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Arizona-Oregon State game blog: INT seals game for Beavers

Matt Scott

Matt Scott shows off Arizona’s new look in pregame warmups. Photo by Rick Scuteri-US PRESSWIRE

Oregon State holds on to beat Arizona 38-35, as cornerback Rashaad Reynolds intercepted Matt Scott with 38 seconds left, stepping in front of a slant pass intended for Tyler Slavin at the UA 44.

Arizona overcame a 17-0 deficit in the second quarter but couldn’t stop the passing of Sean Mannion, who completed 29 of 45 throws for 433 yards.

Scott threw for a career high 403 yards, completing 31 of 53 passes.

Arizona falls to 3-2, while 18th-ranked Oregon State improves to 3-0.

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Oregon State goes 75 yards to grab a 38-35 lead with 1:09 to play. The go-ahead points come on a beautiful 9-yard pass to Connor Hamlett, as Sean Mannion threads the ball between linebacker Sir Thomas Jackson and safety Patrick Onwuasor at the goal line along the left sideline.

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Arizona, helped by a defensive holding call in the end zone, strikes back on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Matt Scott to Austin Hill. The Cats move back ahead 35-31 with 5:34 to go.

Oregon State QB Sean Mannion already has a career high 381 passing yards. Can the Arizona defense stop him late in the game?

Matt Scott, meanwhile, has tied his career high with 30 completions, good for 386 yards.

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A little luck never hurts. An Oregon State defender tips a pass but center Addison Bachman is down field and snatches the ball out of the air for a 10-yard gain.

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Official attendance: 44,153, just beating out the crowd for the game vs. South Carolina State (43,919).

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Jourdon Grandon commits major penalties on back-to-back plays — a late hit and then a face mask — as Oregon State retakes the lead with 8:35 left after an 86-yard drive. Sean Mannion fires to Markus Wheaton for a 20-yard score to make it 31-28 for OSU.

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Getting down to it. Arizona punts back to Oregon State, with the Beavers taking possession at their 14 with 10:39 left, trailing 28-24. Been a gritty game for Arizona, which has overcome a 17-0 deficit and lost S Jared Tevis in the first half and C Kyle Quinn in the second half.

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Tra’Mayne Bondurant strips the ball from Oregon State running back Storm Woods, resulting in a huge pile-up that takes a while to figure out. As the officials get to the bottom of the scrum, one signals possession for Oregon State, and then another points for Arizona.

After the officials huddle, they rule that Jourdon Grandon recovered the ball at the Oregon State 40.

Arizona marches on and scores a touchdown on a 16-yard fade pass to the back left corner of the end zone as Dan Buckner makes the catch and gets one foot down for the score. UA is back on top, 28-24 with 19 seconds to go before the fourth quarter.

* * *

C Kyle Quinn still on the sideline as the Cats go three-and-out. But Kyle Dugandzic boots a 70-yard rugby punt down to the Oregon State 5.

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Oregon State turns in the interception into a 50-yard touchdown drive, capped by a 1-yard run by Storm Woods around right tackle. The Beavers go back on top, 24-21 with 4:25 to go in the third quarter. Oregon State effectively ran the ball that drive, perhaps a sign of things to come the rest of the way.

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Beavers get the ball back at midfield on a freaky interception. Jordan Poyer jumped in front of a sideline pass to Richard Morrison and tipped the ball into the air. Morrison tried to gain control but ended up batting it with his left hand over his head to Poyer, who made a diving pick just in bounds.

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Oregon State held Wisconsin’s Montee Ball to 61 yards and UCLA’s Johnathan Franklin to 45 yards. Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey has 103 yards on 12 carries halfway through the third quarter.

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Safety Jared Tevis not playing in the second half (at least yet), but Arizona has forced two three-and-outs. Oregon State has 3 yards on six plays.

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And just like that, Arizona has the lead and all the momentum. After holding Oregon State to a three-and-out, Arizona goes 52 yards in three plays, punctuated by a 24-yard burst up the middle from Ka’Deem Carey, who carries defenders the last few yards into the end zone.

The Cats lead 21-17 with 8:48 to go in the third quarter.

Isn’t football a funny game?

* * *

Arizona opens the second half with a 91-yard drive, capped by a 3-yard pass from Matt Scott to Austin Hill. It’s back to being anybody’s game after the Cats cut the lead to 17-14. Now, the defense needs to come up with a play.

* * *

Matt Scott scrambles for his first run of the game (other than a sack, which counts as a run) and he gains 21 yards before being dragged down and getting his left leg caught under the defender. He comes out for a play — Richard Morrison came in to run the ball from the shotgun — but comes sprinting back into the game.

* * *

Sean Mannion passed for 278 yards in the first half. Arizona had 218 total yards.

* * *

Arizona gets a red-zone stop late in the first half, with Oregon State’s Trevor Romain missing a 35-yard field goal attempt with 11 seconds to go. That keeps the score 17-7 for OSU at halftime, with Arizona getting the ball to start the second half.

A score there and the Cats will be back in business.

* * *

Upon further review, Ka’Deem Carey scores on a 1-yard dive to end a scoreless streak that stretched 92 minutes, 29 seconds, dating to the fourth quarter of the South Carolina State game.

Matt Scott — who still isn’t doing any running — connected on passes of 26 and 29 yards to Dan Buckner on the drive.

Arizona gets within 17-7 with 3:29 to go in second quarter.

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Oregon State having its way with the Cats. Yet another long pass — 38 yards to Kevin Cummings — helps Oregon State march to a touchdown, capped by a 1-yard run Tyler Anderson.

Beavers lead 17-0 with 6:10 to go.

* * *

Jared Tevis back in the game for Arizona. Didn’t see that happening. Crisis apparently averted (although he seems to a bit tender out there.)

