Dillon Gabriel Surgical in 49-14 Throttling of Oregon State

On a balmy 72-degree day in Corvallis, the 128th installment of the Civil War was played without conference implications for the first time in the rivalry’s history. 

First Quarter

Oregon State received the opening kickoff and after two false start penalties the Beavers were forced into a field goal attempt that was deflected by Oregon around the 25-yard line.

Oregon took over on its own 26-yard line and marched down the field with short and intermediate passes to wide receivers Tez Johnson and Traeshon Holden layered between quality runs from Jordan James. That ultimately landed the Ducks in the end zone to make it 7-0 with 6:39 left in the first quarter. Oregon State then received the Ducks’ kickoff at its own 25 and after marching down the field with the run game, the Beavers punched it in with Anthony Hankersonto tie the game at seven as the first quarter came to a close.

Second Quarter

The Ducks took the first possession of the second quarter and Dillon Gabriel sprinted around the left side of the offensive line on an option play that went 54 yards for an Oregon touchdown. A two-point conversion that was quickly tossed to Kenyon Sadiq, making it 15-7 Ducks with 13:36 left in the quarter.

A short Beavers’ drive failed to net any conversions and Oregon State punted back to the Ducks with 10:48 left on the clock. A nice blend of short passes and runs got Oregon inside the 20, where Gabriel found Holden at the back of the end zone for a Ducks touchdown that made it 22-7 roughly halfway through the second quarter.

Oregon State’s ensuing drive burned the remaining six and a half minutes of the half with almost exclusively runs that netted the Beavers a one-yard touchdown from Hankerson to make it 22-14 with under 20 seconds to go. The Ducks knelt it out to take a 22-14 lead into halftime.

Third Quarter

Oregon fielded the second-half kickoff to start the third quarter and put together a nice drive with primarily short passes that ended in an Atticus Sappington field goal to make it 25-14 Ducks at the 10:25 mark of the third quarter.

The Beavers made a questionable decision to return Oregon’s ensuing kickoff and started the drive at their own 15-yard line, which led to a quick three-and-out and punt back to the Ducks. Oregon started the next drive at its own 25 and Johnson torched the Oregon State secondary multiple times before James converted a goal-to-go carry that made it 32-14 with 4:36 remaining in the third quarter.

Oregon State picked up possession at its own 22-yard line and had a third-down pass batted down to force another rapid three-and-out.

Fourth Quarter

Noah Whittington ripped off a long touchdown run off the left side to give Oregon a commanding 39-14 lead with 14:52 left in the game. Oregon State regained possession at its own 25 in need of a quick score and instead went three-and-out in a hurry, handing the Ducks the ball back with 12:22.

Instead of marching steadily down the field as one would’ve expected, a short screen pass to running back Jayden Limar went 65 yards and gave Oregon a quick-strike touchdown to make it 46-14 with about 10 minutes left on the clock. Another stalled drive from Oregon State gave Ducks quarterback Dante Moore his first snaps of the season, and Sappington tacked on another three points to cap off a 49-14 win for Oregon over the rival Beavers.