5 Takeaways From Oregon State's Loss To Oregon

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With the Oregon State football team (8-4, 5-4 Pac-12) falling to the Oregon Ducks (11-1, 8-1) 31-7 at Autzen Stadium on Friday evening, BeaversEdge gives five important takeaways from the win!

MORE: Jonathan Smith Says No Decisions Have Been Made | WATCH: BeaversEdge Talks Loss To Oregon | WATCH: Jonathan Smith + Players Talk Loss | RECAP - Beavers Fall To Oregon

It's interesting to start these takeaways with a sequence that happened just before the halftime break, but it's one of the most important moments in Oregon State's loss to Oregon at Autzen Stadium on Friday evening...

Following Oregon State's first and only touchdown drive of the game, Oregon State trailed Oregon 14-7 and just had to have their defense hold over the final 48 seconds to enter the halftime break trailing by just a score. Additionally, the Beavers got the ball to open the second half, so the potential for it being a one-score game with the ball was a gift for the Beavers given the up-and-down play of the first half.

Instead, Oregon State's defense had no answers for the spectacular play of Bo Nix and Oregon's receivers as the Ducks went 78 yards (five plays) in 40 seconds, all while not even having to use a timeout.

The first play was a Nix quarterback keeper for a first down where he got out of bounds, then a 15-yard completion to Tez Johnson, then an 11-yard catch to Troy Franklin. An incomplete pass followed next, before Nix, looking like vintage Russell Wilson, spun out of the pocket and made an impressive across-his-body/across-the-field throw to Franklin who made the catch and escaped an OSU defender to race into the endzone for a 40-yard score.

All of a sudden a 14-7 game going into the half became a 21-7 ballgame and just like that Oregon had seized momentum and put the Beavers further behind the eight-ball in a game where they needed every break possible.

That Oregon offensive drive cannot happen if you're Oregon State... Sure, some credit goes to the Ducks and that's why they're making the Pac-12 Championship, but that's an unallowable drive when you're looking to pull the upset.

"Bo Nix," head coach Jonathan Smith said of that drive. "They get to midfield with about 22 seconds left and we want the ball to come out quickly by pressuring him. We don't pressure him, we don't contain him, and that's a huge momentum change going into halftime...

Couple that sequence with the fact that Oregon State turned the ball over on downs in Oregon territory on the opening drive of the second half and it became a crucial point in the game where the Beavers were given a great opportunity to get back into the game.

If going into this matchup you had said that Oregon State would tally 53 rushing yards, I would have told you it would be a long evening.

And a long evening it was at Autzen Stadium for the orange and black...

While the Beavers managed to hang around this contest all the way into the second half despite not having a ground attack, the bread and butter of the Beaver offense was stopped in its tracks by the Oregon defense.

Going back to the very beginning of Smith's tenure in 2018, running the ball has always been the No. 1 focus and priority with the offense. Whether it was Jermar Jefferson, BJ Baylor, or now Damien Martinez, having a stud in the backfield and riding him in a given contest is exactly where the Beavers make their mark.

They pride themselves on having a strong and dynamic offensive line, and for the most part, these past few seasons, very few if any teams have been able to get the better of the Beavers in the trenches.

Yet, the offensive line losses could have been a part of the run game and pass protection struggles in this matchup. The Beavers were dealt a tough blow following UW when it was announced starting left guard Heneli Bloomfield was done for the season, but then received another kick to the teeth on gameday when Mr. Consistent Joshua Gray didn't suit up and had his 40+ streak of straight starts snapped.

Football is more than two players, but having the entire left side of your line different for the first time all season likely made life tougher on Martinez, Deshaun Fenwick, and Co.

Some of the blame falls at the feet of the Beavers for not executing, but at the same token, you've got to credit the Oregon run defense. The Ducks came in allowing opponents 96 rushing yards per contest, which was well below the 53 yards the Beavers managed to muster.

All told, Martinez finished with 38 rushing yards, by far and away his lowest yardage total since becoming the starting running back for the Beavers midway through the 2022 campaign. Fenwick and quarterback DJ Uiagalelei couldn't find anything on the ground either, as the former took one carry for three yards and the latter seven for 13 yards. Some of those DJ runs were clutch third or fourth-down conversions, but in the big picture, the Beavers just couldn't find any daylight against the Duck defense.

And the result? Oregon State's worst offensive performance in four years...

That should tell you how much the ground game means to the Beavers as the last time they scored seven points came in 2019. Additionally, this was the biggest margin of defeat for the Beavers since a 42-16 loss to Utah last season, but in reality, that game was closer than the score indicated.

All told it's a recipe for disaster when the Beavers don't have their ground game. They preach balance and the importance of it for this offense, and the rushing attack was unable to hold up their end of the bargain tonight, finishing with 53 yards, more than 150 yards less than their per-game season average...

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MORE: Jonathan Smith Says No Decisions Have Been Made | WATCH: BeaversEdge Talks Loss To Oregon | WATCH: Jonathan Smith + Players Talk Loss | RECAP - Beavers Fall To Oregon