With a 55-yard field goal to finish an exciting back-and-forth game, Oregon State became the unofficial Pac-12 champions this season.
Everett Hayes kicked a career-long 55-yard field goal with 20 seconds remaining, and the Beavers snapped a five-game losing streak by defeating Washington State 41-38 on Saturday night.
Ben Gulbranson, who missed last week’s shutout loss to Air Force because of a concussion, threw for 294 yards and two touchdowns to lead Oregon State (5-6). Trent Walker caught 12 passes for 136 yards.
“It kind of gets to a point in the game where you kind of look at the score and you realize, `Wow, it’s going to come down to me,’” Hayes said.
It was the second straight loss for Washington State (8-3), who had previously lost 38-35 to New Mexico, which ended their hopes of possibly earning an at-large bid to the 12-team College Football Playoff. Washington State had been as high as No. 18 in the CFP rankings before the loss.
Oregon State and Washington State were the only two teams left in the Pac-12 this season after the conference realignment last year. Although they had a scheduling deal with the Mountain West this season, they didn’t count in that conference’s standings.
With Oregon State leading 31-24 at the start of the fourth quarter, Washington State’s quarterback John Mateer ran for a 4-yard touchdown to tie the game. On Oregon State’s next drive, Taariq Al-Uqdah intercepted Gulbranson and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown, giving the Cougars the lead.
The Beavers responded with a drive that ended in a 4-yard touchdown catch by Darrius Clemons, tying the game at 38 with 2:50 left. Oregon State got the ball back after Exodus Ayers recovered a fumble by Washington State’s Kyle Williams on the Cougars’ 47-yard line.
The Beavers went for it on fourth down to keep their drive alive, and Hayes kicked the winning field goal. Washington State’s final attempt came up short.
“I think when we tied it at 38, I kind of saw the clock and I was like, `All right, all we’ve got to do is get one stop and just get me in range, and hopefully we’ll get that done and I’ll make the kick,’” Hayes said. “I have a lot of confidence in the team.”
Mateer passed for 250 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 85 yards and two more scores for Washington State.
“First and foremost our guys gave us everything they had. I’m proud of them. I loved the way they responded this week, I thought we had a great week of practice. I appreciated this effort,” Cougars coach Jake Dickert said. “This is a players’ game and they made one more play down the stretch.”
Oregon State started the game with quarterback Gabarri Johnson’s 15-yard keeper for a touchdown. The Cougars responded with Mateer’s 28-yard touchdown pass to Carlos Hernandez before Dean Janikowski added a 33-yard field goal.
Salahadin Allah’a scored a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Beavers a 14-10 lead.
Mateer ran for a 3-yard touchdown to put the Cougars ahead, but Oregon State finished the first half in the lead 21-17 with Gulbranson’s 1-yard touchdown dive with just 13 seconds left. The Beavers started the second half with a 46-yard field goal by Hayes.
Williams caught a 57-yard touchdown pass from Mateer to tie the game at 24. But before the end of the third quarter, Gulbranson threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Terry II, setting up the deciding fourth quarter.
Since the Pac-12’s collapse, Oregon State and Washington State have been working together to rebuild the conference. Starting in 2026, five Mountain West teams — along with Gonzaga for basketball only — will join the new Pac-12. The conference still needs one more football member to meet NCAA requirements.
The scheduling agreement with the Mountain West won’t be renewed for next season, so Washington State and Oregon State will create their own schedules and play each other twice, once in Corvallis and once in Pullman.
