[size=+1]#11 Arizona State (7-1) at Oregon State (4-4)[/size]
Corvallis, OR - Oregon State is in danger of falling below .500 after a heartbreaking loss against the Trojans. Now they would face another top 25 team in No. 11 Arizona State in Corvallis. The Sun Devils have been better than expected as they were able to knock off Georgia in Athens and their only loss came against undefeated No. 3 USC in a close loss. It is November in the Willamette Valley so the temperature was 33 degrees at game-time. This was shaping up to be a trap game for the Sun Devils.
The OSU offense started off miserably as QB Bryan Rossner was sacked twice in a row on their first two opening plays, leading to a three-and-out. Arizona State was able to score rather quickly as ASU HB#30 punched it in the endzone from four yards out to put the Sun Devils on top
7-0. The next possession for the Beavers ended even worse as Rossner was pressured again and threw an unwise pass that was picked off by AUS CB#27 which was returned to the OSU 6-yard line. It did not take long for ASU QB Steve Stratton to hook up with his TE for a 1-yard touchdown pass to put ASU up
14-0 early.
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ASU QB Steve Stratton hooks up with his TE for a 1-yard touchdown.[/size]
As the second quarter got underway, the Beaver offense finally got going. Rossner finished off a 14 play, 71-yard drive by hitting TE Gabe Miller along the side line of the endzone from four yards out to put the Beavers on the board, down
14-7.
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OSU TE Gabe Miller makes a nice touchdown catch along the sideline.[/size]
The Sun Devils moved right back into the red zone but the Beavers' defense held, forcing an ASU 27-yard field goal to give the Sun Devils a
17-7 lead. The Beavers were forced to punt on the ensuing possession but it was perfect punt of 50-yards, pinned at the ASU 1-yard line. ASU remained aggressive despite the terrible field position, and Stratton made a huge mistake as OSU true freshman CB Mike Mayes made a great interception, snatching the ball from WR Kerry Taylor's hands.
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OSU freshman CB Mike Mayes snatches an interception from the hands of ASU WR Kerry Taylor.[/size]
Mayes' turnover set the Beavers up inside the red zone where Rossner found TE Gabe Miller on a playaction rollout for an 8-yard touchdown. It was the second time in the first half that the pair had hooked up for a touchdown and it cut ASU's lead to
17-14.
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OSU QB Bryan Rossner hooks up with TE Gabe Miller for both players' second touchdown.[/size]
Arizona State would attempt to get a last-minute score at the end of the half but Stratton ended up throwing a prayer that was easily picked off by OSU SS Cameron Collins sending both teams into the locker rooms for halftime.
When Oregon State got the ball in the third quarter, Rossner threw a short dump off pass to HB Marvin Quinn, who made a spin move, leaving defenders behind, then proceeded to juke another defender, and took off all the way to the house for an 88-yard touchdown reception leaping across the goalline, igniting Reser Stadium in a frenzy, and giving the Beavers the
21-17 lead.
However, it did not take the Sun Devils long to counter back as a halftime adjustment must have been to get their athletic QB Steve Stratton to run the option. The move worked, and the Sun Devils were able to score when Stratton on an option run in the red zone, pitched the ball at the last second and HB#30 found the endzone on a 7-yard touchdown run, putting ASU back on top
24-21.
As the fourth quarter started, ASU started getting a lot of pressure on Rossner again. The Sun Devils would finish with a total of seven sacks on the day, included three sacks by RE#94. Those sacks seemed to taking a toll on Rossner as his decision making was not that good. The situation would get worse for the Beavers when Quinn left with a strained pectoral that sidelined him for the remainder of the game. On the drive OSU was able to get in position for a 46-yard field goal but the kick was shanked to the right preserving a
24-21 ASU lead.
Fortunately for the Beavers, OSU SS Cameron Collins came up with his second interception, putting OSU at the ASU 40-yard line with 3:33 left in the game. OSU coach Mike Riley decided to be aggressive and go for the win as Rossner playfaked to HB#37, then threw deep to WR Darrell Catchings. Catchings was covered well by CB#27 and the ball was thrown too far toward the middle of the field where it was picked off by CB#27 in the endzone. The Beaver must have thought that they had a mismatch against CB#27 because they tested him deep many times but the defensive back continued to prove them wrong.
However, ASU was forced to punt with 2:30 left in the game. The Beavers would have another chance but as the OSU drive started, TE Gabe Miller left with a foot sprain. Now, the Beavers were without two of their best offensive players. Rossner was pressured on an ASU CB blitz, and threw deep to Catchings on crossing pattern but ASU sophomore FS Chris Anderson was there to step in front of it and make the interception. If Rossner had it over again, he would have dumped it in the flat to WR James Rodgers who was wide open. The game appeared to be over and the crowd started filing out.
ASU just needed to run the ball but OSU did have all of their timeouts. The Sun Devils came out passing and Stratton threw to a double covered receiver where it was picked off by OSU CB David Ross. Ross passed through a few mistackles and was able to take it back to the house for a pick-six to give the Beavers an unbelievable
28-24 victory as ASU was unable to pull a last-second miracle.
OSU coach Mike Riley was surprised and extatic that the Beavers pulled the win in crazy fashion, "We'll take it any way we can get it. A win is a win the way this season has gone for us. It wasn't pretty and we still have a lot of work to do but we'll take it.
For ASU coach Dennis Erickson, he had questions to respond to about the decision to pass. "Well, they did have all of their timeouts and they were stopping the run all game long so I didn't want to have to punt the ball back to them," Erickson responded. "Of course I didn't want Stratton to throw an interception but that's football. I'll admit it was probably a mistake but how do we know that Rossner doesn't score a last second touchdown any way?"
Arizona State 24
QB Stratton: 17-32, 160 yds, td, 4 int
HB HB#30: 15 car, 79 yds, 2 td
WR WR#87: 4 rec, 51 yds
CB CB#37: 3 tkl, 2 int, 2 defl
DE RE#94: 3 tkl, 3 tfl, 3 sk, defl, ff
Oregon State 28
QB Rossner: 21-31, 284 yds, 3 td, 3 int
HB Quinn: 17 car, 48 yds, 3 rec, 93 yds, td
WR Catchings: 7 rec, 103 yds
TE Miller: 6 rec, 42 yds, 2 td
SS Collins: 6 tkl, tfl, 2 int
CB Ross: 4 tkl, int, 2 defl, td