White Tops Black Squad 26-10 In Spring Game
April 30, 2000
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Junior quarterback Jonathan Smith, along with a stout defense, led the White squad to a 26-10 victory over the Black squad before 8,000 viewers at Reser Stadium Saturday as the Oregon State Beavers wrapped up a very successful spring with their annual intrasquad football game.
Smith, OSU's veteran starting quarterback, left little doubt he is still the mainstay of the Beavers' offense with a solid performance all spring and again in the Spring Game.
Smith completed 14 of 30 passes for 181 yards and one touchdown pass, an 8-yarder to T.J. Houshmandzadeh with 6:40 left in the fourth quarter to give the White team a commanding 19-10 lead.
However, it was the defense which came up big for the White squad. The White squad picked off three pass interceptions during the game, including a 96-yard return for a touchdown by sophomore Terrell Roberts in the third quarter to give the White squad a 12-3 lead.
After a Smith to Houshmandzadeh touchdown pass put the White squad up 19-10, the White defensive unit delivered the crushing blow to the Black squad. Following the TD, Nick Stremick, the Black squad quarterback, threw an interception on the first play from scrimmage which was picked off by senior Ricky Walker who returned the pass 43 yards for a touchdown, giving the White squad 14 points within the span of 12 seconds.
"We have played very well defensively the entire spring and I thought our defense would be a factor in today's Spring Game," said Coach Dennis Erickson. "We were successful last year because we played solid defense and didn't turn the ball over. We had more of the same today," said Erickson.
"I thought Jonathan Smith had two great drives and played extremely well," said Erickson. "When you divide up the squad the way we did today it hurts the offense more than the defense and it showed today."
The first half was dominated by the defense with only a field goal scored by each team.
The Black squad got a big break early in the second quarter with Richard Seigler, redshirt freshman middle linebacker, picking off a Smith pass, his first interception of the spring, and returning it to the White 10-yard line. However, the White defense did not allow a yard on three downs, forcing the Black squad to kick a 28-yard field goal by Mike White.
Smith brought the White squad right back on the next possession to tie the game on a 38-yard field goal by Ryan Cesca, capping a 44-yard, nine-play drive.
The Black squad appeared to be taking command at the start of the second half as redshirt freshman quarterback Shayne House moved the Black squad the length of the field and had a first and goal at the 8-yard line. House then threw a perfect strike to Robert Adams, who had the ball go off his hands and Terrell Roberts picked off the pass and romped 96 yards for a touchdown that broke the back of the Black squad.
House came back to drive the Black squad 64 yards in 7 plays to score as David Swopes scored on a 3-yard run to cut the margin to 12-10, but it was all White squad after that.
Smith and backup Tyler Thomas combined to completed 18 of 38 passes for 206 yards for the White squad. Hashim Hall was the leading rusher for the White team with 64 yards on 12 carries. Patrick McCall, junior college transfer from Michigan, had 16 yards on 4 carries before he was forced to leave with an ankle sprain, a reinjury to the left ankle that forced him to miss two weeks of spring drills.
Houshmandzadeh caught 7 passes for 91 yards and Robert Prescott caught 6 for 69 yards for the White squad.
House completed 6 of 16 passes for 52 yards for the Black squad with two interceptions, both were passes that went off receivers hands. Ken Simonton rushed for 61 yards on 14 carries and Swopes added 51 yards on 5 carries as the Black squad rushed for 133 yards on 34 carries. House and backup Nick Stremick completed only 7 of 23 passes for 64 yards and were intercepted 3 times.
Beaver defenders recorded six sacks during the Spring Game, with DeLawrence Grant getting a pair.
SCORING SUMMARY:
| WHITE | 0 | 3 | 9 | 14 | --26 | |
| BLACK | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | --10 |
BLACK--Mike White 28 FG
WHITE--Ryan Cesca 38 FG
WHITE--Cesca 36 FG
WHITE--Terrell Roberts 96 pass interception (kick blocked)
BLACK--David Swopes 3 run (Kirk Yliniemi kick)
WHITE--T.J. Houshmandzadeh 8 pass from Jonathan Smith (Cesca kick)
WHITE--Ricky Walker 43 pass interception (Cesca kick)
