By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Nov. 17, 2023
Damien Martinez ran for four touchdowns to lead the 12th-ranked Oregon State football team to a 62-17 stomping of Stanford on Saturday night in Reser Stadium in Corvallis.
Stanford surrendered more than 60 points for the first time since Arizona State recorded a 65-24 victory in 2002. The Cardinal defense let up 598 yards, the most since Cal rolled up 636 yards in the 2021 Big Game. But the unit was hardly the only one to have a letdown in the Pacific Northwest last weekend. The offense committed four turnovers, with quarterback Ashton Daniels throwing three interceptions and quarterback Justin Lamson adding another.
OSU moved to 8-2 (5-2 in the Pac-12) to set up a showdown tomorrow afternoon with 10-0 Washington on Senior Day in the last football game that Reser Stadium will host in the current configuration of the Pac-12. The Cardinal fell to 3-7 (2-6) and were eliminated from bowl eligibility.
The Beavers held a 34-10 lead at the half. Any hope of Stanford pulling off another Colorado-style comeback died in the third quarter, as each of the Cardinal’s first two possessions ended with a pick.
Martinez ran for 146 yards and four scores on just 15 carries, including a 59-yard touchdown scramble. DJ Uiagalelei completed 12 of 19 throws for 240 yards and two touchdowns for the Beavers, who finished the game with three different quarterbacks connecting with a total of 12 receivers for 321 yards and three TDs.
Daniels led the Cardinal with 10 completions on 16 throws for 200 yards while running nine times for 37 yards. His seven-yard run late in the first quarter briefly made the score a somewhat respectable 14-7. Daniels completed a throw that Elic Ayomanor (three receptions, 122 yards) took for an electrifying 75-yard touchdown late in the third quarter, but that left the score a dreadful 55-17 in favor of OSU.
The game wasn’t simply a matter of poor Stanford quarterback play or excellent coverage by Oregon State defensive backs. The Beavers handily won the battle of the trenches, recording six sacks and six other tackles behind the line of scrimmage. The Cardinal had just one sack and three other tackles for loss.
Stanford returns to action on the Farm Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time for the 126th edition of Big Game against cross-Bay rival Cal. In order to maintain bowl eligibility, the 4-6 Bears will need to record their first three-game winning streak in the series since a five-game victory run from 2002 through 2006.
Links
• ESPN
Stanford–Oregon State team statistics
Stanford–Oregon State box score
Stanford–Oregon State play by play
Stanford–Oregon State video highlights
• GoStanford.com
2023–24 Stanford football media information
2023–24 Stanford football roster
Stanford–Oregon State interactive box score
Stanford–Oregon State static box score, style A (PDF)
Stanford–Oregon State static box score, style B (PDF)
Stanford–Oregon State postgame notes
• OSUBeavers.com
2023–24 Oregon State football roster
• YouTube
Pac-12 Networks: Stanford–Oregon State video highlights
ESPN: Stanford–Oregon State video highlights
Matthew Loves Ball: Stanford–Oregon State extended video highlights
• Social media
Start of thread: Game tweets by @memomoment
Game-day and game-day-adjacent @memomoment tweets
MEMwrites 
Leave a comment