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With the Oregon State football team (4-1, 1-1 P12) defeating Utah (4-1, 1-1) 21-7 on Friday at Reser Stadium, BeaversEdge gives five important takeaways from the win...
MORE: WATCH: BeaversEdge Breaks Down Win Over Utah | WATCH: OSU Breaks Down Win Over Utah | Highlights + Social Media Reaction | RECAP: Beavers Bounce Back
1. Trent Bray's Defense Delivers A Signature Performance
What a difference a week makes... Well, less than a week actually.
Just six days ago, Oregon State's defense was getting picked apart by Washington State and quarterback Cam Ward to the tune of 528 yards of total offense and 38 points.
That defense didn't show up to an orange-clad Reser Stadium on Friday night against the 10th-ranked Utes as the Beavers completely flipped the script and delivered one of the most signature defensive games in the era of defensive coordinator Trent Bray.
"They were challenged this week," head coach Jonathan Smith said of Bray's defense. "They wanted to come out, especially at home, to have a way better performance and they did.
The fact that it came less than a week after one of arguably the worst speaks volumes to the competitor that Bray is and bodes well for the Beavers' defensive outlook this season.
Utah, who entered the contest without star quarterback Cam Rising, gained a meager 198 yards of total offense, seven points, and looked all out of sorts except a big chunk play late in the fourth that produced their only touchdown.
The Beaver defense made their presence felt on Utah's opening drive, turning the Utes away on a critical fourth-down in Beaver territory and imposing their will early on.
The Utes went on to have 10 straight non-scoring drives following that opening turnover on downs, and that speaks to just how difficult it was for Utah to get anything going.
Some of that is that the Utah passing attack with Nate Johnson and Bryson Barnes isn't very effective right now, but an equal part is credit to how uncomfortable the Beavers made the pair.
The Beavers may have only tallied three sacks and five tackles for loss, but they made the Utes earn every rubber pebble of artificial turf. The defensive line pressure was improved, with Sione Lolohea and Joe Golden making their presences felt.
Inside linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold was a monster in the middle, wrecking havoc on the Utah offense to the tune of a team-high nine tackles, while also securing a huge interception of Barnes with the Utes threatening in the third quarter trailing by 14.
After a questionable Ryan Cooper Jr. pass interference put Utah inside the OSU 5, the Beavers responded with two negative plays, a sack by Joe Golden, and a fumbled snap that gave Utah a 3rd and goal from the 23. Mascarenas-Arnold stepped in front of a Barnes pass and all but deflated Utah's hope of cracking the OSU defense.
Less than a week ago there were concerns abound for the defense as they simply got torched for a half of football in Pullman and played catchup the rest of the way.
Yet here Oregon State is less than a week later, holding two-time defending Pac-12 Champ and 10th-ranked Utah to seven points... The defense certainly took Bray's challenge head-on and delivered a master performance in swarming defense...
2. Offense Bounces Back, Sets The Tone On Opening Drive
Between the San Diego State and Washington State games, the Oregon State offense just felt off.
After starting off the season with solid offensive showings against San Jose State and UC Davis, the Beavers weren't as sharp as they could have been the past two weeks and it led to some sloppy offensive possessions and missed opportunities that loomed large like the WSU game. Some of it was execution, some playcalling, but ultimately, the offense wasn't as in-sync as expected.
While it wasn't a perfect offensive showing by any means in the 21-point showing against the Utes, when you consider the talent level of this Utah defense, this was a big-time response after having some costly misfires against the Cougars a week ago.
Granted, you may look at the box score and see the Beavers punted seven times and are likely wondering how one could say this was an improved offensive performance.
Well, this was more of a heavyweight slugfest between two run-based, physical defense teams where points were likely going to be at a premium. It came down to who would be able to impose their will more, and that was the Beavers...
OSU deferred the opening kickoff after winning the toss, and after the defense turned Utah over on downs inside the Beaver 35, the offense put on their hard hats and went to work chopping down the Utah defense.
After having a fumbled snap during their opening drive in Pullman a week ago, the Beaver offense was determined to find the endzone and deliver a message to the Utes right away that they weren't intimidated by their defense.
OSU went 65 yards in 11 plays and converted a third and 10 and a fourth and one to help put the Utah defense on their heels. Damien Martinez's run of 14 yards to put the Beavers inside the five, and then his four-yard scamper to put the Beavers up seven accounted for 18 of his 65 rushing yards.
Utah's defense bent for just a few brief moments on that opening drive, but that was all the room the Beavers needed to create an early 7-0 advantage before letting their defense go to work.
That 7-0 lead proved to be crucial for the Beavers as they wouldn't score again until the third quarter as the two teams exchanged short plays and drives that ended in punts.
