"I was real pleased with the way we approached the game," Riley said.
"We seemed to play with confidence and with a lot of spirit. We also executed
pretty well. For the most part, I thought it was a very good first game for
us."
The offense got into the scoring action early when Terrance Bryant hit James
Battle for a 68-yard touchdown just three minutes into the game. Bryant's touchdown
pass was his first pass in a Beaver uniform after transferring from San Francisco
City College.
 |
| Terrance Bryant's first pass as a Beaver
went for a 68-yard touchdown. |
The Bryant-Battle connection was the 14th longest pass play in OSU history
and the ninth longest scoring pass.
Bryant finished 15 of 29 for 209 yards two touchdowns, one rushing and one
throwing, and one interception. Battle caught three balls for 99 yards.
"I was worried about Terrance, and not about his ability or composure,
but just the fact it is quite a burden for a new quarterback with a Pac-10 team,"
Riley said. "Most of the guys who play in this league have a lot more background
with their team than Terrance has had. I was concerned about it, but it ended
up being the type of game that was obviously a great one for Terrance to break
into. He contributed to the team and I think the team responded very well to
him. I think he will get better and better as we go."
Following the quick scoring play, Bryant orchestrated an eight-play, 69-yard
drive that ended with Ken Simonton scampering into the end zone for a 14-0 lead.
Running back Ken Simonton racked up 121 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns.
Simonton's second touchdown was setup by James Allen's diving interception early
in the fourth quarter.
The Wolfpack drove 63-yards in eight plays late in the fourth to avoid the
shutout in front of 27,458 Beaver fans.
The Beavers also dominated defensively by shutting down the highly touted Nevada
passing attack that led the nation in passing offense in 1997.
Defensive end Toalei Talataina led the defense with a superb performance that
resulted in two touchdowns for the Hawaiian native.
 |
| Toalei Talataina scored two defensive touchdowns. |
Talataina scored on a blocked punt early in the second quarter when speedy
fellow end Jamil Braithwaite got a piece of a Wolfpack punt from the end zone.
Talataina picked up the tumbling pigskin and fell three yards for the score.
In the fourth quarter, Talataina scored his second touchdown of the game after
linebacker Bryan Jones knocked the ball out the Nevada quarterbacks' hands.
Talataina picked up the bouncing ball and rumbled 60-yards for a touchdown,
the third longest return of a fumble for a touchdown in Oregon State football
history.
Jones forced fumble was just one of many spectacular plays that the Beaver
linebacker made against Nevada.
"I would have to say that Bryan Jones was all over the field on Saturday,
not only on defense, but in the kicking game as well," said Riley. "It
was a great effort by Bryan on defense. Brian Rogers also played exceptionally
well on defense. Brian is a leader and a play-maker."
The Beaver defense constantly harassed the Nevada quarterbacks sacking them
five times and intercepting them four times. Three of OSU's four interceptions
against Nevada were by linebackers--James Allen, his first as a Beaver, Brandon
Boice and Darnell Robinson.
Riley was pleased by his teams first performance especially with the Beavers
special teams play. "I thought our special teams play was outstanding.
We got the ball in good situations for the offense," Riley said.
"We covered kickoffs tremendously well and Jose Cortez kicked the ball
great and if they (Nevada) wanted to bring the ball out they had to start from
their end zone. Our punt returning with Ken Simonton was good. He did great
job of catching the ball and making some plays after that. Overall, I thought
it was a great special teams day to build on."
Next week the Beavers faced the Big 12's Baylor Bears at home in Corvallis
before venturing on a four week road trip.
Notes:
- Jonathan Smith received his first playing time as a Beaver going 1-2 for
7 yards.
- James Allen intercepted his first pass as a Beaver.
- Inoke Brecterfield sat out the home opener due to a fight he was involved
with outside a Corvallis bar.
- Ken Simonton played his first game as a Beaver racking up 121 yards, he
was the first freshman Beaver to run for over 100 yards in a game.
- Oregon States 48 points vs. Nevada is the most scored by the Beavers in
a season opener since downing Willamette 76-0 in 1931.
- OSU's 48 points is the most scored by the Beavers since downing Northern
Illinois 67-28 on Nov. 16, 1996 (13 games ago).
- OSU's 42-point victory margin was the Beavers largest since a 59-0 win at
Hawai'i in the final game of the 1976 season (234 games ago).
- Nevada's 6 points were the least OSU has allowed since a 21-3 win over Washington
State at Parker Stadium in 1994 (35 games ago).
- Nevada's 6 points were the least the Wolf Pack has scored since a 25-6 loss
at Wyoming in 1992 (69 games ago). Nevada's fourth quarter touchdown kept
alive the Wolf Pack's streak of not having been shut out since a 10-0 loss
at Weber State in 1980 (213 games ago).
- OSU's 48 points were the most allowed by Nevada since a 49-35 loss to Toledo
in 1995 (33 games ago).
- Nevada's 42-point margin of defeat was the largest for the Wolf Pack since
a 49-6 loss to Boise State in 1975 (264 games ago).
