Oregon State’s Silas Bolden accounted for two touchdowns and Easton Mascarenas-Arnold recorded a key interception as the No. 19 Beavers notched a 21-7 victory over No. 10 Utah on Friday night in their Pac-12 matchup at Corvallis, Ore.
DJ Uiagalelei completed 14 of 25 passes for 204 yards, one touchdown and one interception for the Beavers (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12). Bolden had six receptions for 100 yards and one touchdown and also scored on a 45-yard run.
Damien Martinez rushed for 65 yards and a touchdown for the Beavers, who have won seven straight home games and 14 of their past 15. Oregon State outgained Utah 358 yards to 198.
Utah (4-1, 1-1) struggled as star quarterback Cam Rising has yet to play this season. Rising tore his left ACL during the Utes’ Rose Bowl loss to Penn State on Jan. 2 but recently returned to practice.
Nate Johnson connected on just 8 of 23 passes for 101 yards and one touchdown for the Utes. He was initially pulled following Utah’s first series of the third quarter but returned in the fourth quarter after Bryson Barnes got hurt. Barnes was 5 of 8 for 40 yards and one interception.
Thomas Yassmin caught a touchdown pass and Jonah Elliss had two sacks for Utah. Elliss has 5 1/2 sacks over the past two games.
The Beavers took a 14-0 lead on Uiagalelei’s 27-yard touchdown pass to Bolden with 10:43 left in the third quarter. Bolden caught the pass near the sideline at the 20-yard line, avoided one defender and cut in at the 10 to pass another.
Barnes replaced Johnson (3 of 12, 35 yards at the time) after the Oregon State touchdown and the Utah offense immediately perked up. However, the 13-play drive unraveled after the Utes reached the Beavers’ 5-yard line.
Joe Golden sacked Barnes for a 6-yard loss on first down, and then a low second-down shotgun snap went through Barnes’ legs and he covered the ball for a loss of 12. On third-and-goal from the 23, Barnes was intercepted by Mascarenas-Arnold with 3:43 left.
Early in the fourth quarter, Oregon State faced fourth-and-1 from the Utah 45 and bunched in tight as if to run a quarterback sneak. Instead, Uiagalelei pitched the ball to Silas, who got outside and raced for the touchdown that made it 21-0.
Yassmin caught a short pass from Johnson and turned it into a 41-yard scoring pass with 5:05 remaining for the Utes.
Oregon State scored on its first possession of the game on Martinez’s 4-yard run with 5:46 left in the first quarter.
–Field Level Media
