On Saturday, Stanford football fell to Oregon State by a final score of 35-14. Oregon State junior running back B.J. Baylor was the top rusher for the Beavers with 80 rushing yards and 1 touchdown while sophomore quarterback Chance Nolan went 19-25 for 257 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions for a 188.8 rating.
In his first career start, Stanford true freshman quarterback Ari Patu went 7-14 for 51 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception for an 89.9 rating. Patu’s lone touchdown pass was to sophomore tight end Benjamin Yurosek who had just 2 receptions for 27 yards. Stanford junior running back Nathaniel Peat rushed for 1 touchdown on 35 yards. His touchdown came on an 18 yard run, his longest of the game.
Oregon State improves to 6-4 overall and 4-3 in the Pac-12 while Stanford falls to 3-7 overall and 2-6 in the Pac-12. Oregon State becomes bowl eligible and snaps an 11 game losing skid to Stanford. Stanford in turn no longer can reach the six win mark necessary for bowl eligibility.
“Better fight from our guys this week,” Stanford head coach David Shaw said after the game. “We’re not just looking for better. We’re trying to win. Yes we had some tough situations with a couple of guys not being able to go, hoping E.J. Smith could go, couldn’t go. Hoping Tanner could go, he couldn’t go.
“But, that’s what it is and our guys come back and we fought hard, missed too many tackles on the defensive side, I thought we played much better on the defensive side, but you miss good tackles against good backs and they’re going to rack up the yards on you and that’s exactly what happened. We didn’t see a lot of those big holes where guys were running through. We had guys in there to make plays, they didn’t get them down on the ground often enough.
“Offensively, they put together a, I thought a really good game plan for Ari and a little bit with Isaiah. I thought Ari went out there and missed a couple as you would expect a true freshman to miss and then came out there and we had a couple of drops. We talked about during the week, we can’t put the pressure on the freshman. You know, the pressure’s on the freshman, the pressure is on everybody else. So we gotta make those plays when he gives us those opportunities.
“Ari was just coming along, made a couple of nice runs, got banged up on that last run, and then came in, threw a touchdown pass, and then we lost him for the rest of the game. Isaiah Sanders, you see what kind of athlete he is: big, strong, fast, breaks tackles. Had to put him out there and he did some really nice things. Dylan Plautz came in, kind of played his role, we had some plays that we know Dylan likes, he went out there and executed up to a decent degree. Missed his first couple throws and then he settled in. But what I know is we can play much better. I don’t care who’s hurt, who’s not hurt, who’s up, who’s down. We’re going out to try to win these football games.
“And now, our focus shifts to the Big Game. You know, The Axe is on the line, Cal didn’t play this past week, they got some guys out with COVID. Hopefully they get enough guys back. Hopefully we get some guys back off injury and go out there and play one hell of a game next weekend.”
Stanford got the ball to start the game and they failed to pick up a first down as Ryan Sanborn was forced to come out and punt. Oregon State got the ball on their own 25 yard line, with decent field position. On that drive, Oregon State very methodically marched the ball down the field and found the end zone on a quarterback keeper from Nolan. Junior tight end Teagan Quitoriano had a 12 yard reception and a 14 yard reception on that drive that helped set that up.
Stanford’s next drive was a little better as Nathaniel Peat picked up a first down on a 10 yard gain. But aside from that, it didn’t bear any fruit as Stanford once again would punt. Stanford was trying this hybrid scheme of Ari Patu and Isaiah Sanders and early on it wasn’t delivering. The best part of that drive in truth was Sanborn’s punt that pinned Oregon State deep at the 3 yard line.
Oregon State would quickly get out of that danger zone and get the ball to the 15 yard line thanks to a reception by redshirt sophomore running back Deshaun Fenwick. Fenwick would then get a 22 yard rush to the 37 yard line, getting close to midfield. Oregon State would lead 7-0 at the end of the 1st quarter with possession and a 3rd and 3 coming up.
The Beavers would convert the 3rd down and appeared to be on the verge of another touchdown drive. However, a pair of holding penalties pushed them back, including one that negated a touchdown. After initially planning to punt, the Beavers decided to attempt a 56 yard field goal, which would be no good. On the next drive, Ari Patu would get picked off by defensive back Jaydon Grant, squandering a golden opportunity with good field position. Oregon State returned the favor in a weird way as a holding penalty pushed them back and then their quarterback Chance Nolan tried a pooch kick/punt that resulted in a touchback.
