Editor’s Note: This story has been updated from its previous version.
Tens of thousands of heads looked up to the sky when fighter jets screeched overhead to attend the 128th Oregon vs Oregon State football rivalry.
In what ended as a skewed affair, the Oregon Ducks defeated the Oregon State Beavers 49-14 on Saturday afternoon in Corvallis.
Today’s game featured a pair of 2-0 teams with prolific running attacks, and the Ducks executed their long-awaited talent to the public.
Both teams finished the game with 32 rushing attempts, but Oregon averaged 7.5 yards per carry while Oregon State ended up with 4.1. That resulted in 240 rushing yards for the Ducks and 131 for the Beavers.
Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel highlighted the Ducks’ success on the ground with a 54-yard touchdown run with 13:36 remaining in the second quarter, ending the game with 64 rushing yards on just 4 rushing attempts. Beavers quarterback Gevani McCoy had 52 rushing yards on 6 carries.
The Ducks opened the scoring in the contest with running back Jordan James on a four-yard rush into the endzone with 6:39 to go in the first quarter.
The Beavers responded in kind with a 6-yard touchdown run from Anthony Hankerson with one second remaining in the first, tying the game at 7-7.
“I’m obviously disappointed in the outcome,” head coach Trent Bray said, “at halftime, I felt we were in a good spot, in striking distance, eight-point game, and then just didn’t execute well enough in the second half.”
As the second quarter began, the Oregon offense and Gabriel took the lead with Gabriel’s 54-yard touchdown run. The time of possession on the drive was just 1:25, and after the Ducks’ Kenyon Sadiq ran in a two-point conversion, Oregon led 15-7.
It was a lead they would never surrender.
“They’re talented, Oregon corners have been talented for a while now; they’ve got good feet…they’re good players,” wide receiver Trent Walker said after the game, reflecting on the Ducks defense.
Beavers’ backup QB Gabarri Johnson entered the next series, which opened with a pair of Jam Griffin runs that picked up a collective 13 yards.
The Ducks followed by putting together another scoring drive, this time 8 plays and 84 yards. It extended their lead to 22-7 when Gabriel found wide receiver Traeshon Holden in the back of the endzone for a touchdown.
With 6:30 remaining in the first half, the Beavers embarked on a 14-play drive that consumed all but eight of the remaining seconds in the quarter. The drive was composed of seven passing attempts and seven rushing attempts, concluding with Anthony Hankerson punching it in from the goal line.
It was 22-14 at the half.
The Beavers’ offense didn’t manage to get a score in the second half, while Oregon managed to only punt once throughout gameplay. The Ducks added three more touchdown drives to the board. Former Beaver kicker Atticus Sappington tacked on a field goal with 3:46 remaining in the contest to bring the game to its final score.
“I just think we all, as a whole defense, we should get back in our playbooks… I feel like as a whole defense we could be better, including me,” sophomore linebacker Melvin Jordan IV said after the game.
For the game, McCoy was 22-34 for 172 yards with no passing touchdowns.
The Beavers’ star running back duo of Griffin and Hankerson finished with lower than average yardage, a combined 84 yards on 22 carries, but Hankerson scored both touchdowns.
Up next, The Beavers, falling to 2-1, will next play the Purdue Boilermakers in Reser on Saturday, September 21st at 5:30 pm.