- OSU almost duplicated its record of blocking three different kicks (punt,
field goal and PAT), by blocking a punt and field goal against Nevada. The
Beavers blocked all three in one game against USC at Los Angeles in 1996.
- Ken Simonton rushed for 121 yards, the second 100-yard game in a row by
an OSU back. Simonton's 100-yard rushing game is the 131st by a Beaver Back.
- Simonton is the first OSU freshman to rush for 100 yards in his first collegiate
game and start.
- Quarterback Terrance Bryant completed a 68-yard touchdown pass to James
Battle on his first pass as a Beaver and his first collegiate pass. The 68-yarder
was the 14th longest pass play in OSU history and the ninth-longest scoring
pass in Beaver history.
- Armon Hatcher intercepted his ninth career pass in the Nevada game, tying
him for 10th place on the OSU career list with Reggie Tongue (1992-95).
- Linebacker Bryan Jones produced 63 defensive points against Nevada, which
is the ninth best single-game mark in OSU history.
- OSU had three players post double figures in tackles vs. Nevada--Bryan Jones
and Armon Hatcher with 12 and Brian Rogers with 11.
Big Daddy Orange's Commentary
Everything went right for the Beavers in their home opener. The
offense scored, the defense scored, and the special teams scored. It was score-fest
'98. The Inoke-less Beaver defense dominated the game.
Please pray for the Baylor lineman who has to line up across from
Inoke next Saturday. The offensive line provided stellar protection for Terrance
Bryant and paved the way for Ken Simonton's 121 yard, two touchdown day. Join
my family and I at Parker Saturday the 12th and watch the Beavers go 2-0!
- Ken Simonton hits the holes in the line quickly.
- It was good to see a receiver make a nice run after a catch. James Battle’s
catch and run for the Beaver’s first touchdown was HUGE!
- The starting linebackers looked terrific.
- Mo Jones (the Nevada quarterback) has never been knocked down Mo times by
Mo people felt Mo pain or been Mo happy to sit out the second half of a game.
- I can’t pronounce Toalei Talataina but I sure like the way he plays.
- Jose once again had the fans chanting his name. Cry’s of JOSE, JOSE,
JOSE filled Parker after his booming kickoffs. It’s a good thing that
his name isn't Guillermo.
- Kudos to Quail Homes for handing out megaphones to the crowd. It really
helped everybody get into a cheering mode.
- Kudos to the athletic department for removing the chain link fences at the
end zones so fans could go onto the field immediately after the game.
- Kudos-NOT to the athletic department for moving general admission season’s
parking from across the street to across the campus.
- Section 26 (on the student side of Parker) was definitely the loudest section
in the stadium.
Box Score
FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
NEVADA 0 0 0 6 6
OREGON ST 14 14 6 14 48 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QTR: ORST - TD, JAMES BATTLE 68 YD PASS FROM TERRANCE BRYANT
(PAT FAILED), 3:04
ORST - TD, KEN SIMONTON 5 YD RUN (RODDY TOMPKINS
RECEPTION FOR TWO-POINT CONVERSION), 6:40
2ND QTR: ORST - TD, TOALEI TALATAINA 3 YD RETURN OF BLOCKED PUNT
(JOSE CORTEZ KICK), 3:00
ORST - TD, DESHAWN WILLIAMS 1 YD RUN (JOSE CORTEZ KICK),
6:35
3RD QTR: ORST - TD, TERRANCE BRYANT 1 YD RUN (PAT FAILED), 11:36
4TH QTR: ORST - TD, KEN SIMONTON 1 YD RUN (JOSE CORTEZ KICK), 0:03
ORST - TD, TOALEI TALATAINA 60 YD FUMBLE RETURN (JOSE
CORTEZ KICK), 1:41
NVDA - TD, ERIK STIDHAM 4 YD PASS FROM GEOFF NOISY (PAT
FAILED), 9:36
Nevada Oregon St
First downs 19 16
Rushed-yards 40-108 37-147
Passing yards 162 219
Sacked-yards lost 5-29 1-6
Return yards 15 89
Passes 20-37-4 17-35-1
Punts 8-35.0 6-37.5
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-2
Penalties-yards 9-72 13-92
Time of possession 34:03 25:57
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Nevada-Dugas 7-42, Lemon 13-36, Dawson 6-20, Stidham
4-18, Burr 1-2, Jones 9-minus 10. Oregon St-Simonton 19-121,
Williams 5-13, I White 4-5, Cummings 3-3, Alexander 2-3, Bryant
4-2.
PASSING: Nevada-Jones 11-21-1-94, Stidham 9-16-3-68. Oregon
St-Bryant 15-29-1-209, Tomich 1-4-0-3, Smith 1-2-0-7.
RECEIVING: Nevada-Noisy 9-62, Insley 6-62, E Johnson 2-17,
Higgins 1-9, Burr 1-8, Allen 1-4. Oregon St-Ainsworth 5-27,
Battle 3-99, Tompkins 3-24, Prescott 2-35, Alexander 1-11, J
Kuykendall 1-10, Maurer 1-7, I White 1-6.
Att: 27,458
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