Stanford’s next drive was better as back-to-back completions from Ari Patu to senior wide receiver Michael Wilson for 25 yards, an 11 yard gain by Isaiah Sanders, and an 8 yard scramble from Patu helped set up a 55 yard field goal attempt by Joshua Karty, which unfortunately was blocked.
Oregon State took advantage as they would find the end zone with 17 seconds left in the game. A direct snap to inside linebacker Jack Colletto for a 2 yard touchdown completed the drive, but it was set up by a 20 yard reception by junior wide receiver Tre’Shaun Harrison and a pass interference call that went against Stanford true freshman nickelback Jimmy Wyrick. Stanford wouldn’t make use of the 17 seconds on their next possession, making it a 14-0 Oregon State lead at halftime.
To open up the second half, Oregon State got the ball and they took advantage. On a 3rd and 2 from the Oregon State 33, Chance Nolan connected with redshirt senior wide receiver Trevon Bradford for a 67 yard touchdown, making it a 21-0 lead for the Beavers with 13:24 to go in the 3rd quarter.
To everyone’s surprise, Stanford responded on the next drive as Ari Patu connected with Benjamin Yurosek for an 8 yard touchdown to make it a 21-7 game with 10:24 to go in the 3rd quarter. A 15 yard rush by junior running back Austin Jones and a 21 yard scramble by Patu helped set it up.
Oregon State’s next possession went well for Stanford as on a 4th and 1 on the Oregon State 33 yard line, Stanford 5th year linebacker Gabe Reid made the tackle for a loss to force the turnover on downs. However, Stanford’s offense did not take advantage of the good field position as senior quarterback Dylan Plautz came in for relief for Patu who was in the medical tent. Plautz would get picked off by junior defensive back Rejzohn Wright.
That interception proved to be costly and Oregon State scored a touchdown on their next drive. A 15 yard personal foul on Stanford junior linebacker Levani Damuni helped give the Beavers better field position and from there, the Beavers just marched down the field rather methodically, closing things out with a 6 yard touchdown rush up the middle from B.J. Baylor. With 2:40 to go in the 3rd quarter, Oregon State was now up 28-7.
Early in the 4th quarter, Nolan would connect with Quitoriano for a touchdown in the red zone to make it a 35-7 game and then Stanford found a way to respond to make it a 35-14 game after an 18 yard touchdown run by Peat finished off the drive. That was the best drive of the night for Stanford as Isaiah Sanders connected with Michael Wilson for a 17 yard reception and Dylan Plautz connected with Benjamin Yurosek for a 19 yard reception. There was 6:25 to go in the game at that point and from there, Oregon State was able to burn out the clock, making it a 35-14 final score.
For Oregon State, this is obviously a nice win as they break their losing skid to Stanford and clinch bowl eligibility in the process. Stanford came in depleted and not at full strength, but they still had to go out there and get the win.
As for Stanford, this loss is just another data point that this season has gone off the rails from where things started in fall camp. Injuries have played a big role in this as starting quarterback Tanner McKee hasn’t played since the Washington game and many others have been out as well for one time or another. It feels like every week, Stanford is losing somebody new. In addition to injuries, Stanford has also in general been lousy at stopping the run and then there have been some odd personnel decisions that one can question as well.
As I said earlier in the week, the only thing left for Stanford to play for this season is to beat Cal. That’s it. Beating Cal and keeping The Axe in Palo Alto wouldn’t make up for the way the season has gone by any stretch. Aside from their win over #3 Oregon, this season has been about as close to a disaster as Stanford could have. The only thing that could make it even more of a disaster is if they actually surrender The Axe to their foes across the bay in Berkeley. If Stanford does keep The Axe, it’ll ensure that the season ended on some sort of positive note and that they gave their fans something positive to cheer about in an otherwise dreadful season.
“If you’re not motivated to play The Big Game, you shouldn’t play,” David Shaw said when asked about the importance of the rivalry. “Don’t care what the records are, don’t care what’s going on, there’s a trophy on the line, and our guys got to come to play next week and keep that trophy at home.”
On that note, the 124th Big Game against Cal will kick off on Saturday, November 20th at Stanford Stadium at 4:00 PM on Pac-12 Networks. On radio, it will air on KGO 810 AM and KNBR.
