Bears cleave Beavers: ‘Not what we were hoping for in our first game’
Coach Trent Bray said lack of execution led to Oregon State’s loss to California in the season opener
CORVALLIS — It’s far too early to give up on the second season of the Trent Bray era with Oregon State football. But the first look wasn’t pretty.
The Beavers entered Saturday night’s season opener as a three-point favorite against California but came away on the short end of a 34-15 decision at Reser Stadium.
The Golden Bears jumped to a 14-0 lead in the game’s first seven minutes and were never seriously threatened the rest of the way. In his first college game, Cal freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele threw for 234 yards — 191 in the first half — and three touchdowns and scrambled for 25 yards to set up a field goal.
Maalik Murphy had his moments in his debut as the Beavers’ quarterback, but says he has to be better next Saturday against Fresno State
In his first game as a Beaver after an offseason transfer from Duke, junior QB Maalik Murphy passed for 244 yards — 146 in the second half — and ran three yards for a score. OSU’s inexperienced offensive line protected Murphy well enough but lost the battle to the Bears’ strong defensive front when trying to run the ball. Senior Anthony Hankerson, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards a year ago, managed only 42 yards on 15 carries Saturday night.
The Beavers played in fits and starts on both sides of the ball, never getting into the comfortable rhythm necessary to produce winning football.
“It wasn’t a clean game for us,” Bray said as he met with the media afterward. “Not what we were hoping for in our first game at anything.”
Sagapolutele hit tight end Mason Mini for a 19-yard TD on Cal’s first possession. On the Bears’ next series, the 6-3, 225-pound southpaw from Hawaii found Trond Grizzell for 32 yards and another score to make it 14-0, stunning the Beavers and taking the partisan Reser crowd out of the game.
“Defensively, we dug a hole,” said Bray, who is acting as the team’s defensive coordinator this season. “Got the ball thrown over our head too much. That was an issue early. I was happy with the way they responded and did some good things the last three quarters. But it was hard to dig back out against a good team like Cal.”
We will see how good Cal is as the season progresses. Sagapolutele looks promising, and the Bears’ defense made the Beavers’ offense one-dimensional, holding them to 65 rushing yards. They were certainly the better team at Reser Saturday. Part of that was the Beavers’ ineffectiveness.
It started on Cal’s first possession. OSU tackle JoJo Johnson stuffed Brandon High on third-and-one to force an apparent three-and-out. The Bears punted but the Beavers were penalized for having two players wearing the same number. Cal maintained possession and drove for its first score.
“That was very disappointing, and it wasn’t the players’ fault,” Bray lamented. “If we start 3-and-out and make them punt, then it’s a different game. That changed the whole momentum of the game. It’s unacceptable. It can’t happen.”
Statistics indicate it could have been a closer game. Oregon State held the advantage in first downs (19-16), Cal had a slight edge in total offense (356-313) and time of possession was a near draw (Cal 30:08 to OSU’s 29:52).
But the Bears had no turnovers and took advantage of Oregon State’s poor coverage on special teams. Cal’s Jacob DeJesus returned three punts for 73 yards and three kickoffs for 78 yards.
The Dean of Portland Sports is now on BlueSky.
And OSU’s two giveaways loomed large.
Trailing 14-3 late in the second quarter, the Beavers drove inside the Cal 40 when tight end Bryce Caulfield fumbled after catching a pass and the Bears recovered on their 36-yard line. They wound up with a 49-yard Abram Murray field goal on the final play of the half to go into intermission with a 17-3 lead.
Cal led 24-9 when Murphy’s deep pass for Caulfield was intercepted by Hezekiah Masses and returned 41 yards to the OSU 2. High carried for a TD from there for a 31-9 Bears’ advantage, and it was over.
“That was bad on my behalf,” Murphy said. “I have to see it better and throw Bryce a better ball. That’s on me.”
Asked for an appraisal of Murphy’s debut as a Beaver, Bray demurred.
“I’ll be honest, I’ll have to watch the film to give you a correct answer on that one,” he said. “Right now, the emotion of being done with (the game) … I’m not very happy with anything.”
Murphy pointed to the man in the mirror in his own harsh self-appraisal.
“I gotta be better,” he said. “Being more comfortable. Being there for my teammates. Creating more plays. Getting the ball in the paint. Hard to win the game when you don’t score points. I got to do a better job of keeping the ball moving forward.
“I got to be a better leader, a better player, a better student in the meeting rooms with my coaches. It all starts with me as a captain and the quarterback. Me doing my job is going to help the team do (its) job.”
Murphy fumbled the opening snap, missed on some passes and probably should have scrambled more often. But he threw a lot of good balls, dumped off several successful screens against the blitz and completed 21 of 33 passes on a night in which the Beavers couldn’t get their ground game going.
Oregon State’s first touchdown came on an 11-play, 85-yard drive with Hankerson bulling the final three yards up the middle for the score. That made it 24-9, so when the Beavers went for the 2-point conversion — and failed on it — people in every corner of Reser were asking, “Why?”
“That’s going on analytics — when you have to go for two and when you don’t,” Bray said when I asked him afterward. “It was called for.”
While I don’t doubt that is what analytics say to do, it wasn’t called for in that moment. In fact, it made no sense. Suddenly, OSU needed two touchdowns and at least one two-point conversion just to tie the game. As it turned out, the Beavers scored another TD to draw within 31-15, and missed another two-point conversion. If the situation arises again, I would hope that Bray and offensive coordinator Ryan Gunderson would resort to common sense and kick the extra point.
True freshman Trey Glasper started at one cornerback in place of sophomore Exodus Ayers, the listed starter who didn’t suit up. Asked about Ayers’ situation afterward, Bray declined comment. Is that because the coach consistently refuses to talk about injuries? Or could it be that Ayers — accused of abuse by a female OSU student in an incident in May that came to light in August — was serving a suspension that the program chooses to keep unannounced? Bray’s lack of transparency leads to such speculation.
It was a good night for junior placekicker Caleb Ojeda, who in his Beaver debut nailed a 53-yard field goal for their only first-half points. And for trusty receiver Trent Walker, who hauled in nine receptions for 136 yards, including gainers of 31 and 30 yards on his first two catches.
But overall, it was not the way the home team expected to debut.
“Nobody has to be Superman,” Murphy said. “That starts with me. Everybody just has to do our job and play our game. If we do that a high level, things wouldn’t have gone how they did tonight.”
Oregon State plays host next Saturday to Fresno State, and that one is unlikely to be easy. The Bulldogs thrashed Georgia Southern 42-14 in their season opener Saturday in Fresno. After that, OSU goes on the road to face nationally ranked Texas Tech and Oregon. It would be fortuitous to beat Fresno State, or the Beavers could be looking at an 0-4 first month.
Bray felt the Beavers’ biggest enemy in their opener was themselves.
“It was about us and our execution,” he said. (The Bears) didn’t do anything we didn’t expect them to do. They did a lot of things we practiced against. It was a lack of execution for whatever reason. Making the game too big? I’m not sure.
“It is going to take great teaching and coaching so they don’t victimize us in the next game. That’s a challenge for the coaches and the players moving forward.”
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