Beavers Pull Off Reser Miracle, 41-38
By Ken Woody
In one of the most thrilling games in Reser Stadium history, Oregon State, an underdog with a five-game losing streak and poor reviews for both offense and defense, scored ten points in the last two minutes to edge Washington State 41-38 on a clutch 55-yard field goal by Everett Hayes with twenty seconds left on the clock. The win gave the Beavers the mythical championship of what is left of the Pac-12 Conference of Champions.
The game never lacked for excitement. The Cougars’ quarterback John Mateer, who has a bazooka for an arm, threw amazingly accurate throws all over the yard and the only things stopping WSU’s offense were personal fouls and two fumbles. Oregon State did not punt once and the Cougars only twice in a game that had 12 ties or lead changes. OSU was much more efficient converting third downs: 7-of-15 to WSU’s 2-of-7 and most importantly, fourth-down conversions 1-of-1 for the Cougars and the Beavers 4-of-5.
Oregon State, prior to this contest, lacking an effective defense and a somnolent offense, got on the board first, 7-0, after forcing the Cougars to punt on their first possession. Beaver quarterback Ben Gulbranson was orange-hot, completing 10-of-10 attempts for 153 yards and several third-down conversions in the first half; and for OSU, something new– no sacks. The Beavers’ offensive line looked confident and backed it up protecting Gulbranson from start to finish. The Cougars resorted to the blitz many times and the front wall was resolute, especially aided by the head-on, face-to-face blitz pickups of linebackers by OSU running backs with protection responsibilities.
After the Cougars tied the score, the lead changed hands four times in a half of football that each team only had four possessions. At the half it was OSU 21, WSU 17 and Cougar quarterback John Mateer was doing pretty good, too: 12-of-14 attempts for 142 yards, no picks, and one touchdown. The Beavers could not get any pressure on Mateer except a couple of third-down runs that they turned into losses. Mateer has a lazer-like release and the OSU secondary struggled to keep up with WSU receivers; one of whom, Kris Hutson, was a former transfer from Oregon.
The only thing stopping OSU in the first half was when the Cougars stiffened and took over at midfield on a fourth-and-two. Although Hutson had a 31-yard reception to end the first quarter, the Beavers dug in and forced a field goal that kept the Cougars’ lead to three points instead of seven. This was a key turning point in a game that produced nearly 900 yards total offense and 79 points.
As you observe Mateer’s exceptional athletic ability in action, it’s hard to imagine Washington State ever being prevented from scoring. He was at his best scrambling and dodging OSU tacklers who ran themselves ragged trying to keep up with him. Mateer had only 21:28 of ball possession for the game, to throw five completions over 15+ yards and direct the Cougs to six rushing plays over 10+ yards that included four of his own.
The Beavers played guts ball the whole night. Their defense is thin and absent of dynamic players that have made defense a liability for OSU. The corner backs had a difficult time staying with the speed of WSU’s receivers and the defensive front seven could not get pressure past the Cougar’s offensive line. The only times OSU got to Mateer was with penetration on short running plays that might have been better if a running back was primary and not the quarterback.
The story of the game was Ben Gulbranson, who was 10-for-10 and 153 yards in the first half and got even better in the second half when it was needed most. He out-passed Mateer 314 yards to 250; had two touchdown throws and led the previously-impotent Beaver offense to scoring drives of 55, 78, 91, and 75 yards. He had ten passing plays of 15+ yards, to lead a rushing offense that had five plays of 10+ yards. In all Oregon State had nine plays of 20+ yards, and had the crowd of 38,008 on its feet most of the game. Mateer spent a majority of the game on the sidelines, observing the Beavers’ offense march up and down the field; amazingly, OSU had the ball for 28 more plays than WSU, 79 to 51.
The Cougars had better athletes and speed on defense and scored a touchdown on a 29-yard pick to put WSU in the lead, 38-31 in the fourth quarter. Gulbranson composed himself and brought the Beavs right back on a 75-yard drive that used up 8:34 of the quarter to tie things up at 38.
