Timothy J. Gonzalez | AP Photo

I usually file my first "Game at a Glance" story with about five minutes remaining on the clock, giving editors back in our Portland office time to check my work, fill in final stats and get everything formatted to run online.



That's obviously not possible when the game goes down to the wire. In those situations, I'm also often writing multiple versions of the story, which can be a stressful (and sometimes exhilarating) brain exercise.



Let's just say I didn't expect to re-stretch those muscles for Saturday's Oregon State-Portland State matchup. I wasn't yet on this beat for Sacramento State or Eastern Washington, so maybe I was too naïve. But the Beavers needed a two-minute drive to sneak past the Vikings 35-32 in their home opener.

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First, a look back at our game coverage:

My story on how OSU topped Portland State, but…



Danny's story on the continued defensive breakdowns.



Ken's column on how the Beavers could go winless in Pac-12 play if they don't drastically improve.



Video from the postgame press conferences.



Describe the game in five words or less.

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15 additional notes and observations

1. A stat that should be repeated: OSU's defense has allowed 1,040 yards to a Mountain West opponent (that scored three points against Colorado Friday) and a Football Championship Subdivision opponent. Senior linebacker Manase Hungalu, a team captain, said he felt the Beavers made "minor adjustments" in practice following the Colorado State game, but that didn't show Saturday — particularly up front.



"It was just that little extra push," Hungalu said, "or that gap that we had to be in or everybody fitting in the right gap. It didn't happen that way. They ran the ball too much on us. They got too many yards, and that needs to be fixed."

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2. More stats that illustrate how Portland State, in many ways, out-played the Beavers:



* The Vikings ran 82 plays. OSU ran 57

* The Vikings had 28 first downs. OSU had 18.

* The Vikings held possession for 36:22, while OSU had the ball for 23:38. That advantage was 21:06 to 8:54 in the second half.



* The Vikings turned OSU's both of OSU's two turnovers into touchdowns.

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3. Of the Beavers’ 57 plays, 32 were runs. That’s closer to the 60-40 run-pass ratio that coach Gary Andersen wants. But OSU obviously failed to hit the 40-point benchmark for the second consecutive week.

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4. A week after going 10 of 16 on third down, the Beavers went 3 of 10 against the Vikings. Those struggles were perhaps most apparent on back-to-back first-half drives, when Ryan Nall runs up the middle on third-and-4 and third-and-2 stopped short of the first down.

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5. Probably the biggest positive for OSU right now, on either side of the ball? The Beavers' two-minute offense, which was on display at the end of the first half against Colorado State and at the end of Saturday's win.



"Stringing together a drive like that was pretty textbook," quarterback Jake Luton said.

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Sean Meagher | The Oregonian/OregonLive

6. Luton’s stats through two games: 45 of 72 for 539 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions.

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7. OSU went 4 for 4 in the red zone -- all touchdowns. Isaiah Hodgins’ game-winner was also his first-career touchdown, while Trevorris Johnson’s third-quarter score was his first as a Beaver.

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8. The Beavers still have not recorded a sack, a tougher task this week against athletic Portland State quarterback Jalani Eason. OSU forced three turnovers, bringing their season total to five. The Beavers have 30 sacks and 26 turnovers to go to reach their season goal.

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9. Hungalu on his pick-six: “I tried to just play the slant, but kind of play it off like I wasn’t there. I didn’t see him throw it, but I saw the ball come my way. I just caught it and happened to make a play.”

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10. Kammy Delp rotated in at right guard, the spot where Trent Moore is currently a first-time starter. Delp had been getting several snaps with the first unit in practice leading up to the game.

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11. Beavers cornerback Jay Irvine, who would be considered a starter on the outside when OSU runs nickel packages, did not play for an undisclosed reason. Kyle White started in Irvine’s place and tallied one tackle.

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12. Tight end Noah Togiai showed up again, corralling five catches for 95 yards, including a 48-yarder to set up Johnson’s touchdown that gave OSU a 21-20 lead. Jordan Villamin, meanwhile, did not record a catch after leading the Beavers with seven catches for 77 yards against Colorado State. Villamin was also called for holding while blocking downfield to wipe out a big Artavis Pierce run. True freshman Tino Allen replaced Villamin on the next series.

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13. Two of OSU’s top five tacklers Saturday were true freshmen, with safety David Morris and linebacker Kesi Ah-hoy both finishing with six stops and one for loss.

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Timothy J. Gonzalez | AP Photo

14. Portland State wide receiver/quarterback Josh Kraght put together quite the performance in a losing effort. He totaled three catches for 82 yards and two touchdowns, rushed for 50 yards and the Vikings’ go-ahead touchdown with 2:43 to play and went 4 of 9 for 59 yards as a fill-in quarterback when Eason got hurt. He was fun to watch.

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15. Weird stat alert: OSU and Portland State had the same net punting average (37 yards). The Beavers punted five times, while the Vikings punted twice.

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Three plays you may have forgotten

1. Two plays on OSU’s first scoring drive. On second-and-2 from the Portland State 7, Blake Brandel pounced on a Nall fumble to keep possession. On the next play, Pierce took a monster hit following an 8-yard catch but held onto the football for a first down. Nall scored two plays later.

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2. Not exactly plays, but back-to-back Portland State penalties aided the Beavers’ 98-yard touchdown drive. The Vikings were called for a hands-to-the-face personal foul, then pass interference.

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3. Before Togiai’s big third-quarter catch and Johnson’s touchdown run, Pierce set the drive up with a 43-yard kickoff return to just shy of midfield.

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Quotable

Hungalu on coming out "over-excited" to start the game: "I felt like we expected too much. We needed to respect our opponent a little bit more."

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From the Twitterverse

I asked for everybody to describe Saturday’s game with only a GIF. Y’all delivered.

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