After a month away from Reser stadium the Beavers came out Saturday ready to give the record home crowd of 46,579 fans reassurance that this team deserves its #14 ranking.
However both offenses for OSU and WSU started out shaky, and it was clear that a good defensive effort would be a key to securing a win.
Like they have done all season the Beaver defense rose to the occasion.
Sticking to the trend of stifling opposing teams running games the Beavs only gave up 20 yards rushing to the Cougars, 15 of those yards coming on a late 4th quarter play.
Leading the way on the defensive line was sophomore defensive end Scott Crichton, who racked up 4 tackles for a loss, 3 of those being sacks.
But the player of the game on both sides of the ball for OSU was Senior cornerback Jordan Poyer.
Poyer was named the Walter Camp Football Foundation ‘National Defensive Player of the Week.’
Up to this point on the season not many teams have been throwing in Poyer’s direction, but WSU took the chance and it gave Poyer his time to shine.
Poyer was able to haul in 3 interceptions, one that came late in the 4th quarter to seal a Beaver victory. He also broke up several throws and was able to rack up 4 tackles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoLLeCs3Xew&feature=youtu.be
OSU was also able to keep WSU out of the endzone, however getting a touchdown would prove to be a difficult task for the Beavers as well.
After having back to back career record passing games quarterback Sean Mannion was shaken up frequently due to an aggressive blitz by the Cougars.
Mannion went 25-42 for 270 yards on the day, but was able to lead an impressive 3rd quarter drive that was capped off by a well-placed touchdown throw to Markus Wheaton, who ended up with 9 catches for 95 yards.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzuC4yfR6Rk&feature=youtu.be
Head coach Mike Riley was happy to be 4-0 on the season for the first time since 2002, but this team is not satisfied with their performance on Saturday after many careless penalties.
Although as Riley said to his team after the game even an ugly win, is a win.
“Our goal is to win the game, and come Monday we can work on what we need to do better.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmbGelEgHt4&feature=youtu.be
Going into this next week the Beavs will have a lot to in preparation for a talented BYU team.
But for now OSU fans can breathe easy and enjoy the hard earned victory the Beavs got on Saturday.
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