Oregon State blows lead, comes back to beat Cal 21-17
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Having seen his team dominate California all game, Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith felt it was appropriate that linebacker Hamilcar Rashed Jr. put an emphatic stamp on the day with with a game-ending sack.
It was the season-high ninth sack by Smith’s defense and helped erase any lingering memories the Beavers had after suffering a 45-point loss one week earlier.
“Overall for our defense to be able to finish it that way was huge,” Smith said after Oregon State’s 21-17 win over California on Saturday. “We talked about putting the previous game to rest and I thought our guys did it. Had a great week of work, energy and attention to detail, and it played out today.”
B.J. Baylor scored on a 13-yard touchdown run with 4:41 remaining for the game-winning score after Oregon State blew a 14-point lead.
Jake Luton threw a pair of touchdown passes, Artavis Pierce ran for 80 yards to help the Beavers (3-4, 2-2 Pac-12) win for the second time in three games.
“We’re not the same Oregon State team as last year,” said defensive end Jordan Whittley, referring to the Beavers’ 49-7 loss to the Golden Bears in 2018. “Different team.” Especially on defense. Rashed had three sacks and four tackles for losses, tied for third-most in school history. Riley Sharp also had three sacks.
“It’s the most fun I’ve ever had,” Sharp said. “Because our run defense was really, really good today, in some situations they were forced to pass which allowed us to run some play calls that allowed multiple blitzers coming off the edge and different schemes to help us get to the quarterback.”
The defense helped offset a sporadic day from the Beavers offense.
Oregon State’s offense was shut down in the second half until driving 80 yards for the game-winning score. The Beavers converted three third downs on its way to the end zone, the third coming when Baylor bulled his way through the defense and stretched across the goal line to score.
Baylor was initially ruled down short of the end zone until a side official came in and signaled touchdown. The play was reviewed and confirmed.
Jaydon Grant sealed the win with an interception off third-string quarterback Spencer Brasch on Cal’s ensuing possession after Devon Modster was taken out for unknown reasons.