5 takeaways from Oregon State’s loss to Boise State

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As the Oregon State football team (5-7) fell 34-18 to No. 11 Boise State (11-1) on Friday morning, BeaversEdge offers five key takeaways from the win…

MORE: RECAP – Beavers fall to Boise in final

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After a spirited 41-38 victory over Washington State that breathed much-needed life into the Oregon State football team, the Beavers fought to the bitter end in their regular season finale, a 34-18 loss to No. 11 Boise State Broncos.

While you can’t name or identify a single play that would have turned this 16-point game in the Beavers’ favor, you can’t deny that they had their chances to put pressure on Boise, and who knows what would have come of it there.

You have to start with the opening drive of the game, where the Broncos had a fourth down and one they settled on at the OSU 25. From the perspective I was shown on TV, BSU running back Ashton Jeanty seemed to come up a little short, but after measuring and taking a second look, he hit the first ball with one of the smallest clearances I’ve ever seen.

That could have immediately given the Beavers the ball and momentum at 0-0, but the Broncos scored a touchdown four plays later to take a 7-0 lead.

While that was just one sequence, it ended up being a microcosm of how the game would ultimately play out, with the Beavers falling short but fighting every step of the way.

The Beavers defense had moments against Ashton Jeanty and Boise State’s offense, but the Beavers’ inability to get off the field was also a significant part of the game overall. Boise State went 8 of 15 on third downs, so the Beavers did a good job of forcing them into those situations, but they converted far too many thirds and longs. The Broncos also went a smooth 2-of-3 on third downs.

Oregon State, on the other hand, took too long for its offense to get going in this game, and when it did, it wasn’t as efficient as it needed to be to get back into a contest like this against a talented top-25 team at home to get in.

The Beavers went 3 of 13 on third down and 1 of 5 on fourth down, telling the story of an offense that struggled to put drives together. The offense also took some time to get going, as the first two drives totaled six yards and the third only 34 yards, all of which ended in punts.

The Beavers broke through on Anthony Hankerson’s big TD run on their fourth drive (more on that in #2) and were right back in the contest, but had a massive defensive error just before halftime (more on that too). ), which may have ultimately put the game out of reach.

Back to the inconsistencies on offense: The Beavers came out of halftime trailing 21-7, going out of bounds three times in just three plays and gaining just four yards. If you want to get the ball out of the break from a good field position, you have to execute it there if you want to cause a surprise.

Boise was on the field more often in this game and made the most of the many other opportunities. They won time of possession 35 to 25 and played 24 more plays than the Beavers.

To their credit, Oregon State’s offense didn’t go down without a fight, as Ben Gulbranson took care of the ball, going 21 of 37 for 226 yards and a score without a turnover, but the Beavers just couldn’t get enough going on offense, despite skillful play at times, against a good Boise defense.

Another one of those oh-so-close plays came when the Beavers were down nine early in the fourth quarter… After forcing Boise to punt on their previous drive, the Beavers had a real chance and time to make Boise sweat a bit.

However, after being cornered with a long sack on second down, the Beavers went for it on fourth-and-10 with essentially the game on the line. Gulbranson’s pass was timely, but David Wells couldn’t get his foot down as he caught the ball on the sideline. It’s a play that receivers are taught all the time, and even though the game didn’t come down to that one play, it was a brutal way to see the semi-comeback fail.

Overall, you have to give this Beaver team credit for finishing the year because the fight in this group was measurable…It was a noticeable difference from the last road game against Air Force and the last two road games. including Cal…

Credit goes to the coaching staff and leadership of this team… They finished the season fighting to the bitter end, going down with a vengeance to the Broncos.

After the game’s first two drives totaled six yards and six plays, resulting in punts, and the third drive went just 34 yards in seven plays and was negated by penalties (more on that to come), the Beavers needed something on offense to stay in the game and trailed 14-0.

Anthony Hankerson gave the Beavers more than a little, as he provided arguably the most electrifying home run touchdown run of the season as he raced 83 yards down the sideline, eluding several Boise State defenders and adding much-needed life to the Beavers’ effort Now they’re down 14-7 with less than two minutes left in the half. The Beavers got the ball and opened the second period.

It was the fifth-longest run in Oregon State history and the longest run by a running back since Ryan Nall’s 89-yard touchdown in 2016 against Washington State, which pushed Hankerson over the 1,000-yard mark that season.

As it turns out, the Beavers may have scored too quickly. Once they faced a one-point lead, we saw perhaps the most accurate and clutch version of Boise.

They covered 75 yards in eight plays, taking just 1:28 to do so. Madsen and the passing attack regularly found holes in the secondary as the Broncos made their way downfield. They finally set up a touchdown pass on third-and-six with just over 20 seconds left.

While it was only one score, it could have been two or three. After Hankerson gave the Beavers a chance to fight, the defense allowed Madsen to run a perfect two-minute drill, which made the difference in the ball game.

Hankerson got the Lions’ share of his yards on that big 83-yard touchdown, but finished the game with 110 yards and a score on 11 carries, and he deserves a lot of the credit for getting this Beaver offense going brought.