Martinez Leads Beavs to Bowl Eligibility, Win over Colorado

CORVALLIS, Ore. – It took just eight games, but the Oregon State football team is bowl eligible.

Damien Martinez's career day of 178 rushing yards and three trips to the endzone helped the Beavers (6-2, 4-2 Pac-12) over Colorado by a 42-9 score on Saturday night in Reser Stadium. Oregon State used scoring spurts of 14 and 21 points, respectively, to pull away from Colorado (1-6, 1-3 Pac-12) in the win.

Ben Gulbranson tossed two scores and 202 yards through the air on 14 completions. In the early stages of the game following an incompletion on his first throw, he rattled off six consecutive completions to help the Beavers to an early 14-0 lead. Martinez opened the scoring in the first with a four-yard dash to the endzone. Gulbranson's 16-yard pass to Silas Bolden doubled the lead in the following quarter. The reception for the score marked Bolden's first of 2022. Shortly before the break, Martinez punched it in for his second score to give the Beavs an 18-point advantage after the Buffaloes netted a 44-yard field goal.

Keeping their foot on the pedal, Jack Velling hauled in a 60-yard pass for a score for the 28-3 lead early in the third. Just 11 seconds later, Alex Austin picked off Colorado's J.T. Shrout and returned it for 42 yards and six points to up the OSU advantage to 35-3 with just more than a dozen minutes in the quarter. Colorado ended the Beavs' scoring run with a Jayle Stacks scramble into the end zone but could not convert the two-point try.

Midway through the final quarter, Martinez capped the scoring with a final score to bring the margin to 42-9.

Tyjon Lindsey's 45 yards through the air led Oregon State, but 23 from Tre'Shaun Harrison made him the latest Beaver to surpass the 1,000 yard mark.

The sixth win of the season guaranteed the Beavers bowl eligibility for the second year in a row. Oregon State's 6-2 record through the eight played matches the 2013 team.

Tonight's win marked the first time since a 21-7 win over Utah in 2012 that the Beavers held a Pac-12 foe under 10 points.

Oregon State will begin taking bowl ticket requests at a later date, once the school has received final pricing from the bowls.

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