Jonathan Smith leads Oregon State to first road win in four years

With the ball in the red zone, Colorado quarterback Steven Montez rolled to his right, but with no receivers open, he scrambled back to his left for a first down conversion inside the Beavers' 10 yard line.

However, Oregon State defensive end Jeromy Reichner forced a holding call in his pursuit of Montez, and rather than first and goal, Colorado faced 3rd and 16. The Buffaloes had to settle for a field goal, and rather than going up 38-28, Colorado held a 34-28 lead with 5:08 left in the game.

That play by Reichner may not be remembered as a key play in a game that featured a crazy, dramatic comeback, but man, was it important.

The Beavers were able to drive down the field and score a touchdown with precision passing by Jake Luton and tie the game at 34-34. Jordan Choukair's PAT was blocked, which sent the game into overtime after Colorado was unable to score on a last second field goal of their own.

Colletto's one yard rushing touchdown in overtime gave the Beavers a 41-34 lead, and a Montez incomplete pass ended the game in a Beaver victory.

A Beaver ROAD victory. OSU snapped 22 road game losing streak with the victory over Colorado.

"It is huge to win a game," Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith said. "I did feel like our coaches have been doing a great job of continuing to stay positive with these guys and telling them the truth on how they can improve.

"You also have to give credit to these kids. I mean, they know what they are reading out there in regards to what is coming and the opportunities we have had and missed on. So I do think that we have a good vibe around practice and the day-to-day. Like I said, I like our work through the work week and then to come out on top is huge."

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It's no secret that Oregon State has not been able to figure out the quarterback position since Sean Mannion broke records for the Beavers, but Luton had the best Oregon State QB performance in a long time. Yes, Marcus McMaryion had a heck of a game against Arizona in 2016, but that was against a horrid Wildcats' defense.

Luton throwing for 310 yards and three touchdowns on 28-of-39 passing in just a half of football to bring OSU back from 31-3 on the road for the Beavs' first road win in four years is a thing of legend.

"This feeling I’m feeling right now is something like never before," Luton said. "It’s amazing to take the road that I’ve taken and be able to come here and still play with this team that I love playing with. They battled so hard today and it’s an amazing feeling."

Jack Colletto got the start for the Beavers and played admirably, but he's clearly not of the same caliber as Luton as a quarterback. Luton had missed the past few games with an ankle injury, and Smith explained why Luton didn't get the start against CU.

"He was just in such a limited fashion mobility wise," Smith explained. "You could kind of see it out there. And so it got to halftime and it was like, 'Let’s try something here and go.' In hindsight, 20-20, yeah you would like to put him in earlier but I'm happy for that kid too. He has been through a lot injury wise ... I couldn’t be more happy for him."

Smith is a pretty even-keel guy, but after the Colorado win, he couldn't help but celebrate.

"There was a lot of excitement; the kids were fired up," Smith said about the postgame locker room celebration. "Obviously, a lot of hugs with those guys, especially the senior class. They have been through so much."

Watch Smith and the players celebrate in the video below.

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