The Oregon State Beavers lost a back-and-forth game 36-27 against future Pac-12 member Fresno State at Reser Stadium on Saturday to start their season 0-2.
After last week’s weak offense by Oregon State against California, running back Anthony Hankerson showed marked improvement this week for the Beavers. Despite their loss, Hankerson said he wanted to keep a positive mindset.
“Put an emphasis on staying positive and staying together,” Hankerson said in regard to his perspective on the last two games.
Hankerson rushed a net 136 yards and averaged 5.4 yards per rush. He had the most rushing yards of the game.
Quarterback Maalik Murphy was another star player on Saturday, passing for 371 yards and scoring four touchdowns, also showing improvement over his performance last weekend.
Though the offense was in better shape, there were still several messy plays which cost OSU the game. There were six missed points between two extra point attempts and two 2-point conversions. Several of the snap backs were either too tall or too low for Murphy to catch and the 2-point conversions were thrown well out of the receivers’ ranges.
Yard losses were also abundant for OSU due to six penalties for false starts, and four for holdings, which cost them 70 yards in total.
Despite these setbacks for the Beavers, they stayed neck and neck with the Bulldogs until the end.
Fresno State also made some strong plays. With just over one minute left in the first half, defensive back Jaden Carrillo scooped up a bad snap made by the Beavers and ran it for a 42 yard touchdown.
With 1:19 left on the clock in the fourth quarter, OSU wide receiver David Wells Jr. made a touchdown to take the lead 27-26. The sparsely populated Reser Stadium crowd erupted into cheers and stomping, vibrating the entire stadium.
Nearly everyone in the stands was on their feet, showing enthusiasm for the home team. With only four seconds left, Fresno State intercepted a throw made by Murphy to score a touchdown. The end score was 36-27, Bulldogs.
The Beavers play again next Saturday against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in Lubbock, Texas. The game will be live on FOX at 12:30 p.m. PDT.
“I think the fire stayed there for game one and game two,” outside linebacker Nikko Taylor said. “Honestly, two losses isn’t very ideal but there’s still plenty of ball left to play. And as it is now, I still have to be optimistic for the rest of our season. There’s still 10 more games to win.”
