No Father's Son

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I mean I did shut out Oregon...

that game is #underreview

same sliders and Bear Bachmeier sliced me up next week. Sunshine just ain't built like that

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Pair of Interceptions Ends Rams' Upset Bid In Nail Bitter

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Ricky McKinley // Dam Daily • Published: November 13th, 2027

Darius Curry and the Colorado State Rams did their best to play spoiler on the 15th-ranked Oregon State Beavers at Reser Stadium, but a pair of defensive stands gave Salahadin Allah just enough time to slash in the go-ahead score as Oregon State prevailed in a 21-16 nail-biter.

From the opening drive it was clear that Darius Curry was out to redeem himself after a disastrous effort against Coach Leon's defense last season, leading the Rams on a crisp opening drive capped with a 14-yard strike to Mekhi Anderson. An interception midway through the 2nd quarter slowed Curry's aerial assault, allowing Kallen Gutridge to put the second Beavs touchdown on the board, but a final drive by Curry allowed the Rams to narrow the lead to a lone point following Payne Williams III's second-field goal of the half as the teams entered the locker room with Oregon State leading 14-13.

As time wound down in the 3rd quarter Curry mounted another drive, eventually reaching 1st-and-goal from the 1-yard line, but that would be as far as the march went. A run stuffed for negative two-yards on 1st down led to an incompletion by Curry on 2nd down, Curry dropped back once again on 3rd-and-goal, but instead of paydirt he was met with Manu Hasty, who came untouched through the A-gap for the sack. Colorado State would still take the lead, 16-14, on the ensuing field goal, but keeping the Rams out of the end zone would end up being a pivotal moment for the Beavers.

Oregon State's offense would continue to struggle, now trailing, with a quick punt following the Rams field goal. Another march by Curry, this time with a short field, was cut down by the Beavers again after head coach Tyson Summers opted to eschew the field goal on 4th-and-2 from the 10-yard line. His fade into the end zone for Mekhi Anderson, who hauled in the first touchdown for the Rams, was covered perfectly by Kodi DeCambra as the converted safety snagged his second interception of the game.

From there, the Beavers' offense rode Salahadin Allah for 73 of the 80 yards downfield, with Allah powering into the endzone from 1-yard out to give the Beavers a late 21-16 lead. Still, Darius Curry had thrown for 267 yards to that point and despite coming away with only three points, had just driven the Rams into the red zone on back-to-back possessions. He would not make it a third, however.

A quick first down had the Beavers' defense on its heels, but with the game on the line, Coach Leon went deep into his bag with a sim pressure Tampa 2 look, a call he rarely makes, and the payoff was instant. Thinking he had Xavier Johnson wide-open in a hole on the zone, Curry let it rip. But Sailasa Vadrawale III lay in wait, shaded just enough to the inside to give the guise of an open throw. He quickly closed the gap, rose up, and snagged the interception that would end the day for Curry & Co, as the Beavers ran out the clock to seal the victory.

Coach Leon was quick to praise his defense's resilience as well as acknowledge another stellar effort on the ground by Salahadin Allah.


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Question One - Chip Swarley (CW Sports): "Coach, Darius Curry made some huge throws in the game, getting the Rams offense into the red zone on five different occasions, yet your defense only gave up one touchdown. How tough is it for a defense to keep the intensity and focus as the opposing offense mounts a drive and maintain enough composure to force the field goal on multiple instances?"

Armando Leon: "This unit is special, Chip. You see a lot of defenses give up a big play or two and fold on themselves. Start pointing fingers, looking for excuses. Not these guys, they simply buckle the chinstrap again and focus on getting the next stop. Kodi's interception in the red zone was clutch, as was Manu's sack in the 3rd quarter. He was designed to spy on that play, honestly, but when he saw the gap in the line he made the call to blitz it and Curry never saw it coming. If we give up a touchdown there? It's a completely different game. First, we tie the game instead of winning it with Allah's 2nd touchdown, but additionally, they're kicking the field goal on Kodi's interception, not pushing for the touchdown to make it a two-score game. Big-time players, make big-time plays, and you saw that on the field today."

Question Two - Charles Murray (The Rocky Mountain Collegian): "Walk us through the play call on Curry's third interception that ended the Rams' potential game-winning drive, Coach. That looked like a Tampa 2 coverage your defense doesn't call often, if at all?"

