Oregon State Football Rallies to Beat Washington State 10-7 At Home
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Oregon State willed their way to victory on Saturday night in a defensive battle against their conference rival.
After Anthony Hankerson put the Beavers ahead early in the fourth quarter with a one-yard touchdown rush, it was a missed field goal that ultimately sealed WSU’s fate, and the Beavers hung on for a 10-7 victory in a low-scoring affair.
The Beaver defense came out strong from the jump, with Jaheim Patterson picking off Cougar quarterback Zevi Eckhaus on the first drive of the game. On the ensuing Washington State possession, the defense got back-to-back sacks from sophomore linebacker Shamar Meikle to stop what had been a promising drive.
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Both offenses were shut down for a good part of the first half, with the two teams trading punts back and forth. Eventually, Oregon State put together a 39-yard drive and opened the scoring with a Caleb Ojeda 35-yard field goal.
However, Jimmy Rogers’ side was able to get something going before halftime. After picking up a third-and-eight from deep in their own territory, Eckhaus orchestrated a phenomenal possession with his legs that was capped off by a Kirby Vorhees TD run. WSU went into the half up 7-3.
While there weren’t a lot of fireworks in the third quarter, there is plenty of credit that should be given to the Beaver defense. Facing an offense that put up 24 points on Washington earlier this season, Oregon State forced the Cougars into five consecutive three-and-outs to start the second half. The game went into the fourth with OSU still trailing 7-3.
With Maalik Murphy at the helm after an injury sustained by Gabarri Johnson, the Oregon State offense finally picked up steam. It started with a big pass completion from Murphy to Taz Reddicks, when Reddicks dragged his toe along the sideline to haul in a 25-yard catch. On the next play, senior halfback Anthony Hankerson broke off a huge 37-yard run to set the Beavers up at the three. Hankerson finished the drive off with a TD run a couple of plays later.
In the final six minutes of the game, things got really interesting. It started when Tony Freeman broke off a big 47-yard punt return that set the Cougars up with excellent field position. On the first few plays of the drive, WSU pounded it on the ground, and got down to the Oregon State 18.
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On third down and 4, the Beaver defense came up with a huge play. After Zevi Eckhaus rolled out to his right looking to throw, he was chased down by defensive end Nikko Taylor, who sacked Eckhaus back at the 16. Washington State then missed a 32-yarder that would’ve tied it, and OSU came away with the stop. The game was then iced away with an Anthony Hankerson first-down rush.
It was Oregon State’s second straight win against the Cougars, with both of them coming in three-point games at Reser Stadium.
The Beavers will face Washington State once again on November 29th in Pullman, where the Beavs will be looking for their first win on the Palouse since 2013.
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Ben Pahl is a sportswriter and broadcaster based in Portland, Oregon. His work covering college and professional sports has been featured by the Orange Media Network at Oregon State University as well as KBVR.fm. His other career stops in sports include the Portland Pickles baseball club and the NBA G-League's Rip City Remix.