SPORTS
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
9A
Beavers compete, but it’s another defeat
By KERRY EGGERS
Pamplin Media Group
MINNEAPOLIS — If it’s
going to be different for Ore-
gon State this season, being
competitive is an important
first step.
The Beavers were all of
that Thursday night at TCF
Bank Stadium, on the road
against a middling Big Ten
opponent.
In the end, though, Minne-
sota had just enough to secure
a 30-23 victory in the opener
for both schools.
Oregon State took a 23-17
lead into the fourth quarter,
but the Gophers had enough
answers down the stretch
to send the Beavers home
unhappy.
“We’re not satisfied with
the game being close,” said
OSU safety Devin Chap-
pell, who made seven tackles
and was a stalwart in defeat.
“Whether you lose by an inch
or a mile, a loss is a loss. We
need to win, and that’s what
we’re going to do.
“We know we could have
won that game. We know we
should have won that game.
Whether that’s encouraging
or not, we’ll take that ‘L’ and
move forward.”
After getting swamped in
many one-sided losses through
the Pac-12 portion of a 2-10
first season for Coach Gary
Andersen, progress is what the
Beavers are looking for now.
There was some of that Thurs-
day night; just not enough to
result in an upset victory in a
contest in which OSU was a
13-point underdog.
“Being that close, every-
body was excited to be in the
game (in the late stages),” said
OSU linebacker Manase Hun-
gala, who had eight tackles.
“Finishing was the problem.”
Mistakes
Each team made enough
mistakes to give the other
victory.
Oregon State quarter-
back Darell Garretson fum-
bled while being sacked twice,
leading to short fields and a
pair of Minnesota touchdowns.
A short squib kickoff after the
Beavers had tied the score at
14-14 late in the second quar-
ter resulted in a Gopher field
goal and a 17-14 lead as time
expired before intermission.
Minnesota obliged with
five false-start penalties and
three targeting fouls that led
to expulsion of players. The
Gophers muffed a punt to set
up a third-quarter touchdown
that gave Oregon State a 23-17
advantage, and had two bad
snaps — one resulting in a
23-yard loss, the other rolling
into and out of the end zone for
a safety.
“We shot ourselves in the
foot on some plays,” first-
year Minnesota coach Tracy
Claeys said. “But in the end,
we didn’t quit. The kids hung
in there together and played
hard. Most of the time when
you do that, you’re going to
win the game.”
Offense and defense
The difference was Min-
nesota’s dominance in the
trenches on both sides of the
ball.
Oregon State won the total
AP Photo/Stacy Bengs
Oregon State safety Hunter Mattson drives against Minnesota defensive lineman Hendrick Ekpe, right, during an NCAA
college football game Thursday in Minneapolis. Minnesota won 30-23.
offense battle 317 yards to
280, and Minnesota managed
only 130 yards through the air.
Minnesota tailback Rodney
Smith carried 25 times for 125
yards and two touchdowns,
but the Gophers’ most import-
ant weapon was senior quar-
terback Mitch Leidner.
Leidner completed 13 of
26 passes for 130 yards but
was more dangerous on the
ground, rushing 13 times for
76 yards and two scores. The
OSU defense failed to sack
Leidner even one time.
In his first game playing
for Oregon State, quarterback
Darell Garretson connected on
25 of 40 passes for 228 yards
and three TDs and also scram-
bled twice for first downs.
Garretson was harassed by the
Minnesota defense through-
out, however, which resulted
in the two critical fumbles as
well as four sacks and a host
of hurries.
“The negatives that were
glaring were our inability to
rush the passer in our base
defense and our inability to
protect the passer,” Andersen
said. “(Leidner) made some
plays with his feet, but he was
sitting back there taking the
time he needed to throw the
ball. Even when Darell was
completing it, most of the time
he was crawling back up off
the ground.”
Garretson made some good
throws and some great ones,
including a thread-the-nee-
dle six-yard touchdown to
tight end Noah Togiai between
a pair of defenders for the
game’s first touchdown, and
an on-the money 30-yard
strike to Victor Bolden to tie
the game at 14-14 just before
the half. The 6-foot, 210-
pound junior — playing his
first game in nearly two years
after a transfer from Utah State
— also missed on some others,
including an underthrown ball
to an open Bolden that could
have been six points in the
third quarter.