Armando Leon: "I think the worst-kept secret in the Pac-12 is that I like to blitz, and sometimes you can break tendency and catch the opponent off guard. We don't run Tampa 2 very often, but in a two-minute drill where we know they're going to be throwing the ball and trying to work the sidelines to preserve their timeouts, it played to our advantage. We feigned the blitz again, then dropped all but three defenders into coverage. You could tell Curry was caught off guard and simply made a bad throw. Checkmate."

Question Three - Olivia LeRusso (Oregonlive): "Last question, Coach, but this one is about the offense. How beneficial is it to have a guy like Salahadin Allah on your side who is the definition of a workhorse this season?"

Armando Leon: "He's a godsend, Olivia. No pun intended. I don't see how he isn't higher on the Doak Walker award list, 'cause he's having a killer season. When the pressure mounts, he always steps up to steady the offense and it's saved our bacon more than a few times this season."


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I thought this was the game, honest to God loyal readers. I thought this was the game that the offense finally shit the bed and let us down. I mean, think about it. We almost lost a game where the defense only allowed 16 points. If we can't score more than 16 points, do we even deserve to win?

Salahadin Allah bailed us out again, but we can't bank on that always being the case. Head Coach Jonathan Smith is an offensive guy, at some point you have to think he's taking the reins from Mitch Dahlen, if this is truly a play calling issue. Or are they simply making do with a terrible situation, with AJ Maddox not being as advertised?

Either way, the margins are only getting slimmer as the season barrels towards its conclusion. The defense is ready to play, but can the offense do enough to make it last?

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
Colorado State	7	6	3	0	16
Oregon State	0	14	0	7	21

Q	Team	Time	Play	Colorado State	Oregon State
1st	Colorado State	5:04	Mekhi Anderson, 14 Yd Pass From Darius Curry	7	0
2nd	Oregon State	9:31	Salahadin Allah, 5 Yd Run	7	7
2nd	Colorado State	5:44	Payne Williams III, 38 Yd FG	10	7
2nd	Oregon State	2:56	Philip Ghiaciuc, 6 Yd Pass From Kallen Gutridge	10	14
2nd	Colorado State	0:00	Payne Williams III, 42 Yd FG	13	14
3rd	Colorado State	1:57	Payne Williams III, 25 Yd FG	16	14
4th	Oregon State	3:22	Salahadin Allah, 1 Yd Run	16	21

Colorado State                                             Oregon State

Passing               | Stats                              Passing                  | Stats
----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------
Darius Curry          | 23/35, 298 Yds, TD, 3 INT          Kallen Gutridge          | 13/18, 143 Yds, TD

Rushing               | Stats                              Rushing                  | Stats
----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------
Benjamin Hall         | 9 Att, 19 Yds                      Salahadin Allah          | 25 Att, 151 Yds, 2 TD
Darius Curry          | 4 Att, -4 Yds                      Kallen Gutridge          | 9 Att, 7 Yds

Receiving             | Stats                              Receiving                | Stats
----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------
Mekhi Anderson        | 7 Rec, 102 Yds, TD                 Zachary Card             | 4 Rec, 27 Yds
Brock Camp            | 6 Rec, 106 Yds                     Philip Ghiaciuc          | 4 Rec, 52 Yds, TD
Xavier Johnson        | 3 Rec, 41 Yds                      Jackson Bowers           | 3 Rec, 44 Yds

Defensive             | Stats                              Defensive                | Stats
----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------
CB Elijah Brown       | 10 Tkl, 2 TFL                      CB Sailasa Vadrawale III | 9 Tkl, INT
LB Jaden Landrum      | 9 Tkl, TFL                         MLB Manu Hasty           | 8 Tkl, 5 TFL, 2 Sacks
DE Jaylon Porter      | 6 Tkl, 2 TFL                       CB Kodi DeCambra         | 5 Tkl, 2 INT

Pac-12 Week Eleven Results
35 Utah State (4-6) @ San Diego State (2-8) 28
23 Boise State (8-2) @ Washington State (6-4) 63
7 Texas State (1-9) @ Fresno State (3-7) 31

Notable Week Eleven Results
28 Oklahoma (6-4) @ #9 Florida (8-2) 38
17 #21 Miami (7-3) @ #6 Duke (9-1) 38
21 #17 Auburn (8-3) @ #14 Georgia (7-3) 24
12 Notre Dame (7-3) @ #13 Clemson (8-2) 42

Additional Media

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Beavers' Recruiting Class Slowly Taking Shape

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Ricky McKinley // Dam Daily • Published: November 17th, 2027

As the Beavers continue to build towards one of the most successful seasons in recent memory, the recruiting class is slowly catching up. Now sitting at eight total verbal commitments, it's far from a powerhouse class, but one that is slowly shaping up to feature several borderline four-star prospects.

