Minutes after No. 12 Boise State knocked off Wyoming Saturday night, the Broncos’ next opponent — Oregon State — secured its biggest victory of the season. 

A 55-yard Everett Hayes field goal with 20 seconds remaining lifted the Beavers to a 41-38 victory over Washington State in the unofficial Pac-12 championship game. 

Oregon State (5-6), which had dropped five straight games following a 4-1 start, and Washington State (8-3) are competing as independents the next two years before Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State join the Pac-12 for the 2026 football season.

“Tonight was just what I’ve seen from these guys all season long: ups and downs, but they just keep going back to work,” first-year Beavers head coach Trent Bray said. “They believe in each other, and it was just a great team win. … We’ve been so close in so many games this last month or two. For them to be in that and pull it out and do it is huge.”

The Broncos (10-1, 7-0 Mountain West) and Beavers will face off at 10 a.m. Mountain time on Black Friday at Albertsons Stadium.

Oregon State won four of its first five games, but lost starting running back Jam Griffin and others along the way. A 42-37 defeat at Nevada began a streak of five consecutive losses that culminated in an embarrassing 28-0 shutout at Air Force last week.  

The Beavers were out-gained 410-175 in Colorado Springs. One week later, Oregon State out-gained the high-flying Cougars 484-385. 

“I think (offensive coordinator Ryan) Gunderson and the staff did a great job of narrowing things down,” Bray said. “What do we do well? How can we use guys? … Less is more, and I think that’s what we found out tonight.”

Idaho transfer Gevani McCoy started the first eight games at quarterback but was benched during a 44-7 loss at California. Ben Gulbranson, who went 7-1 as a starter during the Beavers’ 10-win 2022 season, started the San Jose State game but was unavailable against Air Force due to injury. 

Gulbranson returned to the lineup Saturday and completed 22 for 34 passes for 294 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, including a pick-six that put Washington State up 38-31 in the fourth quarter. The junior bounced right back to lead a game-tying touchdown dive. 

“I’m happy for Ben because he’s put in a lot of work and been through a lot his whole career,” Bray said of Gulbranson, who lost his starting job to transfer DJ Uiagalelei last year. “When it went bad, he didn’t hang his head, didn’t give up. He went right back and led the team down to score.”

The Beavers also used freshman quarterback Gabarri Johnson as a runner against Washington State. Johnson finished with six carries for 47 yards and a touchdown.

“I thought what we did with Gabarri and how we used his legs helped us move the ball,” Bray said. 

Oregon State had scored just 20 combined points over its last three games before exploding for 41 Saturday night. Needing a victory for bowl eligibility, the Beavers would love to contain Heisman Trophy candidate Ashton Jeanty and spoil Boise State’s College Football Playoff bye aspirations.

“We know we’ve got a big-time opponent coming to the Blue this Friday, and we’ve got to be ready,” Broncos head coach Spencer Danielson said. “We know we’re going to get everybody’s best. We got Wyoming’s best tonight, and I promise you we are going to get Oregon State’s best.”

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The Oregon Ducks clinched a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game after their win a week ago against the Wisconsin Badgers. As for who the Ducks will play, that will not be decided until next week. 

Updated Potential Big Ten Title Matchups

Heading into the final week of the Big Ten regular season, there are still three potential teams that can meet the Oregon Ducks. Those teams would be the Ohio State Buckeyes, Penn State Nittany Lions, and the Indiana Hoosiers. 

The Buckeyes, Nittany Lions, and Hoosiers are all 7-1 in Big Ten play. If each were to win their final game of the regular season, Ohio State would get the nod to go to the Big Ten championship game. This is due to the fact that Ohio State handed each Penn State and Indiana their only losses of the 2024 season. The Buckeyes lone loss was at the hands of the Oregon Ducks.

Ohio State gave Indiana their first loss of the season in a 38-15 rout. Penn State held on for dear life against Minnesota and won 26-25. 

Ohio State, Indiana, and Penn State all have a path heading into the final week. What are each team’s scenarios for meeting the Ducks in Indianapolis?

Ohio State Clinching Scenarios

For Ohio State, it is very simple. The Buckeyes just need to beat rival Michigan at home to clinch a spot in the Big Ten championship game. Win and they are in. However, if. Michigan were to shock the college football world and beat Ohio State on the road, there is still a path for Ohio State to get in. They would need Indiana and Penn State to both lose. 

-Win vs. Michigan

OR

-Indiana and Penn State both lose

Penn State Clinching Scenarios

For Penn State, they need to win at home vs. Maryland. Additionally, they will need Ohio State to get upset at home by Michigan. The Nittany Lions don’t need to worry about the Hoosiers at all.

-Win vs. Maryland

AND

-Ohio State Loss

Indiana Clinching Scenarios

The Indiana Hoosiers need some help to get in after their defeat at Ohio State. The Hoosiers will not only have to win at Purdue, but for both Ohio State and Penn State to lose as well.

-Win at Purdue 

AND

-Ohio State Loss

AND 

-Penn State Loss

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CORVALLIS — It was a No One Watches Bowl for the ages.

And, yeah, I think that’s probably what they ought to call this thing. Forget the Pac-2 championship or the Left Behind Bowl. The schools need to lean into that bitter mondegreen of Lee Corso’s actual quote, the one that left folks so intensely riled a year ago. Because the display from Oregon State and Washington State on Saturday, well, that was certainly worth watching.

