CORVALLIS, Ore. — When Oregon State closed in on Washington, Salvon Ahmed broke away with a 60-yard scoring run to douse any momentum the Beavers had.
Ahmed ran for a career-high 174 yards, scoring twice, and Washington rebounded from a two-game losing streak with a 19-7 victory over the Beavers on Friday night.
The Huskies (6-4, 3-4 Pac-12) became bowl eligible with the victory, their eighth straight over the Beavers. Washington has not lost three in a row during coach Chris Petersen’s tenure.
“Salvon’s always one pitch away from hitting it out of the park,” Petersen said afterward.
The Beavers (4-5, 3-3) trailed 10-0 at the half but rallied in the third quarter on Jaydon Grant’s interception return for a touchdown. Oregon State, which has already won more games than in the past two seasons combined, has three remaining games to try to earn its first bowl berth since 2013.
Hunter Bryant had five catches for 90 yards for Washington, after catching a pair of touchdowns last weekend in a 33-28 loss to Utah. Bryant went into the game ranked second nationally in yards receiving by tight ends (557). Huskies quarterback Jacob Eason threw for 175 yards but was intercepted twice.
“I was able to make things happen, but it’s credit to the offensive line, the receivers, the tight ends, everyone,” Ahmed said. “They were all doing the job and executing.”
Jake Luton threw for just 88 yards and the Beavers were held to just 119 yards of total offense — just 8 yards in the second half — with no second-half first downs. Oregon State hasn’t defeated a Pac-12 opponent at home since 2016.
“We just got nothing going, which was difficult to swallow, because I know that group’s been working, playing at a high level, but ran into a defense that really shut us down,” Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith said.
The Huskies scored first late in the first quarter on Peyton Henry’s 47-yard field goal. That made him 16 for 16 on field goal attempts this season. But he would lose his perfect streak before the night was over.
Nahshon Wright intercepted Eason’s pass in the second quarter but the Beavers were unable to take advantage of the turnover.
Bryant had a touchdown reception called back by a holding call, but the Huskies would eventually score on the drive on Ahmed’s 6-yard run that gave Washington a 10-0 lead with 1:48 to go before the break.
Luton’s pass was intercepted by Elijah Molden before the half. It was just the second time Luton had been picked off this year. But Henry missed a 28-yard field goal attempt as time ran out, for his first miss of the season.
Henry missed a 43-yard attempt early in the second half but a penalty against the Beavers gave him another attempt from 33 yards out, which he made to extend Washington’s lead.
The Beavers made things interesting with Grant’s 36-yard interception return for a touchdown that closed the gap to 13-7 with 7:01 left in the third. But Washington answered with Ahmed’s 60-yard touchdown run to extend the margin again.
The Huskies had a chance to stretch their advantage by more than two touchdowns but Henry missed a 40-yard field goal with 7:38 left.
“They had a good plan and I think they beat us in all phases of us versus them,” Luton said. “I don’t think it was not having enough time, I don’t think it was guys not getting open, I just think it was a collection of the whole deal. We were just were not executing the way that we should.”
THE TAKEAWAY
Washington: Not only has Petersen never lost three in a row as coach of the Huskies, he never lost three consecutive in his previous post at Boise State. … Washington finished with 420 yards total offense. … The Huskies may have no shot at the Pac-12 title game, but they have plenty to play for, said outside linebacker Joe Tryon. “It’s irritating that we lost those three games, but at the end of the day we’ve got football games to win. We just can’t think about what we can’t do,” Tryon said.
Oregon State: Oregon State has committed only two turnovers all season, both coming on interceptions. The Beavers have yet to lose a fumble and lead the country in fewest total turnovers. … Grant is the son of former NBA big man Brian Grant.
PROTÉGÉ PRAISE
Petersen said afterward he’s seeing improvement at Oregon State under his former assistant. Smith was quarterbacks coach at Washington before returning to his alma mater.
“I think their defense fights hard and they’re scrappy and they give you problems with blitzes, and we felt some of those tonight, so I think he’s doing a really good job,” Petersen said. “They’re gaining confidence.”
UP NEXT
The Huskies are off next week before visiting Colorado on Nov. 23.
The Beavers host Arizona State next weekend.
