The Oregon State Beavers remained undefeated on the year with a 42-24 victory over the BYU Cougars on Saturday. OSU was without its starting quarterback Sean Mannion, who had an operation on his knee earlier this week, but the offense still performed against a stout BYU defense.
Replacement quarterback Cody Vaz was excellent. He started the game on fire, completing 7/8 passes on the opening drive as the Beavers took a 7-0 lead. Vaz connected with Markus Wheaton twice in the initial period to put Oregon State up 14-7.
BYU would come back to tie the game at 14 minutes before halftime, as Riley Nelson hooked up with Devin Mahina from two yards out.
The offenses would pick back up midway through the third quarter, as Oregon State and BYU traded touchdowns to put the score at 21-21. Oregon State drove the field to end the third, and Vaz threw his third touchdown pass of the game to start the fourth quarter, this time hitting Colby Prince to give the Beavers their third lead at 28-21.
The OSU defense made a crucial defensive stand, as the Cougars drove to the 10 with just under 10 minutes to play. After a third-down sack of Nelson, BYU settled for a field goal to make the score 28-24. Oregon State would put the game out of reach on their next possession when Wheaton scored on a 12-yard run to put the Beavers up 35-24.
Two plays later, the rout was on, as Jordan Poyer picked off a Nelson pass and took it the distance.
Box Score Hero: Vaz looked great in relief of Mannion, completing 20/32 passes for 332 yards and three touchdowns.
Rankings Ramifications: Oregon State came into the game ranked as high as 10th. Depending on other action, they may move up in the polls as they move to 5-0.
But Did They Cover? BYU was favored by six, so they were unable to cover in the loss.
For More On This Game: For more on Cougars football, visit BYU blog Vanquish The Foe.
For more on OSU football, visit Oregon State blog Building The Dam, plus Pac-12 blog Pacific Takes.
Next Week's Schedule: BYU visits Notre Dame next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET, while Oregon State hosts the Utah Utes at 10:30 p.m.
This story was originally published on SB Nation.com.