Beavs drop heartbreaker at Stanford

IT'S BEEN SAID that the harder you work, the harder it is to surrender. If that was true on Saturday at Stanford, it must have been very hard indeed for the Beavers to watch the final seconds run off the clock in the 27-23 loss.

Oregon State overcame a sluggish start and a 14-0 deficit to take a 23-14 lead in the third quarter.

But Stanford battled back and cut the lead to 23-21. A critical fumble by Cody Vaz set the Cardinal up for their final score in the fourth quarter. It was the only Oregon State turnover of the game, but it provided the winning margin.

Oregon State had two more chances. They were forced to punt on the first but got the ball back with a solid stand on defense, Anthony Carpenter making a key third-down tackle. (Carpenter was in on a number of big moments for OSU on the day.

On the Beavs' last chance, Vaz was injured when sacked and came off the field unable to put any weight on his leg. Sean Mannion's desperation pass on fourth and fifteen was in a pretty good spot but it would have been a difficult catch, and it was not to be.

Storm Woods unofficially ran for 94 yards on 15 carries. Terron Ward also had some key carries for tough yards against Stanford's No. 1 rated rush defense in the nation.

Oregon State's defense came on strong after a first quarter in which they lost the battle in the trenches. But OSU forced four takeaways and mostly shut down the Stanford offense for long stretches in the middle of the game.

Ryan Murphy and Rashaad Reynolds each had an interception.

Markus Wheaton gave yet another reason why he's one of the best receivers in college football, with a seven-catch, 91 yard day and a touchdown. Wheaton was especially impressive on third down. Brandin Cooks chipped in seven catches of his own, for 82 hashes.

The loss dropped the Beavs to 7-2. OSU hosts California next Saturday.

We'll have more a little later on...