Oregon State Dominated in Tulsa, Falling To 2-9 in 2025
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Oregon State's dismal 2025 football season continued on Saturday with a 31-14 loss to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.
It took until the fourth quarter for the Beavers to score with OSU giving three different quarterbacks a shot at leading the offense. The most successful was true freshman Tristan Ti'a, who completed eight passes on 11 attempts for 141 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, the Beavers had no answer for Tulsa's running game, which accounted for 283 yards and three touchdowns. Dominic Richardson alone carried 27 times for 166 yards and a touchdown.
The highlight of the game for Oregon State was Anthony Hankerson surpassing the 1,000-yard mark on the season, making him just the sixth Beavers running back in program history to rush for over 1,000 yards in back-to-back season.
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From the jump, Tulsa looked more ready to rise to the occasion. Oregon State's first three offensive drives ended in punts, with the fourth resulting in a turnover on downs at midfield. Meanwhile the Tulsa offense put together two quick touchdown drives to open the game, giving them a 14-0 lead to start the second quarter.
On the Beavers' first possession of the second quarter, they managed to run eight plays, traveling only 29 yards and burning 3:49 off of the clock. Gabarri Johnson shanked a quick kick, giving Tulsa the ball at the 50-yard line. A long run from Baylor Hayes helped them get down to the seven before kicking a field goal to go up 17-0.
The Beavers early offensive struggles prompted the coachign staff to pull Johnson and give Maalik Murphy another shot at quarterback. It mattered little with the Beavers punting two more times before the end of the half.
At the half, it was revealed that Johnson was dealing with an undisclosed injury and would not return to the game.
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Tulsa began the second half with a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to extend their lead. Oregon State attempted to answer, putting together their longest dive of the day to that point, going 63 yards in 11 plays. However, that was stalled out with a turnover on downs inside of Tulsa's 30-yard line.
To answer, Tulsa drove back into Oregon State territory, where a botched snap on a field goal attempt resulted in a turnover on downs with 2:14 remaining in the third.
In the fourth quarter, Tulsa would again add to their lead with a 31-yard touchdown rush by Ajay Allen. Murphy himself would exit the game in favor of Tristan Ti'a. Ti'a would engineer an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive for the Beavers, capped by a three-yard toss to Trent Walker. The two-point conversion attempt would be unsuccessful.
The Oregon State defense then forced a pun followed by another successful drive by Tia, who drove 86-yards in ten plays and hit David Wells Jr. for a four-yard touchdown reception.
OSU will fall to 2-9 on the year. While the Beavers made them look like a much better team, Tulsa improve to 3-7 in 2025.
Oregon State will be idle next weekend before they close out the regular season on Saturday, November 29 in Pullman against the Washington State Cougars.
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Joe Londergan joined the SI brand in 2023 with G5 Football Daily. With over 15 years of experience in covering and working directly in college and pro sports, Joe's expertise has been featured in Front Office Sports, SB Nation, and XRAY.FM. He is a member of both the Football Writers' Association of America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association. Joe holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville and a master's degree in sports administration from Seattle University. Outside of his writing career, Joe enjoys golfing, although he admits that while he hits driver decently, his short game is a liability.
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