Atkinson Throws Five Touchdowns as Oregon State Rolls Montana
Five touchdown passes, two touchdown runs, and a 35-3 halftime score. Braden Atkinson had Oregon State out of reach early, and the Beavers beat Montana 52-17.
Oregon State never trailed. Its first score was a 19-yard pass from Atkinson to Eric Olsen with 11:24 left in the first quarter, and it added a 21-yarder to Aeryn Hampton before the quarter ended. Montana, a 17-point scorer in the end, got a 39-yard Jo Silver field goal early in the second to make it 14-3, which turned out to be the high-water mark, and then Oregon State scored three touchdowns in the half's remaining time: 23 yards to Jesse Legree, 11 yards to DeCorion Temple, and Atkinson himself from a yard out with seven seconds left.
A 27-yard pass to Aaron Butler early in the third made it 42-3. Montana did score late in the third on a 2-yard pass from Keali'i Ah Yat to Reese Brooks and again in the fourth on a 40-yarder to Brooks Davis, which kept the margin from getting uglier. Cornell Hatcher Jr. had a 14-yard run in between, and Caleb Ojeda finished with a 22-yard field goal.
Oregon State put up 511 total yards, 366 of them through the air, and lost one fumble with no interceptions. Atkinson spread the touchdowns around: five different receivers caught the five scoring passes. Good for the team, but hard on anyone guessing which Beaver to start.
For fantasy, Atkinson scored 49.7 points, which is a lot, and Hampton topped 20 as well (21.4), and Legree landed on exactly 20.0.