* * *

The curse of the north end zone strikes again. Arizona blows it again in the red zone after reaching the OSU 9. An intentional grounding penalty on Matt Scott eventually makes the Cats settle for a 41-yard field goal try from John Bonano, who like predecessor Alex Zendejas has trouble kicking it through the north goal posts.

Bonano missed wide right.

Is walk-on Casey Skowron next up at kicker tonight?

* * *

Brooks Reed and Ricky Elmore, where are you? Going through a season without a pass rush is no way to be. The Wildcats, who entered the game with only three sacks, can’t get to get Sean Mannion, who can survey the field and eventually find someone deep.

His 51-yard pass to Markus Wheaton sets up Oregon State for a 30-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead with 11:03 to go in the second quarter.

Redshirt freshman Patrick Onwuasor came in at free safety in the last drive, with Jourdon Grandon moving up to Bandit safety to replace injured Jared Tevis.

* * *

End of first quarter. Oregon State up 7-0, and the Arizona offense doesn’t have any rhythm or tempo. QB Matt Scott not doing any running, which limits what the Cats do in this offense, which has the read-option play as its centerpiece.

Up front, Shane Zink and Cayman Bundage have played at right guard for injured Trace Biskin.

* * *

More special teams woes. This time, Jonathan McKnight is flagged for running into the kicker after Trever Romain missed a short field goal. The 5-yard penalty gave OSU a first down, and the Beavers went ahead and punched it in a third-down 2-yard pass from Sean Mannion to Markus Wheaton.

Oregon State leads 7-0 with 2:05 to play in the first quarter.

* * *

Horrible news for Arizona. Safety Jared Tevis seriously rolls his ankle while landing after jumping to defend a pass in the end zone. Trainers attended to him and he needed helped off the field, without putting any weight on his left leg. Earlie this week, Rich Rodriguez said Tevis could have been the team’s defensive MVP in every game this season.

* * *

Oregon State not afraid to take its shots deep down the field, which Sean Mannion can go because of a lack of a UA pass rush. A big play — 57 yards to Brandin Cooks sets up the Beavers in the red zone.

* * *

Not a big crowd tonight, probably less than the 43,919 that was at Arizona Stadium for South Carolina State two weeks ago. Fan fatigue? Are four home games in five weeks too much for Tucson. Hard to figure why crowds haven’t been better this season with a new coach that everybody seems to like.

* * *

Each team begins with a three-and-out. This won’t be West Virginia-Baylor.

* * *

Arizona won the toss and deferred, as has been its custom this season. Dan Pettinato starting at DE for injured Reggie Gilbert.

* * *

The copper-topped Wildcats going with blue jerseys and blue pants tonight. On a more serious note, it looks like some players listed earlier this week as questionable — receiver Terrence Miller, offensive guard Trace Biskin and defensive end Reggie Gilbert — will not be playing.

* * *

Happy Copper Helmet Day!

The Arizona Wildcats’ theme through the first couple of weeks of the season was to achieve relevancy. A win over Oklahoma State and two weeks in the Top 25 accomplished that.

Then came last week’s 49-0 loss at Oregon.

The road back to relevancy goes through the other Oregon team — 18th-ranked Oregon State tonight at Arizona Stadium. Win this game, and the Cats would be 4-1, well on their way to bowl eligibility and perhaps back in the national rankings.

The Beavers have been this week what Arizona was last week — one of the “it” teams. Oregon State coach Mike Riley has made many of the same rounds of national media that Arizona’s Rich Rodriguez did a week earlier.

Oregon State is 2-0, having defeated Wisconsin and UCLA. Good wins, but how good? The Badgers have been unimpressive in their other games, and the Bruins had to pay against Oregon State for their lack of experience on the offensive line.

That was a tough matchup for UCLA, and so might this one for Arizona. The Cats are going to have really spread the field to prevent Oregon State from stacking up against the run, but the Beavers should appear versatile enough to handle that.

If the Beavers have to pay extra attention to the pass, their front four is good enough to handle the run game. If the Beavers devote extra attention to the run, cornerbacks Jordan Poyer and Rashaad Reynolds can stick with Arizona’s wideouts.

I think Oregon State is overall a more balanced team than Arizona and will win its sixth straight game in Arizona Stadium: Oregon State 31, Arizona 27.

* * *

NFL draft analyst Rob Rang wrote on CBSSports.com that Arizona quarterback Matt Scott was one of five prospects to watch today. Wrote Rang, in part:

“A significant reason for Rodriguez’s immediate success in the Pac-12 has been the play of his senior quarterback, who currently is completing 65.9 of his passes for 1,205 yards and seven touchdowns (against four interceptions). Scott, 6-2 and 198 pounds, has every bit the arm strength that former Wildcats’ (and current Philadelphia Eagles’ backup) quarterback Nick Foles possesses and is certainly a better athlete (199 rushing yards, two scores so far in 2012). …

“He’s flashed an intriguing combination of size, arm talent and mobility but struggled amid constant pressure a week ago versus the Ducks. Considering his relative lack of experience, scouts knew he’d struggle at times. To earn a draft selection come April, he’ll need to prove that he’s learning from his mistakes and can handle the adversity that comes with a disappointing loss to play well in his next opportunity.”

* * *

The Beavers have won 11 of the past 13 meetings against Arizona. Since 1999, Arizona is a combined 4-23 against Oregon and Oregon State.

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Some pregame reading:

Arizona-Oregon State: Three things to watch

Safeties first: Sophomore trio becomes cornerstone of Arizona defense

Greg Hansen’s Mr. Football column

Corvallis Gazette-Times: Mike Riley highly respected in the football community

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