The OSU Beavers took a shellacking at the hands of No. 3 Oregon in a 47-19 blow-out win for Marcus Mariota and the Ducks. The Heisman candidate had another excellent showing, strengthening his case to hoist the coveted trophy at the ceremony on December 13.
Oregon came into the game expecting a tune-up before their Pac-12 title game with Arizona next week and got it. Mariota totaled 367 yards and four touchdowns through the air while also running it into the end zone for two more. He set a Pac-12 record with 48 touchdowns on the season and threw no picks in the contest. His favorite receiver was Byron Marshall, targeted six times for 131 yards and a touchdown while Charles Nelson caught two passes for two touchdowns. Royce Freeman constituted the majority of Oregon’s rushing total, racking up 135 yards on 22 carries.
OSU seemed outmatched from the get-go and trailed by 30 points for much of the game. Although the team had essentially accepted defeat by the end of the first half, they played with pride with Storm Woods rushing for 128 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. Sean Mannion was vastly overshadowed by his superstar counterpart and managed only 162 yards and a touchdown on 39 attempts. His favorite target was Woods himself and they connected for six completions for a total of 58 yards. His fourth quarter replacement, Luke Del Rio made the most of his playing time, averaging 7.7 yards on 7 throws for 54 yards but no touchdown.
The Beavers defense was trampled over for most of the game but did manage to sack Mariota four times. Unfortunately, those four sacks came on two of thirteen Oregon drives and did little to slow down the Ducks whose scoring drives averaged less than three minutes in length. The closes thing to a defensive highlight in the game was a garbage time safety deprived of meaning by the lack of takeaways up to that point.
OSU ends their season on a disappointing note and will suffer a vacancy in the berth for the Platypus Trophy until next year’s Civil War matchup which they might fare better in assuming Mariota declares for the NFL draft.
Oregon will get a chance to take revenge against the Arizona Wildcats for the 31-24 loss earlier this season in the Pac-12 title game, one rife with playoff and Heisman implications.
Categories: Miscellaneous
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