Beavers Fight Valiantly, But Can't Overcome Big Brother Oregon
Ricky McKinley // Dam Daily • Published: October 16th, 2026
The Oregon Ducks may have avoided being charred and plated by their little brother, the Oregon State Beavers, in this contest. But the margin of victory wasn't nearly the belt-to-ass blowout many expected nationally. For a game that many - myself included - thought would be a bloodbath, our boys buckled their chin-strap and went toe-to-toe with the Ducks in an eventual 23-7 loss during a steady downpour of rain.
I'll admit, when I watched the Ducks march their opening possession 80 yards in 12 plays—after our own was a meager three-and-out—moving with surgical-like precision, I figured it was wraps. But as the field shrank, so did the running lanes. We buried Jordan Davison for a four-yard loss, then stuffed the screen pass on the next play and suddenly, the Ducks field goal unit was trotting out.
The Ducks' next two drives followed the same pattern. Slow, methodical, content to take what was given and not what they wanted. However, despite reaching plus territory twice more in the 1st half, sacks on 3rd down pushed Oregon out of field goal range. We were bending, but we weren't breaking this time.
Oregon's defense was forcing the same frustration for our offense, however, as a pair of promising drives were each stifled, forcing Logan McCreery onto the field to attempt 52- and 53-yard field goals. He would miss both, leaving the Ducks leading 3-0 going into the break.
When asked what the hometown Beavers needed to do in the second half as he jogged off the field, head coach Jonathan Smith didn't sugarcoat it. "We need points and we need them soon. We can't expect our defense to hold the line without any support, we owe them that much."
The Ducks' first drive of the second half played like it was a re-run from the first-half. Another surgical drive as they methodically marched down the field, but once again, the Beaver- were able to make one play to disrupt the momentum. Linebacker Hasson Manning Jr, who had one of the earlier drive-killing sacks, leveled Justius Lowe to break up the first down reception.
Another promising drive, another field goal. The defense was doing its part. The offense would continue failing at picking up the slack.
The Beavers' offense was forced into another quick three and out, then the dagger came. On his only carry of the game, backup HB Jay Harris slashed through the Oregon State defense for 51-yards, leaving Harlem Howard stumbling after a quick cut, to spark the Ducks offense, One play later and Makhi Hughes plunged in from two yards out and the Ducks had their first touchdown, and a 13-point lead.
Oregon's Makhi Hughes would nab his second touchdown in the 4th quarter, stretching the lead to 20-0, before Gutridge and the Beavers offense finally put in some work, with Gutridge finding Zachary Card for a 4-yard score.
Trailing 20-7 with just 4:25 left, HC Jonathan Smith opted for the onside kick to try and steal a possession, hoping for a miracle. Instead, Oregon recovered, drove within field goal range, and laced the uprights for a 23-7 final score.
During the post-game press conference DC Armando Leon praised his team's effort, but pushed back on the idea of morale victories:
•••
Question One - Danny Marks (CW Sports): "Coach, many pundits nationally had this earmarked as a more lopsided Oregon victory. Is your team taking any 'morale victories' from competing at a high level against a Ducks team that has championship expectations this year?"
Armando Leon: "Not at all, Danny. We came in here with a game plan to win, not a close loss. Is it encouraging to play a team the caliber of Oregon so tightly? Absolutely, and we're going to make sure we acknowledge the effort and passion from the team. But the end of the day, the standard we're trying to build isn't to be good enough to compete with these guys. It's to be these guys. But to be the man, you gota beat the man. We're encouraged, but not content, Danny."
Question Two - John Evans (DuckTerritory): "Coach, with how strong of a defensive effort your unit put forth in this game, how frustrating is it that the offense didn't do its part-?"
Armando Leon: Leon interrupts John Evans' question "Is that a serious question, John? This is a team game. We lose as a team, and we win as a team. We all have areas we need to work on so that the next time we take the field, we win as a team. Next question."
Question Three - Olivia LeRusso (Oregonlive): "Last question Coach, it looked like outside of a few big plays, Noah Fifita and the Ducks were methodical with moving the ball, taking the underneath throws and leaning on the run game to the tune of 183 rushing yards. Do you think the weather played a factor in their less-than-aggressive passing game, or was it your defensive game plan?"
