BYU Beats Beavers in Blistery Bowl

Sam Boyd Stadium winds were swirling Tuesday night in the Las Vegas Bowl between the BYU Cougars and Oregon State Beavers. The Pac 10 representative Beavers dropped their second straight loss 44-20 following cold Vegas desert winds and a stifling Cougars defense. Oregon State fell to Oregon in its season finale and was pushed out of going to the annual Rose Bowl. The Beavers settled instead for the Las Vegas Bowl. It was more like the Civil War than they hoped it would be as BYU cruised to a throttling win. BYU’s senior signal caller threw three touchdowns for 192 in his final performance of his college career. Hall connected with Dennis Pitta, Luke Asworth and Manase Tonga in the surprisingly one-sided Cougars bout. Hall gave the number 15 Cougars their third victory in five bowl appearances in Sin City, while ended the Beavers’ run of five consecutive bowl wins. It was Hall’s second bowl win as a BYU quarterback. Only Jim McMahon matches Hall in that department. The talented Rodgers brothers were held in check and bottled up throughout Oregon State’s defeat. Running back, Jacquizz Rodgers, was arguably the best player on the field. The Cougars’ defense held the rusher to just 63 yards on 18 touches. His wide receiver brother, James, caught 30 yards against what most consider a small secondary for BYU. Harvey Unga scored for the 11-2 Cougars and ran for 76 yards on 24 carries against a team who was only one quarter away from the Rose Bowl.
Hall was excellent in going up against the patchy Oregon State secondary. His top targets, Pitta and Andrew George, combined for 9 receptions and just under 100 yards. The Cougars executed on third downs and Hall exposed the inexperienced Beaver defense when he needed to most. The Beaver offense converted just once on five fourth down tries and were 5 of 16 on third downs. They finished with three turnovers, including a James Rodgers fumble in one of the more competitive billed bowl matchups of the season. The Beavers struggled to sustain drives and quarterback, Sean Canfield, completed only four passes in the first half. The 8-5 Beavers scored on Canfield’s one yard run in the opening quarter for the early 7-0 lead. BYU answered with six scores of their own before the Beavers would put additional points on the scoreboard in the final quarter. Oregon State found their offense in the fourth quarter after the game was essentially out of reach. Jacquizz Rodgers provided six points to cut the BYU blowout advantage to 37-13. The Beavers even missed the extra point. Damola Adeniji hauled in a 31 yard touchdown pass from Ryan Katz with 2:35 left in the contest for the only other Oregon State touchdown.
The Cougars proved why their offense is hard to stop. The defense also harassed the opponent Tuesday night. Matt Bauman’s 34 yard fumble return for a touchdown padded the Cougars lead 14-7 in the first quarter after Unga added a rushing touchdown. Mitch Payne hit a 28 yard field goal through the uprights to increase the BYU lead to 10 before Ashworth snagged a 25 yard pass five minutes before halftime. Pitta scored the only points of the third quarter on a 17 yard Hall launch, and Tonga’s 15 yarder during a one play drive continued the obliteration of the Beavers. Canfield connected on a mere 20-of-41 throws for 173 yards in the losing effort. It was a Beaver beatdown and one of the weaker performances of the season for Oregon State. The poor fundamentals and decisions spelled disaster for the 16th ranked Beavers. The normally dependable Rodgers fumbled for the first time in his career as his quarterback completed less than 50% of his passes. The Beavers did pick up two sacks on the defensive end, but the prepared receivers whipped the OSU secondary with precise pass routes. The Beavers were never able to adjust to the conditions or overcome Hall’s approach. Canfield was forced to throw into double and triple coverage in the below 30 degree temperatures. The Cougar defense strategically pushed the Beavers’ offensive line around all night. This bowl game is one the Oregon State fans and players will surely like to leave in Las Vegas.

Parting Points: Ohio State’s David Lighty is one heck of a junior guard. He’s electrifying.