Hello, Beaver Nation. Juniper Ostrowski here, writing from my woodshop in south Corvallis, with sawdust on my orange flannel, a cup of coffee going cold on the workbench and a half-built birdhouse that I promised my neighbor in August. I build things. Cabinets, tables, the occasional shelf that's a little crooked. And I've got a motto I carved into a board over the door: measure twice, kick once.
This Beaver team is built right. Square corners, tight joints, good finish. Saturday's win over Washington State was a nice piece of work. And this week, the Beavers have an open date, Saturday, Oct. 24. No game. Time to sweep the shop floor and sharpen the chisels.
Part 1: Oregon State 48, Washington State 30
On Oct. 17 at Reser Stadium, Oregon State beat Washington State 48-30.
The first quarter was a clean cut. Jake Reichle ran in from the 1 for a 7-0 lead. Then Braden Atkinson threw a 90-yard touchdown to Jesse Legree. Ninety yards! Caleb Ojeda kicked a 48-yard field goal, and it was 17-0 after one.
Ojeda added a 46-yarder in the second quarter, and Atkinson hit AJ Newberry for an 88-yard touchdown. The Beavers led 27-10 at halftime. Atkinson and Legree connected again from 5 yards out in the third, Reichle scored his second touchdown in the fourth, and Cornell Hatcher Jr. finished it with a 16-yard run with 1:16 left.
The measurements: Atkinson completed 23 of 38 passes for 347 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Newberry ran 11 times for 105 yards and caught five passes for 120 more. That's 225 yards from scrimmage on 16 touches. Legree caught eight passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Per the AP, Legree was the first wide receiver in the country to reach 1,000 receiving yards this season. The Beavers gained 555 yards and didn't turn the ball over.
On defense, Isaiah Houi made 16 tackles and an interception. Takari Hickle had 2.5 sacks and three tackles for loss. And Ojeda went 2-for-2 on field goals and 6-for-6 on extra points. Measure twice, kick once.
The honest shop report: Washington State quarterback Owen Eshelman, in his first career start, per the AP, threw for 289 yards and ran for 136. The Cougars scored three straight touchdowns late and finished with 459 yards, and the Beavers let them go 3-for-3 on fourth down. You don't leave gaps like that in a good joint.
The Beavers are 5-2 and 3-0 in the Pac-12. They lost 33-20 at Houston and 35-24 to Texas Tech, then beat Montana 52-17, won 33-7 at UTEP, won 56-26 at Colorado State, beat San Diego State 66-14 and beat Washington State. That's five straight wins.
And look at how they've won. Sixty-six points against San Diego State. Fifty-six at Colorado State. Forty-eight against Washington State. This offense doesn't just beat you. It sands you down, stains you and puts two coats of finish on. And the two losses came in September, against Houston and Texas Tech, two Big 12 teams. You learn more from a cracked board than a perfect one. This team learned.
Part 2: Next Up, Oregon State at Fresno State
After the open week, the Beavers travel to Valley Children's Stadium to face Fresno State on Saturday, Oct. 31. The kickoff time hasn't been announced yet, per ESPN.
Our Beavers
Oregon State scores 42.7 points per game and gains 527 yards per game, with 384.9 through the air, per ESPN. Atkinson has completed 189 of 273 passes for 2,604 yards, 24 touchdowns and two interceptions. Twenty-four to two! That's a craftsman. Legree has 46 catches for 1,040 yards and 14 touchdowns. Newberry leads the backs with 431 rushing yards and three touchdowns. The defense allows 23.1 points per game.
The Bulldogs
Fresno State is 4-3 and 1-2 in the Pac-12 and has lost two straight, 38-31 to Boise State and 26-23 at San Diego State on a 53-yard field goal with 57 seconds left. Jayden Mandal has thrown for 1,393 yards, eight touchdowns and just one interception, and Josiah Freeman leads the receivers with 32 catches for 445 yards. Rayshon Luke has 333 rushing yards.
The Bulldogs allow 20.9 points per game, so their defense is solid. But their run defense allows 170.7 yards per game, and their offense scores 27.6 points per game, 15 fewer than ours. And at San Diego State, Fresno State gained just 276 yards and went 4-of-13 on third down.
The Series
Fresno State leads the series 9-6, per CollegeFootballData.com, and beat Oregon State 36-27 in 2025. Time to even up the measurements.
A 9-6 series means Fresno State has had our number more often than not. That 36-27 game last year still bugs me. It's like a drawer that sticks. You can live with it for a while, but eventually you take it out, plane it down and fix it for good. Halloween seems like a good night for some carpentry.
Town Report: Corvallis vs. Fresno
Corvallis. Corvallis had 59,922 people at the 2020 census, per Wikipedia, and its name comes from the Latin for "heart of the valley." It sits where Marys River flows into the Willamette River, with the foothills of the Oregon Coast Range to the northwest and Bald Hill looking over town. It's a Tree City USA with at least 47 public parks. Per Wikipedia, it's the westernmost city in the contiguous 48 states with more than 50,000 people.
We bike, too. Per Wikipedia, Corvallis ranks third among small U.S. cities for bicycle commuters. We have the Corvallis Fall Festival in Central Park, founded in 1972, and, since 1988, a science, technology and art festival named for Leonardo da Vinci, complete with a kinetic sculpture race. Of course a town of builders throws a party for one of the greatest builders of them all.
And Reser Stadium opened in 1953 as Parker Stadium, was renamed in 1999 and seats 35,548. Per Wikipedia, at 135 feet tall, it's the tallest man-made structure in Corvallis and Benton County history. When we build something, we build it to stand.
Fresno. Fresno is a big city, 542,107 strong, and it's close to three national parks. I'll give it that. But per Wikipedia, Fresno averages 38 days a year with highs of 100 degrees or more and 113 days of 90 or more. In July and August, there are only about 3.6 days when it doesn't hit 90. My glue sets faster in Fresno than in a clamp.
And then in winter, the tule fog rolls in. Per Wikipedia, December gets only 42 percent of its possible sunshine in Fresno because of it. So Fresno's year goes: bake, bake, bake, fog. In Corvallis, we just call it weather.
Fresno State's stadium was finished in 1980 and hosted the California Bowl from 1981 to 1991, per Wikipedia. Theirs is a 1980 model. Ours has been standing since 1953, 27 more years of seasoning, like good white oak. Measure twice, friends. Build to last.
Back to the Bench
Here's the plan for the open week. Rest the legs. Clean up the fourth-down defense. Stay patient on third down, because Fresno State's defense is good and it'll make you earn it. Keep feeding Legree, because he's the finest piece of work in the shop. And go to Fresno ready to make the series 9-7.
Measure twice, kick once. Go Beavs.