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Difference makers: Jack Colletto, Damien Martinez spearhead productive Oregon State rushing attack

By Theo Lawson The Spokesman-Review

Jack Colletto

Oregon State’s utility player has done a little of everything this season, lining up at quarterback, fullback, linebacker and filling a variety of roles on special teams. Colletto was more one-dimensional on Saturday and it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for the Beavers. The versatile junior scored two touchdowns as Oregon State’s “wildcat” QB, pounding in a 1-yarder in the first quarter before extending the Beavers’ lead to 24-10 with a 2-yard score in the fourth quarter. Colletto finished with six carries for 14 yards and also had one reception for 10 yards.

Damien Martinez

With 111 rushing yards on 16 carries, Oregon State’s freshman running back set a career high in his sixth college game, contributing to a rushing attack that produced 203 yards against the Cougars and averaged 4.3 yards per carry. Martinez didn’t gain more than 9 yards on his first nine rushing attempts of the game, but the tailback’s 10th carry went 50 yards, setting up Colletto’s second touchdown to make it a two-score game. Prior to the game, Martinez had a season-high rushing total of 83 yards, set the week prior against Stanford.

Robert Ferrel

The swift slot receiver surpassed his season high for receiving yards in the third quarter, setting up Washington State’s first touchdown with a 30-yard catch-and-run that took the Cougars to Oregon State’s 9-yard line. Ferrel, who reached 100 receiving yards five times the past two seasons at Incarnate Ward, finished with five catches for 131 yards but was unable to keep his touchdown streak going after scoring in each of the Cougars’ previous three games.

Turning point

Oregon State didn’t need much breathing room against a Washington State team that finished its lowest scoring output of the year. The Beavers, who led from start to finish, scored what wound up being the winning touchdown in the third quarter when Ben Gulbranson tossed a 17-yard touchdown to Anthony Gould to make it 17-3.