Oregon State Beavers 5-3 Overall (3-2 Conference)

This Week’s Score: Oregon State 26 – UCLA 19

Next Week’s Opponent: @Cal

This just in; this Jacquizz Rodgers guy is really, really good!

Well, I guess that isn’t “just in”. It’s been pretty clear since day one. But for anyone who needed yet another reminder, ‘Quizz went ahead and put on a show last week. Rodgers racked up 112 yards on 24 carries and 92 yards on seven catches; 204 yards on 31 touches, which is pretty damn good. But that wasn’t all; he also added a 14-yard touchdown pass.

The touchdown pass was the only passing touchdown of the game, but Sean Canfield still had another excellent game, completing 74% of his passes (25/34) for 305 yards. James Rodgers was on the receiving end of 106 of those yards (on 10 catches), and also rushed for 28 yards and a touchdown. Justin Kahut rounded out the scoring with four field goals.

With a 16-0 lead at the half and a 16-3 lead at the end of the third quarter, the Beavers looked to be on their way to a comfortable win, but the wheels fell off defensively in the fourth quarter. After taking the 19-3 lead, UCLA scored two TDs (and converted on both 2-point conversions) to tie the game, but the Beavers avoided overtime with a masterful 7-play 70 yard touchdown drive that took only 01:16 to produce.

While there isn’t too much to complain about in picking up the win, there were a few red flags raised in this one. For one, Oregon State’s inability to finish drives with seven; don’t want to complain too much about scoring drives in any form, but the Beavers had five drives end in field goal attempts (one missed) to only two touchdown drives. Secondly, the defense has been a concern this year, and letting the Bruins get back into the game could have come back to bite them.

If the Beavers can do a better job finishing their drives and putting together a strong defensive effort for all four quarters, they’ll have a great shot at upsetting the Cal Bears next Saturday.