10:43
END OF GAME; No. 18 Oregon State 38, Arizona 35
I didn’t expect that kind of offense (613 yards by OSU, 545 by Arizona) but the game definitely lived up to it’s hype. Both teams looked like they’re for real tonight, even if the defenses didn’t show up.
The loss pretty much kills any shot for Arizona to win the South Division, but at least for Wildcat fans it looks like the perfect start wasn’t a fluke and the Oregon game was an aberration.
10:39
And that’s the game. Scott is picked off by cornerback Rashaad Reynolds and all the Beavers have to do is down the ball.
The victory formation is never a fun thing to see for the trailing team. Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano agrees vehemently with that statement.
10:35
TOUCHDOWN Oregon State; OSU 38, UA 35
Mannion connects with backup tight end Connor Hamlett for a nine-yard, go-ahead touchdown. The Beavers went on a 10 play, 75 yard drive and took 4:25 off the clock.
Arizona has 1:09 to tie up or win the game.
10:33
Timeout Arizona. It’s an Oregon State third and five from the UA nine-yard-line. This is a somewhat big play, you could say. I also rhyme pretty well.
10:32
The Arizona defense is doing the ever-popular strategy of letting the other team to score quick in order to get the ball back. Or at least that’s what it looks like. The Beavers are inside the 10 with 1:54 left.
10:27
Oregon State starts its drive at the 25-yard-line with just over 5:30 remaining. This game looks like it’s going to go down to the wire.
10:22
TOUCHDOWN Arizona; UA 35, OSU 31
Scott ignores the intense rush coming on his right side to hit Hill for a seven-yard touchdown catch, his second of the night. The pass also matched Scott’s career-high in completions with 30.
10:19
Backup center Addison Bachman makes his first career catch on a tipped ball. The big man showed some nice hands on the 10-yard reception, unlike Morrison who just dropped another.
10:15
Tonight’s attendance: 44,153, which is just 234 more people than the South Carolina State game. I must say that’s a little surprising considering a ranked teams in town.
10:10
TOUCHDOWN Oregon State; OSU 31, Arizona 28
Mannion hits Markus Wheaton for an easy 20-yard toss after Arizona bit hard on a pump fake. The Beavers now lead with 8:35 remaining. Wheaton now has 138 yards and two touchdowns while fellow receiver Brandin Cooks has 144 yards.
Oh, and Storm Woods has 154 yards rushing. Yay Pac-12 defense!
10:07
Deja Vu.
On back to back plays, Oregon State throws a short screen pass to a receiver who ran the ball for a first down. Then on the end of both plays, Jourdon Grandon gets hit for a 15-yard penalty, one unnecessary roughness, the other a facemask.
It’s usually not advised to give up 30-yards of penalties on back to back plays.
10:03
Arizona punts to Oregon State with 10:39 left in the game. The Beavers will start their drive at the 14-yard-line. Things are starting to get real.
9:58
There are now 941 yards of total offense this game with 12:30 still remaining. So like I said before the game, this is a match-up of stout defenses… My term of a “defensive struggle” might actually have been the proper term, just not in it’s normal interpretation.
9:50
END OF THIRD QUARTER – Arizona 28, Oregon State 24
Heading into the fourth quarter Arizona holds a narrow lead over the Beavers.
If things stay the way they are, the Wildcats will probably be back into the AP Top 25. If Oregon State comes back, then its head coach Mike Riley will be the school’s record holder for all-time wins.
9:46
TOUCHDOWN Arizona; UA 28, OSU 24
Scott hits receiver Dan Buckner on a beautiful 16-yard fade route to the corner of the end zone. Buckner snagged the ball over his shoulder and got two feet down. There have been some real nice catches today. Like this one.
9:41
I guess the officials tonight took notes from the NFL’s replacement refs. On official pointed Oregon State ball while another pointed to Arizona a few seconds later.
After the refs huddle together to discuss, the balls given to Arizona. Woods with the fumble on the end of a nine-yard run.
9:38
Punter Kyle Dugandzic is having himself a game. He just blasted his last kick 70-yards to pin the Beavers inside the five-yard-line. That’s the seniors second punt of more than 50 yards and second inside the five. Well done sir.
9:32
TOUCHDOWN Oregon State; OSU 24, Arizona 21
Oregon State capitalizes on the turnover, going on a seven play, 50-yard drive to re-take the lead. Running back Storm Woods punched it in from a yard out.
9:28
Crazy interception there by OSU’s Jordan Poyer.
Poyer first tipped a flat pass by Scott, only for the ball to deflect directly toward Richard Morrison. But Morrison did what he does best and bobbled it. The ball eventually popped in the air back to Poyer who dove and caught it for the interception.
9:24
Good and bad news for Arizona on its first play of the drive.
The Good – Carey runs for 23 yards to officially put him over 100 yards rushing on the night. He also has 42 yards receiving.
The Bad – Center and senior-leader Kyle Quinn went down on the play. He did walk off on his own power though.
It’d be hard to pick three more worse players for Arizona to lose than Scott, Quinn and Tevis – not based necessarily on talent, but on importance. Scott obviously returned, let’s see if Quinn does.
9:23
Oregon State again goes three-and-out, thanks to a big tackle for a loss by Tra’Mayne Bondurant.
9:17
TOUCHDOWN Arizona; UA 21, OSU 17
Yup, definite momentum swing. In another three-play stretch the Wildcats moved 52 yards in one minute even to take their first lead of the night.
Carey rumbled the ball in on a 24-yard run, giving him 80 yards on the night with a 7.3 yard per rush average. Compared to how Wisconsin’s Montee Ball (61 yards) and UCLA’s Jonathan Franklin (45 yards) did, Carey is having himself a game.
