Beavs Shock Ducks in Final Minute, 41-38; Jefferson runs for Rivalry Record 226 yards

By Matthew Zimmer

The 124th meeting between No. 15 Oregon and Oregon State was an instant classic.

You had it all; bad weather, a tightly contested matchup, an historic performance, a great comeback and an unlikely hero.

Jermar Jefferson ran all over Oregon. He set the record for most rushing yards for any player in the rivalry with 226 yards. He also scored two of the Beavs four rushing touchdowns.

In Jefferson’s first two games against Oregon he ran for 145 yards total (64 in 2018, 81 in 2019). Obviously, he far surpassed that on Friday night.

The Ducks had a 31-19 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Beavers were not phased.

Oregon State (2-2, 2-2) went on to outscore the Ducks 22-7 in the final frame.

Tristan Gebbia’s confidence seemed to grow as the game went along. He had just 81 passing yards in the first half. By the end of the game, Gebbia had 263 yards and a touchdown pass.

On the Beavs second to last drive, he was unable to give the Beavs a lead after a 14-play drive, but Oregon State still had all three timeouts.

Tyler Shough and the Ducks (3-1, 3-1) took over with 2:18 to go in the game.

Oregon State forced a three-and-out (two rushes for a total of two yards and one incomplete pass), and the Oregon punt was okay. The Beavs took over at their own 47.

Gebbia went on to complete passes of 12, 11, 15, three and 11 to get Oregon State to the Ducks six-yard line.

Jefferson ran the ball for the first (and only) time of the drive to the four. Then, Gebbia appeared to get in, but the refs marked him short.

Another Gebbia run on 3rd down was stuffed, no doubt about this one. However, Gebbia got hurt.

If Gebbia is hurt, who is going to take the snap from under center? The announcers wondered if Jack Colletto would get a shot, but he only took shot gun snaps up to that point.

Instead, it was Chance Nolan. The redshirt sophomore started working on taking snaps from under center to make sure he wouldn’t fumble the snap. He didn’t.

Fourth down. Game on the line. His first play EVER as an Oregon State Beaver.

Snap, good. Ball in hand. Pushing the pile. Jefferson pushing from behind. Touchdown Beavers.

The Ducks got the ball back with 33 seconds and did nothing with it. The final play ended with a fumble that Oregon State recovered with 0:00 on the clock.

The victory marks the Beaver’s first win in the series since 2016’s 34-24 win.

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