Mateer and the Cougars had the ball on their 25 and fans held their breath; there was plenty of time (2:45) for a score, and the quarterback rushed up the middle for a first down; he seemed to be the fastest player on the field when he took off against a spread-out secondary. On the next play, Mateer fired a bullet to Kyle Williams who headed up field where he collided with freshman defensive back Exodus Ayers who forced a fumble that tackle Semiai Saluni recovered. The play was reviewed for upwards of eight minutes and ruled a fumble, Beavers’ ball.
Oregon State ran eight plays in a minute-and-a-half for 12 yards, every one precious to the most valuable player wearing black and orange—kicker Everett Hayes who had been money on all his chances to that point. WSU coach Jake Dickert, who had badly mismanaged the clock last week in an upset loss to New Mexico, used all his time outs this time and helped raise the heart rates of all who were looking on. Hayes was methodical, disciplined, and perfect, from 55 yards that could have been good even further away.
Give the Beaver student body credit: they stayed through thick and thin and had to be admonished to stay off the field for the next 20 seconds. Some scribes had it figured Mateer would engineer at least a field goal try during the remaining time: perhaps a bullet back shoulder for 20 yards to the 45-yard line and a 15-yarder to the 40 and then a 57-yard field goal to tie and send the game to overtime.
One gets nervous even thinking of such a scenario, but the Cougs pulled off a multi-lateral desperation last gasp and Kyle Williams lost a second fumble and that was that: the fanatical burst of mostly orange engulfed their heroes and began a celebration that in some parts of Corvallis, is still going on.
Sad to see the Cougar squad dejected and defeated. In many ways they had themselves to blame. They were undisciplined in the poise department: incurring seven penalties for 71 yards and halting offensive momentum and defensively, giving a break to the Oregon State offense. Washington State had several unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and each one was a gift for the Beavers.
A prime example was after the Cougars went ahead 17-14 right before halftime. On the score, an emotionally challenged offensive lineman forgot for the moment he was in a college football game (and not a professional game, with different rules), and spiked the football in the end zone, in front of the vanquished opponent, and a referee, good for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty on the kickoff.
Everyone, including the noisy youngsters in the press box, knew that with a kickoff 15 yards further back the Beavers would likely be able to return the kickoff and get some decent field position for a field goal. It got even better: Gulbranson was cool and drove the offense 61 yards in 44 seconds and instead of going into the locker room behind, the Beavers were ahead 21-17 and knowing in their hearts, they were good enough, on this night, to win. Disastrously for the Cougars, they were behind, on the road, the crowd was in it, and they were stuck in a dog fight—don’t let your opponent go into halftime believing they have a chance to win.
After the game, head coach Trent Bray actually smiled, probably because he had witnessed his team actually playing competitive football; always a satisfaction for a first-year coach with a new team. It’s a struggle to sell it when you’ve lost five in a row, but it’s a big step for a program racked with misfortune from losing their coach last year and a lot of faint-hearts who followed into that wonderland known as the “Transfer Portal.”
The bad news for the Beavers is that they lost much of their team to the Transfer Portal after last season. When this year’s competition is done, the Transfer Portal will be open to serve the Beaver Nation and like a lot of other teams in the country this year have done, coach Bray will have opportunities of bringing in young lads who will watch the films of this game and want a piece of the action. In. the meantime, OSU has an opportunity of winning its last game against Boise State behind a quarterback who can light things up and a kicker who can win games with 55-yard field goals. It’s your choice to believe it or not, but it’s beautiful when the coach can instill the notion with his players, it’s what you build on for the future.
Ken Woody coached college football for 18 years as an assistant at Oregon, Washington, Utah State and Washington State and as a head coach at Whitman College and Washington University-St. Louis. He conducts a coaching clinic, free to all, at the 6th Street Grill every Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. during the season. Plays from Oregon games are analyzed, there are scouting reports for opponents, and highlights from referees; all to learn and enjoy football and understand why the Ducks win or lose.
Questions and comments welcomed.
Contact Ken at: woody8783@comcast.net