9:14
Momentum shift anyone? After Scott returned, Arizona scored a touchdown in three plays and then the defense forced Oregon State into a three-and-out. They even got a sack! Which is pretty big for this team (safety Marquis Flowers with the play).
9:09
TOUCHDOWN Arizona; OSU 17, UA 14
Willis Reed, er I mean Matt Scott, hits Austin Hill for a three-yard touchdown pass. Scott went 2-for-2 and earned a pass-interference after returning from his one-play absence. He also was 7-for-7 on the 10 play, 91 yard drive.
Head coach Rich Rodriguez always talks about Scott’s determination and competitiveness. I normally ignore those types of claims, but Scott is proving his toughness. He’s now been knocked out in two straight games, only to quickly return. I’m impressed.
9:07
Receiver Richard Morrison took one snap under center, a short option run, before Scott trotted back on the field making a poor-man’s Willis Reed impersonation.
9:05
Arizona Stadium falls silent as Matt Scott is down on the field. He eventually gets up but he has to be helped off to the sideline.
9:04
Austin Hill with back to back catches, a 21-yard catch and a 5-yard catch. They really need Hill to get back to his early season form.
9:02
And there is the start of the second half. Arizona has the ball on its own nine-yard-line after a bad decision by Kylan Butler to return the kick.
This drive is huge for the Wildcats. Points aren’t easy to come by against the Oregon State defense.
9:00
My take on the half – Oregon State has looked really good on both sides of the ball and Sean Mannion is legit. Still, the Wildcats aren’t playing awful. The offense needs to get more going (OSU had 374 total yards compared to UA’s 218). Also, the defense has to stop giving up big plays if Arizona wants to pull off the slight upset.
8:55
Scores around the nation –
– No. 9 West Virginia beat No. 25 Baylor 70-63 in what I can only assume was a basketball game (it wasn’t, but I think they only sent the offenses on the field).
– No. 12 Texas beat Oklahoma State 41-36, somewhat legitimizing Arizona’s early season upset of the Cowboys.
– Arizona State beat Cal 27-17, which means that the Sun Devils might actually be good. Or Cal is really bad. Probably the first one though.
– No. 2 Oregon leads Washington State 23-12 in the middle of the second quarter, meaning the Cougars have scored an infinity percent more than the Wildcats scored last week… The number zero always messes up percentages.
8:40
HALFTIME; Oregon State 17, Arizona 7
Check out the Daily Wildcat’s halftime recap to catch up on the game.
8:37
What’s even better for Arizona? How about a missed field goal. OSU’s Trevor Romain missed his 35-yard kick wide right, keeping the score at 17-7.
The defense made a huge stance there, the false start by the Beavers also helped, and the Wildcats remain in the game heading into halftime.
8:33
First and goal for Oregon State with just over 30 seconds left in the half. This is huge right now. A field goal keeps the game within two touchdowns and Arizona receives the ball after half.
If the score goes up to 24-7? That’s a much, much bigger hole to climb out of.
8:28
Safety Jared Tevis went out in the first quarter with an ankle injury. Tevis returned to the field last drive, but right now redshirt freshman Patrick Onwuasor is in instead.
Tevis has been a star on the Arizona defense this season. That’s an injury update to really keep an eye on.
8:22
TOUCHDOWN Arizona, OSU 17, UA 7
On further review, Ka’Deem Carey’s run was ruled a touchdown. That score ends a 92:29 minute scoreless streak by the Wildcats. You have to be pretty proud of a streak like that.
8:12
My pregame prediction of an Oregon State win is looking pretty, pretty good right now. The Beavers continue to beat Arizona on the big plays and the Wildcat offense has continued to be stagnant.
It’s now 90 minutes of game time and counting since the Wildcats last scored any points, a Jared Backer 4-yard run against South Carolina State.
8:10
TOUCHDOWN Oregon State; OSU 17, UA 0
Thanks to a couple 20-plus yard plays, the Beavers marched down the field on a seven play, 77-yard drive to go up three scores. Fullback Tyler Anderson punched it in from one yard out.
8:05
D’oh. Arizona’s John Bonano missed a 41-yard attempt wide right. Oregon State ball, still 10-0 Beavers.
Bonano is now 4-for-9 on the season, but at least this one wasn’t another miss inside 30-yards. I think it’s fair to say the kicking game isn’t one of the Wildcats strengths.
8:02
Arizona’s run game hasn’t produced much other than a 25-yarder by Ka’Deem Carey, but what’s the best way to counter that? The short passing game.
That’s exactly what the Wildcats did as quarterback Matt Scott hit Carey on a screen pass eventually went for 47-yards as Carey weaved through the defense.
The drive stalled thanks to a Scott intentional grounding though, a 14-yard loss.
7:58
FIELD GOAL Oregon State; OSU 10, UA 0
Place kicker Trevor Romain hits a 30-yard field goal to put the Beavers up by double digits. The Wildcat offense was held to just 63 yards in the first quarter, what ever happened to the high-flying attack Arizona had against Oklahoma State?
7:57
The Beavers Sean Mannion hit Markus Wheaton for 51-yards on the drive, the second 50-plus pass for Oregon State, but the Wildcats held in the red zone, forcing a field goal.
7:50
Sorry for some technical issues there. Everything I had written earlier was deleted from a computer glitch. As a recap, No. 18 Oregon State leads Arizona 7-0 at Arizona Stadium with 13:15 left in the second quarter.
In related news, it’s just one day away from a full moon. Coincidence? I think not.
