Oregon State claims Pac-12 ‘title’ with win over No. 25 Washington State

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Buddah Al-Uqdah bent his knees and reached out his arms, wearing a huge smile in the Oregon State end zone. That’s where he had just taken an interception for a touchdown, giving No. 25 Washington State the lead in Saturday’s fourth quarter, and he had to take a moment to celebrate.

So the Cougars’ standout linebacker did his best Spider-Man impression, pretending to shoot webs out of his palms. His teammates crowded around him, bathing in the moment. Their defense had languished much of this one. This was their finest moment of the game.

But WSU’s defense couldn’t make it count, not in a 41-38 loss to Oregon State, which got a 55-yard field goal from Everett Hayes with 20 seconds left. The Cougs got the ball back with that much time to spare, but without any timeouts, their desperation attempt to tie the game fell short.

“First and foremost our guys gave us everything they had. I’m proud of them. I loved the way they responded this week, I thought we had a great week of practice. I appreciated this effort,” Cougars coach Jake Dickert said. “This is a players’ game and they made one more play down the stretch.”

That sequence was set up when the game swung in the biggest way with less than two minutes to play. That’s when WSU quarterback John Mateer lasered a pass over the middle to senior receiver Kyle Williams, who was stripped of the ball on his way down, and Oregon State recovered. That gave the Beavers the ball at midfield with a shade under two minutes to play, a golden opportunity to go win the game, and they cashed in.

It’s the second straight loss for the Cougars (8-3), who dropped a game last weekend to New Mexico. This is a different type of setback, to OSU, which had lost five straight coming into this game. The Beavers’ 41 points are their most all season.

Late in the fourth stanza, the Beavers punctuated a 16-play, 8:34-drive with a short touchdown pass from Ben Gulbranson to Darrius Clemons, who dove to the turf to make the catch. That knotted the game at 38-all with 2 minutes, 45 seconds to play.

Al-Uqdah’s interception came moments after WSU tied the game. That was thanks to a short touchdown rush from quarterback Mateer, who surged in from short yardage, helping snap WSU out of the type of second-half drought that has followed the Cougs around all season. For the game, he totaled 75 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.

It all added up to a back-and-forth affair at Reser Stadium, where WSU’s defense shared a big chunk of blame for Oregon State’s 21-point half, taking a 21-17 lead into the halftime break. It was the Beavers’ highest scoring first half all season, and to that point, they had tallied more points in the first half than their previous three games combined.

The Cougars’ defense made the Beavers’ offense look like anything but the depleted unit it is. Their starting quarterback was Gulbranson, who completed 22-of-32 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions, and backup Gabarri Johnson added five carries for 11 yards and one touchdown, which came in the first quarter.

The mistakes were plentiful. In the first frame, WSU couldn’t bring down the mobile Johnson, missing a pair of tackles on a 15-yard touchdown rush. OSU set up its shorter scoring plays, a 1-yard plunge from running back Salahadin Allah in the second quarter and a 1-yard surge from Gulbranson in the second, with big plays. In the second quarter, the Beavers converted a third-and-long with a 17-yard pass, and later in the frame, Gulbranson completed two passes of 20-plus yards.

“They were just so far ahead of us on fourth downs,” said Dickert, whose team allowed Oregon State to convert each of its final fourth-down chances. “They were ahead of us on third down and obviously I thought we did a good job stopping their run game. They came out with (Johnson) and ran the same New Mexico play as last week. It’s what we thought they were gonna do.”

But WSU’s offense had an answer nearly every time. The Cougs tied the game in the first quarter with a 28-yard pass from quarterback John Mateer to Carlos Hernandez. Later in the second quarter, after kicker Dean Janikowski salvaged a drive with a 33-yard field goal, Mateer found his way into the end zone on a short QB keeper.

But the Cougs’ highlight of the game — maybe of the season — came courtesy of senior receiver Kyle Williams. It arrived in the third quarter, when Mateer completed a quick out to Williams, who freed himself with one juke and took it 57 yards to the end zone, ripping an imaginary chainsaw to celebrate. It’s his third straight game scoring, and it was his seventh touchdown in three games.

Washington State’s regular-season finale is Nov. 30 at home against Wyoming.

Washington St. 7 10 7 14—38

Oregon St. 7 14 10 10—41

First Quarter

ORST: G.Johnson 15 run (Hayes kick), 7:05.

WSU: Hernandez 28 pass from Mateer (D.Janikowski kick), 4:19.

Second Quarter

WSU: FG D.Janikowski 33, 13:31.

ORST: Allah 1 run (Hayes kick), 7:06.

WSU: Mateer 3 run (D.Janikowski kick), 1:04.

ORST: Gulbranson 1 run (Hayes kick), :13.

Third Quarter

ORST: FG Hayes 46, 11:29.

WSU: Ky.Williams 57 pass from Mateer (D.Janikowski kick), 9:57.

ORST: Terry 43 pass from Gulbranson (Hayes kick), 1:41.

Fourth Quarter

WSU: Mateer 4 run (D.Janikowski kick), 12:04.

WSU: Al-Uqdah 26 interception return (D.Janikowski kick), 11:19.

ORST: Clemons 4 pass from Gulbranson (Hayes kick), 2:45.

ORST: FG Hayes 55, :20.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Washington St., Mateer 14-75, Parker 9-48, Ky.Williams 1-10, Hutson 1-4, Schlenbaker 1-2, (Team) 1-(minus 1), Pulalasi 1-(minus 4). Oregon St., Hankerson 23-83, G.Johnson 6-47, Allah 8-29, Gulbranson 5-11, Reichle 1-0.

PASSING — Washington St., Mateer 17-23-0-249. Oregon St., Gulbranson 22-34-2-294, G.Johnson 1-2-0-20.

RECEIVING — Washington St., Ky.Williams 5-101, Hutson 5-65, Meredith 4-43, Hernandez 2-32, Mathers 1-8. Oregon St., T.Walker 12-136, Terry 5-92, Hankerson 2-30, Reddicks 1-24, (Team) 1-15, Noga 1-13, Clemons 1-4.

MISSED FIELD GOALS — None.