“There were a couple
of balls I missed down the
seam,” a grim-faced Garretson
said afterward. “Wish I’d got-
AP Photo/Stacy Bengs
Minnesota defensive lineman Tai’yon Devers (92) sacks
Oregon State quarterback Darell Garretson during the
first half of the game Thursday in Minneapolis.
ten the ball out a little quicker.
Other than that, I played all
right. Not to my standard.”
Garretson avoided the rush
deftly at times, but never saw
Minnesota’s Tai’yon Devers
coming on either of his two
sacks.
“I got blindsided on both of
them,” Garretson said.
OSU struggles
OSU’s offensive line had
a struggle all night, both with
opening holes for the run
game and pass protection.
Sophomore Ryan Nall rushed
13 times for 71 yards, but
31 of the yards came on one
first-quarter blast. The Beavers
managed 89 yards rushing for
the game.
Minnesota adopted a pin-
the-ears-back approach to its
defensive approach in pres-
suring Garretson, and the
Gophers didn’t even have to
blitz often.
“There are some situations
that were unprotected, that
were uncounted for,” Garret-
son said. “That’s got to be on
me. I have to see that better,
get the ball out a little quicker.”
With first-time starters
Yanni Demogerantas at cen-
ter and Blake Brandel at left
tackle, The OSU O-line fig-
ured to have some problems.
Garretson didn’t have enough
time to throw vertically to his
major targets. Seth Collins
caught five passes for 57 yards
in his first game at wideout
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after converting from quarter-
back. Bolden had five catches
for 32 yards, but aside from
the 30-yard bomb totaled two
yards receiving. Jordan Vil-
lamin made one reception for
five yards.
“It’s something that will
have to be improved,” Ander-
sen said. “There are some
very talented weapons on the
outside, but not a lot of plays
you can draw up on the board
when you have to throw it in
1 1/2 seconds every snap. It’s
hard to get No. 22 (Collins) the
ball, No. 13 (Villamin) the ball
and No. 6 (Bolden) the ball
when you have no time.”
Garretson, Andersen said,
“did a good job.”
“He had to get the ball out
quicker as the game went on,”
Andersen said. “You’re not
going to find a tougher kid than
that. He’ll stay in there and
fight like crazy. He didn’t just
get hit; he got drilled numer-
ous times. To take those shots
on the turnovers and hang in
there and then stick some of
those balls he did … those
were big-time plays. There’s a
toughness to that kid I already
know about. He’ll lay it all out
there on the field.”
The Oregon State defense
had plenty of good moments,
but never was able to get
much pressure on Leidner.
The Gophers’ QB was able
to scramble for some critical
yardage, especially in the sec-
ond half.
“They did a nice job pro-
tecting,” Andersen said. “We
didn’t get many free runners
(at Leidner). We’ll have to
study game video to see how
much we have to change per-
sonnel groups to get differ-
ent kids on the field in those
settings. There were a couple
of scrambles that were huge.
Those are going to happen
sometimes, but there were too
many of them tonight.”
Said Chappell: “We need to
play a better game on defense.
We played hard, but we need
to make more plays. we need
to step up in those big-time
moments. Everybody on the
defense has to play his role
and do his job. If we’d done
that, it would have been a dif-
ferent game.”
If the Gophers are a bit
pedestrian on offense, they’re
top-drawer at the defensive
end.
“Those boys could play,”
Garretson said. “They were
strong, they were physical,
they blew around, they knew
what they were doing. But
we put up a pretty good fight
against them.”
Indeed the Beavers did. As
they filed back to their locker
room afterward, though, there
was only silence. This was not
a moral victory.
“We knew what we were
getting in Minnesota — at least
I did,” Andersen aid. “They’re
a tough, hard-nosed, physical
team. The second half, they’re
going to try to come out and
impose their will on you. We
handled those situations pretty
well, which was a good thing
to see.
“I was proud of the fight.
Proud of the hurt that showed
in their faces after the game,
which is important.”
It was a game the Beavers
could have won with what
they call a “clean sheet” in the
soccer world.
“Got to bounce back,” Nall
said. “Can’t let our heads hang
low. We have a bye week, and
then we’ll focus on Idaho State
(Sept. 17 at Reser Stadium).
It’s a done deal now. We’re
moving forward.”
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