Oregon State Football Collapses in Second Half To Hand Sam Houston First Win of 2025
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Oregon State snapped a two-game win streak on Saturday night when they were defeated 21-17 by the previously winless Sam Houston Bearkats.
Despite OSU posting 474 yards of offense compared to just 157 by the visitors from Conference USA, it wasn't enough. The Bearkats forced three takeaways and stopped the Beavers on fourth down three times to help put themselves in position for the win.
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Once again, special teams mistakes played a huge part in the Beavers' unfortunate evening. While Sam Houston missed both of their field goal attempts on the evening, the Beavers missed two of their three attempts. OSU also allowed a kickoff to be returned for a touchdown and had a punt blocked for a touchdown.
The Beavers opened the game with a six-play, 71-yard touchdown drive, helped along by a 30-yard completion from Gabrri Johnson to Eddie Freuff. That catch set the Beavers up at the two-yard line and Anthony Hankerson pushed into the end zone for a rushing score on the next play.
After Oregon State forced a punt from the Bearkats on their first possession, the offense again marched into Sam Houston territory before Caleb Ojeda made a 33-yard field goal.
Oregon State's defense again stepped up forcing a turnover on downs near midfield three minutes later, followed by the two teams trading punts. The Beavers ran one play with five seconds left in the first quarter, which resulted in a lost fumble by Trent Walker deep in OSU territory. That Sam Houston possession resulted in a missed field goal attempt from 29 yards away.
The Beavers took over after the missed field goal and drove 80 yards in 11 plays, burning 6:33 off of the clock. Hankerson added his second touchdown rush of the day, this time from 13 yards.
Sam Houston punted again after five plays, giving OSU the ball back with 4:43 left in the first half. Johnson was intercepted by SHSU's Dravon Wilson and returned into OSU territory. On the next play, Mabrey Mettauer connected with Chris Reed for a 35-yard touchdown.
On the Beavers' ensuing possession, Gabarri Johnson scrambled for 21 yards to get to the Sam Houston 32 with six seconds left. Instead of attempting a field goal, the Beavers opted to run a play. Trent Walker caught a short pass from Johnson and just barely got out of bounds with one second left (it was determined after review). That led to a field goal attempt by Ojeda from 42 yards, which was hooked badly wide left. The Beavers led 17-7 at the break.
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After the opening kickoff of the second half resulted in offsetting penalties, Max Walker returned the second kick 63 yards to the house for the Bearkats, which seemed like a whole new energy for the game.
Oregon State followed that up with another miss from Ojeda, this time going wide right from 46 yards.
Two missed field goals in a row prompted the Beavers to go for it on fourth-and-six in the red zone on their next possession, which they failed to convert.
On the opening play of the fourth quarter, Sam Houston ended a 14-play drive with another missed field goal attempt. After the two sides traded punts, the Bearkats blocked an Oregon State punt attempt and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown to take the lead.
The Beavers then drove 65 yards into the red zone. From the ten, Johnson found a wide open Hankerson on what would likely have been a touchdown, but Hankerson dropped it before he could complete the catch and turn upfield. Fortunately for the Beavers, their defense forced a punt from the back of the end zone. However, Johnson threw another pick, followed by Mettauer throwing his own interception right back into the Beavs hands. With 1:23 remaining on the SHSU 28, Oregon State ran four plays and only made it five yards.
As the final pass intended for Trent Walker fell to the ground with 33 seconds remaining. A collective groan ran out from Beaver fans in realization they had handed previously 0-8 Sam Houston their first victory of the season.
Oregon State will fall to 2-8 on the season with the loss. Their penultimate road trip of the season will take them to Tulsa, Oklahoma for a November 15 contest against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.
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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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