On Saturday, Stanford football fell to #12 Oregon State on the road by a final score of 62-17. Oregon State sophomore running back Damien Martinez led the way for the Beavers with 146 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 15 carries while also having two receptions for 16 yards. Oregon State sophomore quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei went 12-19 for 240 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Stanford redshirt freshman wide receiver Elic Ayomanor was the top performer for the Cardinal with three receptions for 122 yards and one touchdown. Oregon State improves to 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the Pac-12 while Stanford falls to 3-7 overall and 2-6 in the Pac-12.
BOX SCORE: Stanford at Oregon State-Saturday, November 11th
VIDEO: Stanford Football Press Conference | Oregon State
“Yeah, just we didn’t play well enough,” Stanford head coach Troy Taylor said after the game. “I think the effort was there. The preparation was definitely there during the week. The preparation was really good. We were into it. We just didn’t play well enough and that goes to the whole group. All of us. Coaches included and it just wasn’t good enough. Obviously, they’re an outstanding team. Really good in all phases, well coached, good players. But, our guys know that we didn’t play at the level that we would hope. We should be more competitive than that and we were not. But we will bounce back next week.”
This one was one-way traffic for the Beavers. Martinez was simply unstoppable in this one, finding the end zone for the first time on a seven yard run to make it 7-0 with 9:52 to go in the 1st quarter. That capped off a five play, 58 yard drive. Later on in the quarter, Martinez had a 59 yard rushing touchdown to make it 14-0 with 5:33 to go in the 1st quarter. That concluded a six play, 70 yard drive.
“Yeah real physical guy, runs through tackles,” Taylor said of Martinez. “He's got good speed and then up front, they're just really good. They're sound and they're physical. They come off the ball well and so that's and they're able to play action off of their base run game and hurt you downfield if you're if you're getting a little tight to the line of scrimmage. So I think it's the whole deal and their whole system, and obviously they have done a great job you know building their program and their culture up.”
To Stanford’s credit, they did find the end zone before the end of the 1st quarter as quarterback Ashton Daniels had a seven yard rushing touchdown to cap off a three play, 35 yard drive. That made it a 14-7 game with 23 seconds left in the 1st quarter. That touchdown was set up by a 22 yard gain by Daniels before he got hit out of bounds, making it half the distance to the goal. At the end of the 1st quarter, it was a 14-7 lead for the Beavers.
Early on in the 2nd quarter, Martinez found the end zone again on a 15 yard run, capping off a five play, 85 yard drive. It was now 21-7 with 13:44 to go in the 2nd quarter. After another failed Cardinal drive, the Beavers soon found the end zone again as Uiagalelei connected with Jermaine Terry II on a 40 yard touchdown completion. This capped off a two play, 53 yard drive. Oregon State now led 28-7 with 10:17 to go in the 2nd quarter.
Later on in the quarter, Stanford would tack on three points as Josh Karty made a 28 yard field goal. After that, Martinez would find the end zone for a fourth time from five yards out. As a result, Oregon State led 34-10 at halftime.
The second half was more dominance from Oregon State. Their highlight of the half and probably the game really, was a 37 yard touchdown run by Deshaun Fenwick in which he hurdled Stanford defensive back Terian Williams.
As for Stanford, Elic Ayomanor had a huge 75 yard touchdown reception on the very next drive as he had a nice little juke down the sideline plus a stiff arm before getting tackled into the end zone. After both of those plays, it was a 55-17 lead for the Beavers with 1:30 to go in the 3rd quarter.
In the end, Oregon State would win 62-17. Aiden Chiles found Riley Sharp for a 28 yard touchdown pass in the 4th quarter. That was the only scoring play of the quarter.
For Stanford, this loss was not fun. Oregon State dominated them wire to wire. The only solace they can take in this loss is that Oregon State is really good and they’ve done this to a lot of teams. I think the biggest concern is the health of the team. Specifically quarterback Ashton Daniels, who Troy Taylor said on Tuesday is day-to-day. This is one that you just have to move on from. Stanford did fight hard and it was nice for them to see Elic Ayomanor have another explosive touchdown.
Touching quickly on Oregon State, what a season they’ve had. They are one of the top teams in the nation and could win the Pac-12 championship if the stars align. It’s pretty crazy that they don’t yet have a conference next year along with Washington State. Pretty embarrassing for college athletics, to be honest.
Up next for Stanford is Big Game against Cal on Saturday. That will be on The Farm. Kickoff set for 3:30 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks and KNBR 1050 AM radio.
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