Smothering defense helps Beavers upset Badgers
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 12 years, 10 months AGO
It took 41 years for a Big Ten team to again visit Oregon State.
The reception No. 13 Wisconsin received on Saturday was a smothering crush of orange, capped by a sea of fans swarming the field, and one of the biggest non-conference wins in Beavers' history.
"They played their hearts out today and I'm so proud of them," Oregon State coach Mike Riley said. "It's unbelievable. They just played like crazy to win that game."
Sean Mannion threw for 276 yards and a touchdown, Oregon State's defense smothered Wisconsin's star running back Montee Ball and the Beavers upset the Badgers (1-1) 10-7 at Corvallis, Ore.
Mannion connected with Brandin Cooks on a 20-yard touchdown on the opening drive of the second half to give the Beavers a 10-0 lead then turned it over to the Oregon State (1-0) defense that forced two turnovers and held Ball to 61 yards rushing.
More importantly, Ball had his touchdown streak snapped at 21 straight games because of the Beavers defense.
They were aggressive, blitzing from all angles and making life miserable for Wisconsin quarterback Danny O'Brien, who was sacked three times, threw one interception.
Ball's longest run was a 15-yard gain in the fourth quarter in a passing situation as the Beavers bracketed him on the outside and kept the usually nimble back from bouncing to the perimeter and open field.
"They were actually presenting what we had planned," Ball said. "We just didn't do a great job executing."
Riley didn't shy from putting some hype behind this intersectional matchup, calling it the biggest non-conference home game in school history.
Instead of folding under that pressure, the Beavers responded with a stellar defensive effort that made up for missed chances by the Oregon State offense and quickly put the memories of an underachieving 2011 season in the past.
Oregon State outgained the Badgers 354-207 and had an 11-minute advantage in time of possession.
The win snapped Wisconsin's 33-game non-conference winning streak, the second-longest in the country behind LSU.
No. 2 Southern California 42, Syracuse 29: At East Rutherford, N.J., Matt Barkley threw a career-best six touchdown passes, and Robert Woods was spectacular with 200 all-purpose yards and two scores, to help Southern California (2-0) shake free of Syracuse (0-2).
The rare trip to the northeast for the Trojans was choppy at times, and Syracuse's hurry-up offense kept USC working hard for four quarters at MetLife Stadium.
No. 3 LSU 41, Washington 3: At Baton Rouge, La., Alfred Blue rushed for 101 yards, including a 21-yard score, and LSU (2-0) racked up 242 yards on the ground in a victory over Washington (1-1).
Kenny Hilliard added a pair of short touchdowns and fullback J.C. Copeland pounded through the pile for another score for LSU, which basically ran at will while averaging nearly 5 yards per carry.
No. 4 Oregon 42, Fresno State 25: At Eugene, Ore., Kenjon Barner ran for 201 yards and three touchdowns to lead Oregon past the Bulldogs (1-1).
De'Anthony Thomas ran for 102 yards and two additional scores for the Ducks (2-0), who sprinted to a 35-6 in the first half before the Bulldogs were able to slow them a bit in the second. Redshirt freshman quarterback Marcus Mariota completed 19 of 27 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown.
UCLA 36, No. 17 Nebraska 30: At Pasadena, Calif., Brett Hundley passed for 305 yards and four touchdowns in an outstanding Rose Bowl debut, Datone Jones sacked Taylor Martinez for a tiebreaking safety with 8:44 to play, and UCLA (2-0) surprised Nebraska.
Johnathan Franklin rushed for 217 yards and caught an 8-yard TD pass with 2:13 to play for the Bruins, who improved to 2-0 under new coach Jim Mora with an impressive offensive performance against the Cornhuskers (1-1).
Arizona 59, No. 18 Oklahoma State 38: At Tucson, Ariz., Matt Scott threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns as the Wildcats (2-0) upset the Cowboys (1-1). Wes Lunt threw for 440 yards for Oklahoma State.
No. 25 Stanford 50, Duke 13: At Stanford, Calif., Drew Terrell returned a punt 75 yards for a score and caught a 19-yard touchdown pass, Ed Reynolds took one of his two interceptions for another touchdown and Stanford rebounded from a disappointing debut to roll past Duke (1-1).
Josh Nunes completed 16 of 30 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns, showing more flair in his second start since No. 1 overall pick Andrew Luck left for the NFL. The redshirt junior overcame his first interception to move the Cardinal (2-0) offense with a strong and steady hand that never surfaced in a 20-17 win over San Jose State last week.
Arizona State 45, Illinois 14: At Tempe, Ariz., Taylor Kelly completed 18 of 24 passes for 249 yards and a touchdown, and Arizona State rolled past Illinois (1-1) to improve to 2-0 under new coach Todd Graham.
California 50, Southern Utah 31: At Berkeley, Calif., California cornerback Marc Anthony scored on a 61-yard interception return in the fourth quarter and the Golden Bears (1-1) shook off another sluggish start at home to beat Southern Utah (0-2).
Keenan Allen had two touchdowns, one on a 69-yard punt return, to help the Bears notch their first victory at newly renovated Memorial Stadium.
Sacramento State 30, Colorado 28: At Boulder, Colo., walk-on Edgar Castaneda's 30-yard field goal as time expired gave Sacramento State (1-1) a stunning win over Colorado - and earned him a scholarship in the process.
Castaneda joined the Hornets after helping City College of San Francisco win the junior college national championship last season, but he was paying his own way until Saturday, when his first game-winner at any level earned him not only a hug from coach Marshall Sperbeck, but also an education.
Sperbeck made the announcement during his postgame speech in the Hornets' locker room.
The Hornets (1-1) also left Boulder with a $460,000 paycheck following a stunning victory at a Pac-12 stadium for the second straight season. They upset Oregon State 29-28 in overtime in last year's opener.
MORE IMPORTED STORIES
