Nov. 3, 2012
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CORVALLIS, Ore. - The Arizona State University football team dropped its third consecutive Pac-12 tilt on Saturday evening as #13 Oregon State limited the Sun Devil offense in the second half in a 36-26 decision in Corvallis, Ore.
OSU's Cody Vaz threw for 267 yards and three touchdowns - including two in the decisive second half - as the Beavers (7-1, 5-1 Pac-12) took advantage of a stagnant ASU (5-4, 3-3 Pac-12) offense to pull away down the stretch.
Vaz found Brandin Cooks for a 49-yard touchdown strike early in the fourth quarter for his third touchdown pass of the game that all but put the game away for the Beavers as they went ahead 36-19 and held on for the victory.
The ASU offense totaled just 303 total yards while Taylor Kelly struggled against a stingy OSU defense, finishing 22-of-41 for 153 yards and a touchdown with an interception. However, 51 of those yards and the touchdown came with time running out on ASU's final drive of the game with the outcome already decided. On that drive, ASU drove 77 yards and capped it with a two-yard touchdown pass to Marion Grice to bring the game to its final tally.
Oregon State struck first in the second half en route to posting 17 unanswered points to break open a 19-19 tie at halftime. The Beavers drove 52 yards in 2:23 to score on the first possession of the second half - a 17-yard pass from Vaz to Marcus Wheaton - and into their first lead of the game at 26-19 and never looked back from there.
The Sun Devils allowed two receivers to record over 100 receiving yards on the game (Wheaton with 108 yards and Cooks with 116), marking just the first and second time that has happened this season.
The Sun Devils finished with their second-lowest total yardage this season at 303, which was seven yards shy of the season-low 296 yards against Missouri.
The ASU defense had its moments, scoring nine of ASU's 19 points while Brandon Magee posted 12 tackles on the game, but the effort was not enough.
The game started out promising for the Sun Devils, as for the eighth time in nine games, ASU scored the first points of the matchup - this time coming on the defensive end of the ball. On the first drive of the game and with OSU facing a third-and-10 from their own 16-yard line, Vaz was pressured by Will Sutton and appeared to drop the ball in the process. The fumble was recovered at the one-yard line by ASU's Junior Onyeali, who went untouched into the end zone for his first career touchdown to put ASU up 7-0 early.
Following an OSU field goal, the Sun Devils proceeded to drive 75 yards in 2:45 and scored on a one-yard dive from Cameron Marshall to go ahead 14-3 with 8:44 left in the quarter. For Marshall, it was his 35th career rushing touchdown, moving into sole possession of second on ASU's all-time list behind only Woody Green's 43.
The Beavers needed just two plays to answer, scoring on a 50-yard pass from Vaz to Wheaton to bring OSU within four.
The Sun Devils answered several drives later, also on the defensive end, as Kevin Ayers found his way around the line and got his hands on a Keith Kostol punt from the OSU end zone that forced a safety to put ASU up 16-10 and gave the ASU its first safety since Sept. 4, 2010 against Portland State.
The Sun Devils then received the free kick and advanced 47 yards on 11 plays, culminating in a 31-yard field goal from Jon Mora to put ASU up by nine.
OSU would again waste no time answering scoring on a 53-yard rush up the gut by Terron Ward that brought the game to 19-16 following a missed extra point. The Beavers would tie the game at 19 heading into the half on 45-yard Trevor Romaine field goal at the bell.
The Sun Devils will return to the road next weekend as they head to Los Angeles to take on the USC Trojans on Nov. 10.