And for Beavers fans, worth celebrating.

A week after hitting the low point of Trent Bray’s tenure, the Beavers responded with a brilliant new high: A thrilling 41-38 win over the Cougars.

It was secured when Everett Hayes’ sent a 55-yard field goal just inside the right upright with 20 seconds remaining.

If you’re the type to quibble with whether a win over a Washington State team on the periphery of the top 25 truly merited an orange crush of fans storming the field, well, you’re just going to have to let them have this one.

That’s what you do when you beat your rival. Yes, I said rival.

Maybe it’s premature, but with Oregon continuing to distance itself from Oregon State, Beavers fans should let go of the Ducks — at least in football — and embrace this new, developing rivalry that on Saturday delivered a classic.

Will it be the same? Of course not. Nothing is. But unlike with the Ducks of the Big Ten, Washington State gives the Beavers a foil that is part of a shared experience. That has fought similar battles only to end up on the same field at the end of the season.

That’s what made Saturday’s win so sweet for Beavers fans. It was catharsis.

For a long season.

For a long year.

Saturday marked 364 days since Jonathan Smith announced his decision to leave for Michigan State. (How do you plan to observe the anniversary on Monday?) And while not every issue this program has faced can be hung on that moment, it was the beginning of the unraveling.

Assistant coaches followed Smith to Michigan State. Players jumped into the transfer portal. The Beavers were left with a roster, and frankly also a coaching staff, with too many questions and not enough answers.

I’m not alone in buying that the game with Washington State has achieved genuine rivalry status.

“I do and I have, to be honest with you,” said Bray, who grew up in Pullman and played for the Beavers. “It always has been.”

Maybe to some degree. But not a full-fledged rivalry with emotion and pride on the line.

Suddenly, it has all of that.

Especially after everything the Beavers and their fans have been through, off the field and on.

By Saturday, Oregon State was 4-6, riding a five-game losing streak. If this season even had a rock bottom, you hoped it was that inexcusable 28-zilch Coach Bray seat-warmer at Air Force. But you really couldn’t be sure, especially not against a WSU team that had harbored aspirations of crashing the College Football Playoff before crashing out against New Mexico last week.

So what happened?

Starting quarterback Ben Gulbranson got healthy after missing the trip to Air Force with a concussion, offensive coordinator Ryan Gunderson simplified the playbook, and the Beavers did something they had been unable to do in close games against Nevada and San Jose State.

They found a way.

Gulbranson overcame two second-half interceptions to complete a gotta-have-it fourth-down pass over the middle to Trent Walker to set up the go-ahead field goal. Before that, Jaden Robinson got a paw on a fumble to give the Beavers the ball at midfield when it seemed like it would, in fact, be Washington State that would milk the clock and kick a game-winner.

So when the game ended, and fans streamed onto the field, it was more than just a celebration of a single game.

“They’re the best fanbase out there,” Gulbranson said, “and I’m really happy that we could finish this one off for them and finish the season off right, here at Reser (Stadium).”

Does that make up for a season of frustration? Does it render moot the questions of a week ago? Of course not. Bray has serious questions to answer about the state of his team and the roster. He has a long way to go before he has a team that can contend for the CFP. He needs to find a quarterback.

This season has been a whiff at the most important position on the field. But Gulbranson is a tough customer. After he was passed over the job for a third consecutive year, he stayed ready for a third consecutive year, and stepped into the role when called upon for the third consecutive year.

On Saturday, he completed 22 of 34 passes for 294 yards. Just enough to tough out the most meaningful victory of the year.

You have to wonder if the Beavers might not have been able to pick off a few more wins if they had just trusted their Steady Eddie, Reliable Ben from the beginning.

Now, the Beavers are likely a week away from the end of their season. At 5-6, a bowl game is almost certainly out of reach.

They would have to beat No. 12 Boise State on the blue turf next week and that’s a tough ask of any team. Especially with the way Ashton Jeanty slices through defenses and the trouble OSU has had stopping the run.

So Saturday against the Cougars felt like the Beavers’ bowl game.

And maybe that’s the way it should be for two programs caught in this awkward purgatory. They are joined at the hip, not by choice but by necessity. Whether that makes them “buddies” or not, that’s for others to Dickert — I mean, dicker over.

But since when should rivals pretend to be friends? Beavers and Ducks never did.

There’s no replacing what the annual matchup with Oregon has meant to the state, but with that game now a nonconference matchup and not even a sure bet to be played beyond next season, it is, quite sadly, hard to put too much stock into anymore.

But Washington State? The Beavers will play the Cougars twice next season to highlight a schedule held together with duct tape and bubble gum.

And if this new iteration of the Pac-12 that the schools fought so hard for is going to make it and have an identity of its own, OSU and WSU have to be at the center of it.

A good rivalry needs a name.

The Beavers and Cougars can thank Corso for theirs, even if he was misheard, misunderstood and misquoted.

Maybe nobody in the Power Four conferences wanted these two schools.

But if Saturday is an indicator of how this rivalry is going to go, everyone will be watching.

— Bill Oram is the sports columnist at The Oregonian/OregonLive.