CORVALLIS, Ore. — Seth Collins ran for two touchdowns and passed for another and the Beavers scored 21 unanswered second-half points Saturday night to beat San Jose State 35-21.
Collins, a true freshman, had 16 carries for 114 yards, including touchdown runs of 4 and 10 yards. He completed 13 of 25 passes for 135 yards, and threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Villamin.
Storm Barrs-Woods, who missed most of last Saturday’s game at Michigan because of a knee injury, ran 151 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown.
A week after being held to 138 yards at Michigan, Oregon State’s offense clicked against the Spartans, particularly on the ground. The Beavers (2-1) had 438 yards, including 303 rushing yards.
Oregon State’s first-year coach Gary Andersen is now 2-0 at home.
The Beavers’ defense was potent for most of the game, holding San Jose State (1-2) to 253 yards. OSU had two second-half interceptions, one that linebacker Caleb Saulo returned 41 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter to give the Beavers a 35-21 lead.
San Jose State, which had been going with two quarterbacks, played three against Oregon State, partially out of necessity. Starter Kenny Potter completed 8 of 9 passes before leaving the game early in the second quarter with an unspecified injury. Joe Gray, who started the Spartans’ season opener, was ineffective and was lifted late in the third quarter for Malik Watson.
Collectively, San Jose State’s three quarterbacks completed 20 of 33 passes for 149 yards.
Tyler Ervin ran for 93 yards and two touchdowns to lead San Jose State (1-2). The Spartans lost their 12th consecutive game to a Pacific-12 Conference opponent.
Oregon State, trailing 21-14 at halftime, tied the game midway through the third quarter on Villamin’s 31-yard touchdown reception. Two minutes later, after Oregon State tackled San Jose State punter Michael Carrizosa because of a bad snap, and the Beavers took the lead for good on a 10-yard touchdown run by Collins.
San Jose State built a seven-point halftime lead after converting two OSU turnovers into touchdowns.
Oregon State didn’t give up an offensive touchdown in its home opener to Weber State, but San Jose State needed less than five minutes to reach the end zone. The Spartans drove 75 yards with their opening possession, taking a 7-0 lead on Ervin’s 4-yard touchdown run.
Collins tied the score four minutes later on a 4-yard keeper. The Spartans went ahead 14-7 when a fumbled punt recovery turned into another 4-yard touchdown run by Ervin.
The Spartans took a 21-14 lead with 3:08 left in the first half on Gray’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Winston, a score set up by Cleveland Wallace III’s interception.
Oregon State begins Pac-12 Conference play Friday night with a home game against Stanford. San Jose State enters the Mountain West Conference portion of its schedule Saturday at home against Fresno State.
