Oregon State dominates Florida 30-3 at the Las Vegas Bowl

Oregon State Beavers #17 Ben Gulbranson (QB) throwing a pass downfield to an open receiver. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

LAS VEGAS, NV – In a game that saw Florida without more than 30 players from their season-opening roster, the Oregon State Beavers blew out the Gators 30-3 in Allegiant Stadium at the Las Vegas Bowl.

Oregon State quarterback Ben Gulbranson threw for 165 yards with two combined touchdowns on his way to being named the Las Vegas Bowl MVP and upping his record to 7-1 as a starter this season.

Meanwhile, Florida came into the game with their third-string quarterback Jack Miller and a severely depleted roster missing 19 players to the transfer portal alone. Notable missing players included quarterback Anthony Richardson who had started all 12 games for the Gators this season. Richardson declared for the NFL Draft earlier this month and elected to sit out the bowl game as did 6'8" 345lb. All-American guard O'Cyrus Torrence.

Florida looked to strike first as they led a nearly six-minute drive down the field early in the first quarter that ended with a missed 52-yard field goal by Gator kicker Adam Mihalek.

After taking over possession Oregon State led a drive down the field where receiver Silas Bolden went vertical catching a 34-yard rocket from Gulbranson.

"Silas made some tough catches in there," said Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith. "He's tough and not just fast, he's a special player."

The drive was bittersweet with star running back Damian Martinez injured on the very next play and him missing the rest of the game. Named Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year earlier this month, Martinez came into the game with six straight 100+ yard rushing games.

DeShaun Fenwick filled in admirably at running back finishing with 107 rushing yards, delivering powerful, punishing runs that were reminiscent of former Vegas Bowl MVP Marshawn Lynch.

Following the injury to Martinez, Gulbranson rallied the team with an 8-yard reverse pitch to receiver Tyron Lindsey who followed a blocker into the endzone to put Oregon State up 7-0.

Defense dominated the second quarter with a 27-yard field goal by Oregon State kicker Everett Hayes.

Hayes had an opportunity to put the Beavers up 13-0 going into halftime but had his 33-yard field goal attempt blocked as time expired in the first half.

In what could have been a huge momentum changer for Florida, thanks to their special teams, Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith instead used it to fire up his team during the half.

The Beavers came out of the second half looking like a team possessed, firing on all cylinders. Facing a fourth-and-two on their opening drive of the third quarter, team Swiss army knife Jack Colleto pulled off a fake punt by rushing 11 yards for a first down.

The play changed momentum demoralizing a Gator defense that was busy on the sidelines celebrating what they thought was a three-and-out. Instead, the Florida defense came back out onto the field and immediately gave up multiple costly penalties.

Oregon State Beavers #7 Silas Bolden (WR) caught six passes for 99 yards and one touchdown against the Florida Gators’ defense. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportsv1.

The drive ended with wide receiver Silas Bolden catching a 14-yard touchdown strike in-between two Florida defenders to give the Beavers a 17-0 lead.

The ensuing Florida possession ended with Colleto blocking a fourth-down punt giving the Beavers a first-and-goal at the 8-yard line. Two plays later Gulbranson would run the ball in himself for the 8-yard touchdown.

Colleto, the Paul Horning Award Winning fifth-year senior, did a little of everything for the Beavers today. Known as the "Taysom Hill of the Pac-12," he played offense, defense, and special teams leaving his imprint on all aspects of the game. He lined up at quarterback, and fullback, ran for a first down, made four tackles, blocked a punt, and more.

"All three phases this guy is contributing. We're going to have to replace him with three to four guys," said Smith.

The Beavers opened up the fourth quarter with running back Jam Griffin culminating a 98-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run, which put the Beavers up 30-0. That drive lasted over six and a half minutes.

The final minutes of the game saw Oregon State trying to put an end to Florida's 435-game scoring streak with the Gators last being shut out in 1988. On their final drive of the game, the Gators found themselves at the six-yard line after a 38-yard pass from Jack Miller to Thai Chiaokhiao-Bowman.

"We really wanted the shutout bad but at the end of the day 30-3 is not bad," said Oregon State defensive back Jaydon Grant.

• Oregon State Beavers’ defense held #7 Trevor Etienne (RB) from the Florida Gators to fourteen yards rushing. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

With first-and-goal at the six yard-line, the Gators rushed for no gain. Second-down resulted in an 8-yard fumble loss. Third-down ended with an Oregon State blitz sacking Miller for a 9-yard loss. With 37 seconds remaining Mihalek nailed a 40-yard field goal to finally put Florida on the board, a small moral victory for the Gators making the final score 30-3.

Gulbranson was named Las Vegas Bowl MVP, the first quarterback to win the award since 2014. Also, Colleto was named the Capitol One Player of the Game. Miller was limited to only 13 completions for 180 yards for the Gators.

Not having the All-American Terrence at guard hurt the Gators as Miller was sacked 4 times. They were also without their backup quarterback Jalen Kitna who was dismissed earlier this month following his arrest.

Walk-on Kyle Engel served as the Gator's backup fourth-string quarterback. The Beaver defense limited Florida running back Trevor Etienne to only 14 rushing yards. Trevor; younger brother of Jacksonville Jaguars star running back Travis Etienne, was coming off a 129-yard rushing performance in his last game. He had run for more than 100+ yards in two of his last three games.

Florida came into the game with one of the best rushing attacks in college football, 16th in the nation in rushing yards averaging 213 yards per game. The Beaver defense limited them to only 39 yards rushing on 33 carries today, brutal for a Gator team that had leaned on its rushing attack all season.

Florida Gators #1 Ricky Pearsall had four catches for 65 yards against Oregon State’s defense. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

One of the few bright spots for the Gators was wide-receiver Ricky Pearsall who finished with four receptions for 65 yards. Playing in consecutive Vegas Bowls; last season as a member of Arizona State, Pearsall mirrored his Vegas Bowl performance of last season in which he also finished with four receptions for 65 yards against the Wisconsin Badgers.

Napier ends his first season as the Gators' head coach with three straight losses and a losing record at 6-7.

The win gives Oregon State their first ten-win season since 2006. With only one player entering the Transfer Portal and Pac-12 powerhouses UCLA and USC heading to the Big 10 next season, the future looks bright for the Beavers going into next season.

"To go from a 2-10 record in 2018 to completely change the program, we take a lot of pride in that," said Colleto.

The Beavers open up next season at (7-4) San Jose State and Florida begin next season at #8 Utah, the Pac-12 Conference champions.