Same depressing story for Beavers

CORVALLIS – Another quick start for the Beavers, another collapse and another ugly loss.

Oregon State squandered a 14-0 lead against UCLA over the course of three quarters Saturday at Reser Stadium and lost 40-14.

And while it took the Bruins more than two quarters to begin to claw out of their hole, they captured the lead in spectacular fashion. UCLA scored three touchdowns in a three-minute span in the fourth quarter, aided by two fumbled kick off returns and a personal foul penalty by Gerard Lawson.

Turnovers, poor decisions and allowing big plays, were the all-too familiar culprits for the Beavers.

“It feels somewhat like last week when the game was a good football game,” Oregon State coach Mike Riley said. “Then we made, for the most part what were our blunders, a series of mistakes.

“We need to stop these games at halftime.”

More simplified: “Same thing again this week,” Oregon State running back Yvenson Bernard said referring to Oregon State’s 44-32 loss last week at Arizona State when the Beavers (2-3 overall, 0-2 Pac-10) blew a 19-0 lead.

The first of a series of head-scratching mistakes by the Beavers came with UCLA (4-1,

3-0) trailing 14-12.

Bruins quarterback Ben Olson flipped a short screen pass to wide receiver Brandon Breazell, who bounced out of two tackle attempts by linebacker Alan Darlin and sprinted 69 yards down the middle of the field for a touchdown. That gave UCLA a 19-14 with 9:12 left in the game.

“We had a guy there to make that play,” Riley said. “The guy just broke the tackle.”

The drive started on the Bruins’ 31-yard line thanks to a late hit by Lawson, which happened to come after a 51-yard Alexis Serna punt to the UCLA 16, easily his best kick on a night of struggles.

On the ensuing UCLA kickoff, Lawson misjudged its distance and was unable to recover. UCLA’s William Snead recovered the fumble on the Beavers 21-yard line. Three runs by Kahlil Bell put the ball in the end zone, the last a 4-yard jaunt, to give UCLA a 26-14 lead with 8:07 left.

Bell finished with 82 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries and 49 yards on four catches.

Lawson fumbled again on the ensuing kickoff, which was recovered by Rodney Van on the Oregon State 39-yard line.

Bruins quarterback Ben Olson then drove in the proverbial nail with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Breazell. That made the score 33-14 with 6:27 remaining.

Olson had 220 yards and two touchdowns on 14 of 25 passing with one interception.

Lawson was sent out on the next kickoff and fumbled again. This time it went out of bounds, and the Beavers retained possession.

“I know that his teammates have put their arms around him right now,” Riley said of Lawson’s night.

Even though possession was retained on Lawson’s last fumble, it didn’t matter. A Serna punt was blocked after a three and out, giving UCLA the ball on the Beavers’ 21.

UCLA running back Chris Markey, who had 69 yards on 19 carries, capped the stunning turn of events with a 2-yard touchdown run, making the score 40-14 with 2:12 left.

“We’re just not getting it done offensively like we should be and can be,” Oregon State quarterback Sean Canfield said. “I think we’re playing some good football, and you saw that early.”

Canfield negated his own fast start as well. He finished with 146 yards, two interceptions and a fumble, on 25 of 32 passing. Yvenson Bernard was the Beavers’ only offensive bright spot. He rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries.

“We had a couple shots in a row when we went three and out, and that makes it hard to follow up with plays to get things going,” Riley said. “We would liked to have taken some shots down field and get the play action going.”

The Beaver’s first touchdown literally fell right into their hands. After a missed 45-yard field goal by Serna, Bruins running back Bell fumbled on the never next play. And it bounced right into the hands of Beavers safety Al Afalava, who sprinted 33 yards down the sideline for a touchdown.

That made it 7-0 with 11:17 left in the first quarter.

It was Bell’s second fumble at that point in the game. He also fumbled on the Bruins’ first play from scrimmage, leading to the possession on which Serna missed his only field goal attempt.

The Bruins punted on their next possession. But Canfield’s first interception spoiled a golden opportunity to extend the lead. He threw into a crowd of UCLA defenders on a screen attempt from the Bruins 15-yard line, and it was safety Bret Lockett who came away with the interception.

But UCLA punted again. And Oregon State marched 63 yards in 11 plays and scored on a 1-yard Yvenson Bernard run. He had runs of 8, 9 and 14 yards on the drive.

That put the Beavers on top 14-0 with 18 seconds left in the first quarter.

“I think we did a good job offensively for three quarters,” Yvenson Bernard said. “But in the fourth quarter we didn’t do anything.”

At the end of the first quarter, the Bruins had just 19 total yards while the Beavers had 147. Canfield was 11 of 14 for 82 yards. And Yvenson Bernard had 66 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.

“We did for a long time have it going on defense,” Riley said.

Canfield’s second interception, by cornerback Trey Brown, also in UCLA territory, put the brakes on the Beavers’ next drive.

Both teams exchanged punts on their next possessions. And then the Bruins offense kicked into gear.

A 37-yard field goal by Kai Forbath, at the end of a 40-yard, eight-play drive, cut the Beavers lead to 14-3 midway through the second quarter.

The Beavers went three and out. And the Bruins drove 39 yards on 11 plays to score on a 28-yard Forbath field goal right before the half. That led to the halftime score of 14-6.

Oregon State plays host to Arizona next week. Last year, the Beavers started the season 2-3 and rebounded to finish with a 10-4 record and a win in the Sun Bowl.

“We need to stop these games at halftime,” Riley said.

Read more at the Statesman Journal