Armando Leon: "I'm sure the weather definitely played a factor, Olivia. They only took two real deep shots, but both balls didn't have enough juice on them. That's not a knock on Noah, just the facts. But this was also our game plan. Keep them in front of us, make them earn every yard. That philosophy worked as the field shrank, we were able to notch a pair of sacks to knock them out of field goal range in the 1st half, and finished with eleven tackles for loss and those two sacks.
I would like to point out, you mentioned 183 rushing yards total. But if you take the 51-yard run from Harris and the 37-yard run from Davison away, they only tallied 95 rushing yards against us. We've preached limiting big plays all season and it's just another example of how even two of them can flip a game on its head. Like I said before, we're encouraged with the progress, but hungry for success."
•••
Listen, Coach won't say it, but I will. You can't not be excited about this team going forward. I will be honest, I thought it was going to be another Red Raiders massacre out there. This may be one of the only times in my life that I'm happy to be wrong.
We went toe-to-toe with one of the premier teams in college football, a roster literally LITTERED with five-star recruits. And, I would like to point out, this is only our second loss of the season. We're still 4-2 with a full slate of conference games ahead of us.
Watch out Pac-12, 'cause if today's game is any indication, we're coming for the #1 spot. Not next year, not in the future. THIS YEAR.
•••
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| #9 Oregon | 3 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 23 |
| Oregon State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Q | Team | Time | Play | Oregon | Oregon State |
| 1st | Oregon | 2:48 | Wade Kitchings, 28 Yd FG | 3 | 0 |
| 3rd | Oregon | 7:27 | Wade Kitchings, 31 Yd FG | 6 | 0 |
| 3rd | Oregon | 4:27 | Makhi Hughes, 2 Yd Run | 13 | 0 |
| 4th | Oregon | 6:43 | Makhi Hughes, 10 Yd Run | 20 | 0 |
| 4th | Oregon State | 4:24 | Zachary Card, 3 Yd Pass From Kallen Gutridge | 20 | 7 |
| 4th | Oregon | 1:47 | Wade Kitchings, 34 Yd FG | 23 | 7 |
Oregon Oregon State Passing | Stats Passing | Stats ----------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ Noah Fifita | 25/29, 238 Yds Kallen Gutridge | 9/17, 139 Yds, TD Rushing | Stats Rushing | Stats ----------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ Jordon Davison | 14 Att, 89 Yds Salahadin Allah | 18 Att, 66 Yds Makhi Hughes | 9 Att, 33 Yds, 2 TD Kallen Gutridge | 12 Att, 3 Yds Receiving | Stats Receiving | Stats ----------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ Dakorien Moore | 5 Rec, 75 Yds Salahadin Allah | 4 Rec, 61 Yds Kyler Kasper | 5 Rec, 46 Yds Jackson Bowers | 3 Rec, 51 Yds Justius Lowe | 4 Rec, 35 Yds Zachary Card | 2 Rec, 18 Yds, TD Defensive | Stats Defensive | Stats ----------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ DT Bear Alexander | 4 Tkl, 3 TFL, Sack SS Kyle Chen | 12 Tkl, TFL DT Aydin Breland | 3 Tkl, 2 TFL, Sack LB Jaheim Patterson| 4 Tkl, 2 TFL CB Smith Snowden | 6 Tkl LB Hasson Manning | 10 Tkl, TFL, Sack
Pac-12 Week Seven Results
21 Boise State (3-3) @ Western Michigan (4-3) 13
41 Texas State (4-3) @ Washington State (1-5) 37
16 Colorado State (2-4) @ Fresno State (3-3) 19
17 Utah State (1-5) @ UConn (3-5) 27
45 East Carolina (4-2) @ San Diego State (1-5) 27
Notable Week Seven Results
13 Penn State (5-2) @ #7 Michigan (5-1) 21
24 #19 Texas Tech (6-1) @ Baylor (3-4) 28
49 #3 Texas (6-1) @ #22 LSU (7-1) 24
Additional Media
► Show Spoiler
game bout to be boring as shit