Oregon State coach JaMarcus Shephard said his team didn’t “play up to our standard” in a 42-21 loss to Texas State
CORVALLIS — There is little doubt that, at least temporarily, Oregon State has lost its mojo.
Exasperating. Embarrassing. Humiliating. Humbling.
You pick the adjective, it was that kind of Saturday night for the Beavers in their 42-21 thrashing by Texas State at Reser Stadium.
“Kicked in the face” is the way Oregon State coach JaMarcus Shephard phrased it. Yeah, I can buy that.
The final score wasn’t indicative of the manner in which the visiting Bobcats, a year away from their standing as a middling team in the Sun Belt Conference, roughed up their foe in the new Pac-12. Texas State led 42-7 early in the fourth quarter before Oregon State managed a pair of touchdowns in garbage time to make the final count look more respectable.
Texas State (5-4 overall, 3-2 in Pac-12 action) ran up 600 yards total offense, the most an OSU defense has given up since Washington State totaled 641 in that unforgettable 54-53 Cougar victory in the Palouse in 2019.
The Bobcats bullied and dashed their way to 386 rushing yards, the most the Beavers have yielded since Oregon ran for 392 in a 55-15 win in 2018.
Oregon State, meanwhile, managed a season-low 356 yards total offense. That included 89 net yards rushing. Quarterback Braden Atkinson, who entered the game leading the nation in passing yards with a 372-per-game average, threw for only 192 yards — his first sub-300 game of the season.
There is no sugar-coating this one. The Beavers were woefully inept on defense and erratic on offense.
In two weeks, they have gone from one of the darlings of college football to something approaching a train wreck.
The 38-22 loss at Fresno State — after a bye week, no less — could maybe have been written off as just a bad game against a highly motivated opponent.
Now, those five straight wins following respectable losses to top-25 powers Houston and Texas look like a mirage.
Full credit to Texas State. Behind multi-dimensional quarterback Brad Jackson — who ran for 89 yards and a touchdown and completed 16 of 20 passes for 214 yards and a score on Saturday — the Bobcats rank fourth in the nation in total offense, averaging 517 yards per contest. Running backs Torrance Burgess (28 carries for 196 yards and a TD) and Davian Jackson (19 carries, 107 yards, three scores) joined Brad Jackson in terrorizing the Beaver defense on the ground.
“They are a finesse team,” Texas State coach GJ Kinne said afterward, “and we were the more physical guys. When we can run the football, we are tough to handle.”
On offense, Texas State looked fast. On defense, the Beavers looked slow. The Bobcats won the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The visitors controlled the clock for more than 35 minutes and converted 10 of 16 third-down opportunities.
“They out-executed us, and we didn’t play up to our standard,” Shephard said afterward. “It’s really difficult when you face stretches like this in November. Everyone in that locker room, they are feeling it right now. They know that was clearly not our standard.”
In the losses to Fresno State and Texas State, Atkinson has seemed to have more difficulty finding open receivers. Some of that is likely due to better defense, or perhaps less accuracy against man coverage. Atkinson’s offensive line has given him less time, too, and pressure has gotten to him more quickly.
But while Shephard avoided directly referencing his sophomore quarterback, he said this after the Bobcats game: “We had some (receivers) running free, and we got to find ways to hit those guys when we have the opportunity. There were times when I felt like we had some guys who had created some separation and just didn’t find them.”
The margin was only 21-7 at halftime despite Texas State doubling Oregon State in total offense (346-173). Any chance of a Beaver comeback, however, was dashed midway through the third quarter.
Still trailing 21-7, the Beavers used a 29-yard Atkinson-to-Jesse Legree pass and a roughing-the-passer penalty to take a first down at the Texas State 15-yard line. A holding penalty and an eight-yard sack turned that into second-and-28 at the 32. On fourth-and-28, Caleb Ojeda’s 50-yard field-goal attempt bounced off the right upright. Texas State followed with a workmanlike 10-play, 68-yard touchdown drive, and the contest was decided.
Mother Nature conspired with Texas State’s dominance to finish out a miserable evening for Beaver Nation. Rain began to fall before halftime, and the monsoons hit during intermission. By the time the second half began, a good portion of the announced crowd of 36,714 had hit the road. When the Bobcats pushed the lead to 28-7 late in the third quarter, fans took off like it was a fire drill. The mass exodus was remarkable.
