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With the Oregon State football team (6-2, 3-2) defeating Colorado 42-9 on Saturday evening, BeaversEdge gives five important takeaways from the win!
MORE: WATCH: BeaversEdge Breaks Down CU Win | WATCH: OSU Talks CU Win | OSU Reaches Bowl Eligibility For Second Straight Year | Highlights + Social Media Reaction | RECAP - Oregon State Cruises Past CU
1. Oregon State Took Care Of Business Against A Bad Colorado Squad
Coming into the matchup as a 23.5-point favorite, it seemed reasonable to assume that Oregon State would win comfortably in this matchup, but you never really know until the game gets underway...
The Beavers answered that question early and often in the 42-9 rout of Colorado as Oregon State was essentially able to do whatever they wanted on both sides of the ball all night long. This was a contest that was out of reach early as the Beavers raced out to a 21-3 advantage at the break that felt bigger than 18 points and added another 21 in the second half to seal the deal.
Whether that was pounding the run game on offense, or forcing Colorado into four turnovers and numerous punts on defense, Oregon State was well prepared and ready to beat up on an opponent that is clearly a couple of steps beneath you.
In years' past, perhaps this was a contest where the Beavers would have allowed Colorado to hang around for a bit, but not this season and that's a testament to the growth and overall leadership within the program.
There's an expectation to succeed in Corvallis now and you can tell that the coaching staff and players aren't satisfied with just winning No. 6, they want more and feel that they can achieve it in the coming weeks.
Colorado is a bad football team, no other way to slice it, but regardless, Oregon State showed strong mental focus and determination to come into Reser Stadium with the intention of putting the Buffs down and out early and that's exactly what they were able to do...
2. Damien Martinez Leads A Strong Ground Attack
Entering the night, Colorado's opponents were rushing for just north of 250 yards per game...
Damien Martinez must have been well-aware of the Buffs' struggles against the run on Saturday night as the freshman 6-foot, 216-pounder ran all over Colorado.
Martinez exploded as he tallied a career-high 178 yards and three scores on 22 carries (8.1 yards per carry) to anchor a strong Beaver ground game that tallied 270 yards on the evening.
We've seen the committee backfield throughout the first eight games of the season, so it's hard to say whether the running back committee will continue following Martinez's performance.
However, head coach Jonathan Smith said postgame that Martinez is special but reiterated that the backfield has some talent and that the committee has worked well up to this point.
Riding the hot hand of Damien Martinez, Jam Griffin, or Deshaun Fenwick has been the Beavers' bread and butter this season, but Martinez is coming on like a freight train downhill and it's going to be really hard to not give him the lions' share of the carries.
However, we saw Jam Griffin involved too tonight (seven carries for 48 yards) and he's had some solid performances in Pac-12 play this year as well... Additionally, Isaiah Newell snuck into the mix too, tallying five carries for 36 yards...
NOTE - Fenwick didn't play against CU due to a very minor injury per Smith. Said he would have been the emergency back if needed...
