defensively, you've also got to credit the Ducks as they bounced back nicely from last weeks' drubbing to Utah by stifling the Beaver offense throughout the first half. Keeping the Beavers out of rhythm while building up a lead of their own is exactly what UO's gameplan was coming in and they executed to perfection.
3. Oregon State's Road Woes Continue
-> As it turns out, playing away from Reser Stadium is still very foreign to this group. Despite the Beavers emphasizing all week long that they were treating this contest like a home game, it sure looked like the Beavers were on the road and out of their element.
For whatever reason(s), OSU just hasn't been able to put it together on the road this year as the loss to Oregon brings its overall mark to 1-5 on the season. Outside of the USC win back in September, the Beavers just haven't been anywhere close to the same team away from their friendly confines.
Against the Ducks, the story was pretty similar to how it has been on the road all year long as the Beavers couldn't get stops on defense, and couldn't execute consistently on offense. Once the Beavers buried themselves in a hole early on against the Ducks, the second-half surge didn't much matter as there was so much work to be done for the Beavs to get back in the mix.
With the bowl game technically being a "road game", Oregon State will need to figure out their business away from Reser Stadium in a hurry...
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