Oregon State quarterback Gevani McCoy threw 25 passes in Saturday night’s game against San Diego State.

It begged the question: why?

It didn’t matter that McCoy struggled with his direction on several throws.

There was simply no need to put the ball in the air. Not in the way the Beavers could move it on the ground.

Defending the run was a point of emphasis leading into the game after Oregon State rushed for 362 yards in last week’s season opener against Idaho State.

The concerns proved to be justified. SDSU’s inability to stop the run, combined with its own offensive woes, resulted in a 21-0 loss to the Beavers before an announced crowd of 25,318 (18,580 turnstiles) at Snapdragon Stadium.

“We’ve got to do everything we can to bounce back,” SDSU coach Sean Lewis said. “Every opportunity we get, or learn from as we go through this process. The adversity we went through tonight is part of that, and we can grow and be stronger from that. I’m looking forward to the next step in this process as we do that collectively as a team.”

Oregon State rushed 51 times for 237 yards and two touchdowns, scoring on a 16-yard run by Jam Griffin (18 carries, 89 yards, TD) in the first quarter and a 15-yard run by Anthony Hankerson (16 carries, 73 yards, TD) in the fourth. The Beavers added a 21-yard touchdown pass from McCoy to Bryce Caufield with five minutes left.

The run game allowed the Beavers to dominate time of possession, 41:07 to 18:53. Oregon State ran 78 plays, while the Aztecs had 49.

“They’ve got some great runners,” SDSU cornerback Chris Johnson said. “It’s always tough to stop a great runner and when you pair that with a great offensive line … I think we’re a perfect fit for them. We’ve got a great interior, exterior, secondary, all that. Obviously, they just executed more and were able to make bigger plays than we were.”

And how about SDSU’s “AztecFAST” offense? You can’t go fast if you’re not on the field.

SDSU struggled in the first half for the second straight week, trailing 7-0 at halftime. It didn’t help that the penalties (16) that plagued them last week continued in the first half (7), although the Aztecs were limited to one in the second half.

“I thought the defense played great,” SDSU tight end Jude Wolfe said. “They gave us a lot of opportunities. They gave us the ball back. Offense, we didn’t take advantage of that.”

The Aztecs’ offense showed a sign of life midway through the third quarter when wide receiver Louis Brown IV made a diving catch from 35 yards.

That gave SDSU first-and-goal at the 7-yard line. Two plays moved the ball to the 2, but the Aztecs came away empty-handed when quarterback Danny O’Neil was stripped of the ball as he stretched toward the goal line. O’Neil was playing with a brace on his knee after injuring himself in the first quarter.

“That was big,” Oregon State coach Trent Bray said. “That tied the game. They were right there. That was really the turning point in the game, in my opinion, being able to keep the ball out of the end zone and take the ball away. That turned the momentum back in our favor because they had it.”

O’Neil was 11-of-24 passing in the game for 107 yards and running back Marquez Cooper carried 13 times for 54 yards to lead an SDSU offense that was limited to 179 total yards. SDSU punter Tyler Pastula had the biggest game, punting seven times for 340 yards (48.6-yard average) with a long of 63 yards. He did have one blocked attempt.

The game played out similarly to last week’s season opener against Texas A&M-Commerce, when SDSU trailed 6-3 at halftime. The team struggled on offense and was called for more penalties (nine in the first half and 16 in the game).

Against Oregon State, the Aztecs were three-and-out on the game’s opening drive, giving up a 45-yard punt to Pastula and then drawing a 15-yard face mask penalty against Dalesean Staley on the return.

That allowed the Beavers to start near midfield. Five plays and 53 yards later, Griffin threw the ball to an official in the end zone after his 16-yard TD run.

So the Beavers had a 7-0 lead after 3 minutes and 13 seconds.

That remained the case until halftime, but only because SDSU’s defense made some great saves and Oregon State kicker Everett Hayes missed a 38-yard field goal attempt with seven seconds left before halftime.

The Beavers consumed nearly half of the first quarter with a 13-play drive that was blunted when McCoy threw incomplete on a fourth-and-4 from SDSU’s 45-yard line. Aztecs linebacker Cody Moon pressured McCoy into making the bad throw.

SDSU also forced Oregon State to score on its first two drives of the second quarter, but the Aztecs’ offense couldn’t capitalize on the opportunities.

Pastula, who had to punt five times in the first half, had more than twice as many yards (225) in the first half as the Aztecs’ offense (101).

Remarkable

It was 87 degrees at kickoff, making it the second-hottest game in Snapdragon Stadium history. Make it the hottest after sunset.

The record, of course, was the 100-degree day for Snapdragon’s inaugural game in the 2022 season opener against Arizona. That game had an afternoon kickoff.

• The Aztecs have now been shut out twice in seven games (including last year’s 6-0 loss to Nevada), after being shut out once in the previous 211 games (27-0 to Ohio in the 2018 Frisco Bowl).

It was the first away game against Oregon State in 41 years (a 0-0 tie at Oregon in 1983).

• SDSU hits the road for the first time on Saturday, playing Cal at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN).

The Bears got off to a 2-0 start on Saturday after a 21-14 win over Auburn.

• SDSU sophomore wide receiver Mikey Welsh did not dress for the game due to a right leg injury. Welsh was spotted with a shoe on his right foot during pregame warmups.

Originally published: September 7, 2024 at 10:51 PM