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CORVALLIS, Ore. – Creating a culture of joy helped the Colorado Buffaloes get their first victory of the season last week.
Oregon State had no trouble halting that momentum.
Damien Martinez ran for 178 yards and three touchdowns, Ben Gulbranson threw two touchdown passes and the Beavers dominated CU, 42-9, at Reser Stadium on Saturday night.
In interim head coach Mike Sanford’s second game at the helm, CU (1-6, 1-3 Pac-12) was routed for the sixth time this season, while Oregon State (6-2, 3-2) secured bowl eligibility for the second year in a row.
A week earlier, CU snapped its losing streak with a 20-13 overtime win against California at Folsom Field. The Buffs dominated on defense in that one, but couldn’t repeat the feat against the spirited Beavers.
OSU scored on three of its five first-half possessions and then put the game away with a 14-point surge in the first 1 minute, 41 seconds, of the second half.
Junior JT Shrout made his third start of the season at quarterback for the Buffs and threw for 206 yards, but struggled early, threw two interceptions and was hurt by some costly drops by his receivers.
CU caught an early break, when Oregon State fumbled on its first offense snap of the night. Terrance Lang recovered the fumble and CU took over at the OSU 46-yard line just 1 minute, 34 seconds into the game.
Three plays later, however, the Buffs had their own fumble, as Anthony Hankerson lost control of the ball and OSU recovered at the CU 40.
Martinez scored on a 4-yard run nine plays later to put the Beavers on the board, 7-0.
After a CU punt, OSU went on the march again. A 16-yard pass from Gulbranson to Silas Bolden capped an 11-play, 82-yard drive that put the Beavers ahead 14-0 early in the second quarter.
The Buffs responded on their next possession by getting on the board with a 44-yard field goal from Cole Becker to cut the deficit to 14-3.
Oregon State added another touchdown before intermission, however. After three CU penalties, Martinez scored from 3 yards out to give the Beavers a 21-3 lead.
OSU received the kickoff to start the third quarter and quickly added to the lead as Gulbranson connected with tight end Jack Velling, who broke a tackle and went 60 yards for a touchdown.
One play later, cornerback Alex Austin picked off a Shrout pass and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown. That gave OSU a 35-3 lead, essentially putting the game away.
Jayle Stacks scored on a 1-yard run late in the third quarter to get the Buffs into the end zone, but they missed a two-point conversion attempt.
Martinez added his third touchdown of the night, a 4-yard run, midway through the fourth quarter.
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