Leading the pack is Nick Slade, the 3* JUCO tackle from Fresno, CA. Slade has yet to sign a letter of intent or verbally commit to the Beavers, but sources close to the sophomore indicate that Oregon State is the only team in the running currently.

While they wait for the final word from Slade, Dom Nicholson and Khamari Mebane are the jewels of the class so far for Oregon State. Both are listed as athletes, but project as versatile defenders with speed to play a variety of positions in Coach Leon's aggressive defense.

"It's clear when you look at our recruiting classes over the last two years what we're looking for," acknowledged Leon after the latest verbal commitments, "Speed kills."

Including Nick Slade, the Beavers are the front runners for the top seven players on their big board who have yet to commit, all of whom rank inside the top 800 nationally.

"It isn't a class that's going to compare with the likes of Oregon or Washington, but in the Pac-12? It's easily going to be a premier class. They're already attracting top portal talent for their prestige ranking, but now they're going to be supplementing that with top prep recruits as well," noted one anonymous Pac-12 executive.

"If they keep building, they're looking like more than a flash in the pan at this point."


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Ranking	Position	Name	Ht	Wt	Hometown	Tendency	NAT/STA/POS	Stage	Oregon State Rank
	T	Nick Slade	6'4	294	Fresno, CA (JUCO)	Pass Pro	463/63/42	Top 5	1st
	ATH	Dom Nicholson	6'2	272	Midlothian, VA	Power Rusher	481/9/51	Committed	Oregon State
	ATH	Khamari Mebane	5'11	239	Clearwter, FL	Thumper	512/61/28	Committed	Oregon State
	ATH	Fredrick Flowers	6'4	233	Las Vegas, NV	Pure Possession	523/1/23	Top 3	1st
	C	Kevin Faulkner	6'3	281	San Jose, CA (JUCO)	Well Rounded	581/70/21	Top 3	1st
	WR	Hasheem Cheek	5'10	188	Playa Del Rey, CA	Gadget	591/71/104	Top 3	1st
	G	Deontae Berryman	6'2	291	Saint George, UT	Raw Strength	682/10/35	Top 5	1st
	FS	Antoine Clay	5'10	180	Indianapolis, IN (JUCO)	Box Specialist	697/12/27	Top 5	2nd
	ATH	Rahim Burress	6'4	236	Portland, OR	Pure Possession	714/8/28	Committed	Oregon State
	WR	Shawn Dewey	6'1	178	Honolulu, HI	Elusive Route Runner	736/8/124	Top 5	1st
	ATH	Shane Cleveland	6'3	243	Wilmington, DE	Thumper	773/3/40	Top 5	1st
	LB	George Iwuchukwu	5'11	227	Cypress, TX	Lurker	768/110/49	Top 3	1st
	MLB	Shaquille Thomas	6'0	209	Boling, TX	Lurker	869/121/49	Top 3	3rd
	WR	Darrell Garnes	6'4	197	Walla Walla, WA	Physical Route Runner	913/8/153	Top 5	2nd
	CB	David Akinmoladun	6'1	191	Santa Ana, CA	Boundary	925/98/80	Committed	UCLA
	ATH	Tavarius Boyett	6'5	271	Yorba Linda, CA	Power Rusher	940/101/95	Committed	Oregon State
	ATH	Garrison Rourke	6'3	262	Studio City, CA	Power Rusher	1055/108/104	Committed	UCLA
	SS	Clarence McNabb	6'0	188	Oak Grove, LA	Box Specialist	1068/38/21	Committed	Oregon State
	TE	Anthony Brockel	6'4	245	Portland, Oregon	Pure Possession	1123/22/43	Committed	Oregon State
	ATH	Bruce Lovelace	5'10	191	Palm Springs, CA	East/West Playmaker	1259/128/168	Committed	Oregon State
	ATH	Hugh Grupe	6'0	202	Upland, CA	East/West Playmaker	1264/130/170	Top 3	1st
	G	Ben Van Pelt	6'5	300	Lawndale, CA	Agile	1318/132/69	Top 8	1st
	QB	Amari Williams	6'3	210	San Mateo, CA	Pocket Passer	1494/147/110	Committed	Air Force
	CB	Eric Granger	6'1	196	Santa Ana, CA	Bump and Run	1507/149/120	Committed	Arizona State
	ATH	Jason Bethel	6'0	241	Burien, WA	Thumper	1757/14/97	Committed	Oregon State