Oregon State picks up their second win over a ranked team thanks to big games from DJ Uiagalelei and Jack Velling.
UCLA came into Corvallis 4-1 and ranked 18th in the AP poll. With losses ahead of them in the college football rankings, the Bruins presented a great opportunity to give the Beavers a boost, and Oregon State did not disappoint, capitalizing on big plays on both sides of the ball to pull off a 36-24 win and move to 6-1 in the standings.
UCLA took the opening kickoff, but after picking up a first down, quarterback Dante Moore was picked off by the Akili Arnold, giving the Beavers the ball at the 34. The Beaver drive stalled out at the UCLA 18, but Atticus Sappington gave Oregon State the first points of the game with a field goal.
After a three and out for UCLA, the Beavers got the ball back and DJ Uiagalelei quickly got OSU into UCLA territory with a 25 yard pass to Rweha Munyagi Jr. After the drive stalled at the UCLA 35, the Beavers went for it on 4th down and Uiagalelei picked up the first with a 10 yard completion to Anthony Gould. A few plays later Sappington added another field goal for Oregon State.
On their next drive, the Bruins moved the ball up to midfield before a tipped Dante Moore pass ended up in the hands of Andrew Chatfield Jr. and the Beavers got the ball at the UCLA 21. This time the Beavers would not be denied the end zone, as Aiden Chiles completed a pass to Jack Velling for Oregon State’s first touchdown of the game. At the end of the first quarter, the Beavers led 13-0.
At the start of the second quarter, the Bruins brought Colin Schlee in at QB, and Schlee managed to get UCLA into the Beavers red zone with a series of big runs. Dante Moore then returned to the game, and got the Bruins a touchdown with a pass to Logan Loya. 13-7 Beavers.
Oregon State’s next drive started well enough, with DJ Uiagalelei connecting with Silas Bolden for a first down. On the next play, Deshaun Fenwick fumbled the ball after an 11 yard gain, with UCLA”s Oluwafemi Oladejo recovering at the OSU 47. The Beaver defense managed to hold the Bruins to a field goal, but momentum had definitely swung in UCLA’s favor.
With the Beavers In need of a big drive, Damien Martinez started the next series with nice 14 yard run. Uiagalelei moved the Beavers offense quickly upfield with passes to Silas Bolden and Anthony Gould, and another Damien Martinez run put Oregon State inside the UCLA 10 yard line. Unfortunately, UCLA’s red zone defense once again proved too stingy for the Beavers, and OSU settled for another Atticus Sappington field goal, giving them a 16-10 lead.
With 2 minutes to go in the half UCLA’s offense moved quickly, determined to take the lead or at least cut the margin to a field goal. Dante Moore got the Bruins moving quickly hooking up with Kam Brown for a pair of first downs and then taking the ball into Beaver territory himself with a 16 yard run. Then, on the next play, Oregon State’s Ryan Cooper Jr. perfectly read a Moore pass, stepping in front of a ball intended for J. Michael Sturdivant and took the interception all the way to the house. The touchdown gave the Beavers a 23-10 lead at the half.
The Beavers got the ball first in the second half, but get a drive going. The Bruins took over, but also couldn’t generate much in the way of offense. The Beavers got the ball back, and started their drive with a 15 yard Damien Martinez rush op the middle. Then, DJ Uigalelei connected with Silas Bolden for a beautiful 43 yard bomb and another Beaver touchdown. The Beaver attempt at a 2 point conversion failed, giving them a 29-10 lead.
UCLA responded quickly, with five straight running plays taking them from their own 31 to the Beaver endzone. Collin Schlee continued to confound the Beaver defense, with 34 yards of rushing on the drive, whileTJ Harden capped off the series with a 9 yard run for the touchdown, cutting the OSU lead to 29-17.
Oregon State needed a response, and got one pretty quickly. A 41 yard pass from Uiagalelei to Jack Velling got them in UCLA territory, and then a 32 yard pass from Uiagalelei to Velling gave the Beavers a touchdown. This time OSU just took the extra point, as well as a 36-17 lead.
On the next UCLA drive the Beavers managed to slow down the Bruins, but couldn’t get a stop. UCLA did burn a lot of time off the clock, but a key 4th down pick up in OSU territory got the Bruins into the red zone as the third quarter ended. UCLA finished the drive right at the start of the fourth, with a rushing touchdown from Carston Steele. The extra point cut the OSU lead to 36-24.
Penalties became a problem on Oregon State’s next drive. Two holding calls impeded the Beavers’ efforts to burn time off the clock. They managed to overcome the first penalty, with a 19 yard catch from Anthony Gould, but the second killed the drive.
A Beaver penalty also started the Bruins drive, when a roughing the passer call gave the Bruins a first down on their own 41. The Bruins once again steadily moved the ball up the field, but Oregon State made them pay for every yard, draining about five minutes off the clock. A Dante Moore pass to Moliki Matavao for 34 yards put UCLA in the red zone, but the Beavers forced a 4th down.
Down two scores with less than 6 minutes left in the game, the Bruins had to go for it, but a pair of false starts made it a tough one; 4th and 18. Calvin Hart Jr. sacked Moore to give the Beavers the ball back at the Oregon State 30. The Beavers held onto their 12 point lead with 5:45 left on the clock.
Oregon State managed to burn some time on the next drive, with a few big plays from Damien Martinez giving the Beavers a big boost. Penalties limited the Beaver attack once again, and the Bruins got the ball back with 3:24 left in the game, needing two scores.
They started on their own 8, and ultimately could not move fast enough. Dante Moore got the ball into OSU territory with a 27 yard pass to Logan Loya with 2 minutes left on the clock, but a holding penalty set the Bruins back. On the next set of downs UCLA’s pocket kept collapsing, with two straight sacks and two hurried passes ending the game in a 36-24 Oregon State win.
Next week the Beavers will be back on the road, travelling to Tucson to take on Arizona. The Wildcats are 4-2 overall and 2-2 in the Pac-12. This weekend they picked up a big 44-6 win over Washington State. It’ll be an interesting matchup for the Beavers.
