Oregon State played well, especially considering they were short handed going into the game, and then got beat up some more. But with the game tied just past the mid-way point in the 4th quarter, Stanford did what Stanford does. The Cardinal ate up nearly 5 ½ minutes, kicked the go ahead field goal, fought a rear guard action to bleed away most of the rest of the game, and then forced a fumble, the only one of the game the Beavers suffered. It was the only turnover by either team in their last 2 meetings.
As a result, the Cardinal got out of Reser Stadium with a 27-24 win, and Oregon State continued to have a “Stanford problem”.
The Cardinal spent the week in the hotel across the street from Reser Stadium, after being exiled by Santa Clara county Covid restrictions that force the game to be moved from Palo Alto to Corvallis. Stanford Coach David Shaw even declared his team residents of Corvallis. As such, they made themselves comfortable enough to win their 3rd close game in 4 years in Reser.
Chance Nolan, in his second start for Oregon State in place of the injured Tristan Gebbia, who suffered a hamstring injury late in the win over Oregon, and had season ending surgery this week, improved markedly over his first start.