By early fourth quarter, the wet stuff had let up. But with Texas State on top 42-7, players on the field outnumbered spectators in the stands — almost, at least. In some 65 years of watching games at Parker/Reser Stadium, I have never seen a smaller crowd at game’s end.
“I really appreciate all those who stuck it out all the way to the end,” Shephard said during his post-game media availability. It wouldn’t have taken him long to personally thank every one of them.
Before the season, Oregon State released a short video in which Shephard appeared to warn fans that it might be a rough first year. Seven games in, that had all changed. The Beavers were 5-2, receiving votes in the national polls and aiming for a showdown with Boise State for Pac-12 supremacy and a potential berth in the CFP.
After the Texas State game, Shephard harkened back to his preseason warning.
“At every level of our program, we have to be accountable for every play in every game,” he said. “But we also have to hold onto the big picture. We knew coming in this was a foundational year for us.”
Then he added a strange double negative: “Performances like this are not something you can’t build on. But one night is also not our identity as a football program.”
By the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game, Reser Stadium was just about empty
So, someone asked later, what could the Beavers build on from the loss to the Bobcats?
“There are moments, even in life, when you get kicked in the face,” Shephard answered. “I’ve been kicked in my face multiple times — literally and figuratively.
“It’s about how you get up from things like this. Our guys will build on, ‘How do you get kicked in the face in a moment like this and then try to find a way to be successful going forward?’ ”
Sounds more like a major question than something to build on, one for which there are no easy answers.
Then Shephard added this: “We got a great opportunity for us next week, going over there to Boise. That’s a great opportunity for us to do something special. I am going to help our guys get ready for that opportunity.”
ESPN’s College GameDay will be on the scene when Boise State plays host to Oregon State next Saturday. The Broncos are 8-1 overall, 5-0 in Pac-12 play and riding an eight-game win streak after their season-opening loss at Oregon. They are the leaders in the clubhouse to represent the Group of Six in the CFP. The Beavers are in a four-way tie for second place in the conference at 3-2, 5-4 overall and heavy underdogs on the blue turf at Boise, where the Broncos win 83 percent of their games.
Making matters potentially more dire for Oregon State is a hand injury evidently suffered by Atkinson in the third quarter against Texas State. If he is unable to play at Boise, backup Maalik Murphy will be called upon to run the OSU offense. The Beavers are already without the quarterback of their secondary, junior safety Sai Vadrawale, who missed the Bobcats game with an undisclosed injury and “is probably going to be out for a couple of weeks,” Shephard said.
What a difference a couple of weeks can make. On Oct. 3, San Diego State beat Texas State 31-29. The following week, Oregon State steamrolled the Aztecs 66-14. Looking at those scores, Beaver Nation was licking its chops. Comparative scores, of course, aren’t always meaningful.
What two weeks ago seemed to be a foregone conclusion — that Oregon State would be in a bowl game — is no longer a certainty. After Boise State, the Beavers play host to Utah State (3-2 in Pac-12, 4-5 overall). The Aggies have won three of their last four, losing only to Texas State 20-17. On Saturday, the Aggies beat Fresno State 17-10 at Logan. They will be no pushover in Corvallis.
The final date on Oregon State’s schedule is a “flex” game set for Nov. 28. The site and opponent won’t be announced until the previous Sunday, but it is expected to be Washington State in Pullman. Oregon State beat Wazzu 48-30 on Oct. 17 at Reser, a game in which the Beavers jumped to a 27-3 lead. In the second half, the Cougars found some traction behind quarterback Owen Eshelman, making his first career start. Eshelman, who has held onto the starting job, completed 30 of 42 passes for 299 yards and rushed for 52 yards and two TDs in the Cougars’ 26-20 loss at San Diego State on Saturday.
Can the Beavers find a win or two in their remaining regular-season schedule? Perhaps. But it’s not inconceivable that they end the season with a five-game losing streak and a 5-7 record.
“We have significant things we need to fix,” Shephard said after the Texas State game. But he is having nothing of any negativity at this point in the season.
“We got a ton to play for,” he declared. “If we can find a way to flush these last couple and get ready for the next one right away, we’ll be right where we want to be at the end of the season.”
That is the right attitude for the coach to have. Getting a clean flush, though, may be easier said than done.
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