CORVALLIS — Quotes, notes and observations from Oregon State’s 21-7 victory over Utah Friday night at Reser Stadium …

• Utah is two-time defending Pac-12 champion, and the Utes came to Corvallis 4-0 and ranked No. 10 in the country. So beating them is more than meaningful.

But while Utah’s defense is terrific — it came in ranked sixth nationally allowing 9.5 points per game and ninth in total defense at 263.8 yards a contest — the offense is just short of dreadful.

Utah managed 14 first downs and 198 yards total offense against an Oregon State defense that had been picked apart a week earlier by quarterback Cameron Ward in Washington State’s 38-35 victory in the Palouse. The Utes rushed for 57 net yards, quarterbacks Nate Johnson and Bryson Barnes never found a groove and their receivers dropped at least a half-dozen balls.

And let’s stop the nonsense talk right now. As well as Oregon State’s defense played Friday night, Cameron Rising would have made a difference. The 6-2, 220-pound senior, who has missed the entire season as he recovers from surgery on a knee injured in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 2, is one of the best signal-callers in the nation. Once he gets back — and it might yet be another couple of weeks — the Utes offense will get a big boost.

• The Beavers (4-1) came into the game ranked 19th, and they will climb at least one notch in next week’s polls — ahead of Utah. Oregon State is the better team, at least until the return of Rising.

After the first two offensive series, OSU’s defense stepped up the pressure on the Utah quarterbacks and stuffed the run. It was exactly what defensive coordinator Trent Bray had in mind for Friday after last week’s set-back in Pullman. Easton Mascarenas-Arnold called last week “our best week of practice.”

“Not only was Coach Bray on edge, we all were,” said Mascarenas-Arnold, OSU’s junior inside linebacker. “It left a bad taste in our mouths after last week. That’s not the (outcome) we want. That’s not the defense we play. Coach Bray was on us, but we were on ourselves. Accountability was on us for that loss, and we fired back this week.

“This week was a big one for in terms of responding. We knew what were capable of, and we did a good job showing that tonight.”

Mascarenas-Arnold has become Oregon State’s premier defender this season, and the 5-11, 230-pound native of Mission Viejo, Calif., was all over the field Friday night. He had a team-high nine tackles to run his team-leading total to 42 this season, made an interception in the Red Zone late in the third quarter to thwart a Utah drive and had the final of three OSU sacks, hog-tying Johnson for a 13-yard loss late in the game.

“He’s a really good player, ultra-competitive, and the guy has some legitimate leadership on that side (of the ball),” Coach Jonathan Smith said. “His voice, his work ethic. … at practice, the guys rally around him … he can make all the calls getting us lined up, which isn’t easy stuff for all the noise. He’s got them dialed in. He’s a huge part of what we’re doing on defense.”

Utah QBs combined to connect on 13 of 31 passes for 141 yards and a TD, which included a 41-yard reception for the Utes’ only score with 5:05 remaining. The Beavers had six quarterback hurries.

I like that, in addressing the media after the game, Mascarenas-Arnold deflected praise and sounded genuinely humble.

“Credit to our D-line — Great game,” he said. “I didn’t make a lot of plays today because they were already making the tackles.”

OSU’s front four played well and combined for 17 total tackles, but, uh, no — Mascarenas-Arnold definitely made a lot of plays.

• After so-so performances in each of the last two games, DJ Ulagalelei had a solid showing Friday night in the biggest game of the season so far. The 6-4, 250-pound junior’s numbers were only OK — 14 for 25 passing for 204 yards and a TD with one interception. But the Clemson transfer threw a bunch of good passes, including some important deep balls as the Beavers tried to keep Utah’s run-stopping defense honest.

“We knew it would be hard to have sustained drives, so we took some shots down the field,” Smith said.

“I thought (Ulagalelei) played tough. His decision-making was good. He’s not going to make every throw. … Without watching the tape, I was pleased with his performance.”

Ulagalelei might not wind up on a list of great Oregon State QBs by the time he is through, but he is going to progress as he goes through his first season in an OSU uniform. And he is certainly one of the most engaging characters to wear Beaver togs. He is at ease with the media, is ultimately quotable and seems to be enjoying his Oregon State experience.

“It was good,” he said, when asked how he felt it went for him in the game. “I still missed passes out there. Have some plays I wish I had back.

“Overall, it was a great complementary game for us. Our defense did an unbelievable job keeping us in the game. Our receivers did a good job making some plays in space and making people miss. … But we still got work to do. I definitely got a lot of work to do.”

Offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren called Ulagalelei’s number on the first play from scrimmage Friday, and DJ went 17 yards with a quarterback draw. When DJ saw the projected play list on Wednesday, “I was happy,” he said with a smile. “I liked the ‘openers’ we had tonight.”

Indeed, the other was a 28-yard strike from DJ to Rweha Munyagi to open the third quarter.

“I liked getting me involved early in the run game,” Ulagalelei said. “It settles you in. You get hit, get some contact. I was comfortable in the pocket tonight, too.”

Ulagalelei was sacked only once and carried five times for 29 yards.

• Smith used true freshman QB Aidan Chiles for one second-quarter series. Chiles completed a nice 23-yard strike to Jesiah Irish. After that, though, he was sacked on back-to-back plays, and the Beavers wound up punting.

“Our plan going in was to use him,” Smith said. “We want to give Aidan some time in some real situations. I was pleased with what he did when he came in. He didn’t get protected well, though.”

• Silas Bolden had the game of his career. The 5-8, 165-pound junior had his first 100-yard receiving game, with six catches for 100 yards and a touchdown. On the TD, Bolden did a beautiful job tiptoeing the sidelines to stay in-bounds, then deking a defender on his way to a 27-yard score in the third quarter.

Bolden also had two great rushing attempts — one on the play call of the night. On fourth-and-inches at the Utah 45 early in the fourth quarter, Ulagalelei launched an overhand shovel pass backward to Bolden, who raced down the right sidelines untouched for a score.

Said Smith: “We knew (the Utes) were going to dig in there on fourth-and-one. We decided to take the gamble and go outside.”

“I knew when we snapped the ball it was going to be a touchdown,” DJ said. “All he had to do was beat one guy. (Tight end) Jack Velling made a block on the corner and Si was off to the races.”

The play I might have liked most, though, was a handoff to Bolden midway through the final period. He reversed field twice and nearly broke free before settling for an eight-yard gain.

“Silas was lights out,” Smith said. “He made some huge plays. The guy is dynamic when he gets the ball.”

• Attendance was announced as 37,372, ostensibly a sellout since capacity is supposed to be around 36,000. This despite there being plenty of empty seats high in the corners on the east side. Maybe capacity is closer to 38,000.

No question, though, the crowd was loud — perhaps as noisy as a Reser crowd has ever been save for the Civil War contests. The huge student section stood for the entire game, then stormed the field afterward.

“Can’t thank the crowd enough,” Smith said. “Beaver Nation was huge from start to finish. Provided a lot of energy.”

“It felt electric,” Ulagalelei said. “Reser Stadium playing at night — it was unbelievable. The Beavers have a great fan base. I loved it, each and every section. The student section is amazing. A couple of times we had false starts because of the noise. I got to be a little bit louder calling plays.”

“Truly, crowd energy works both ways,” Mascarenas-Arnold said with a smile. “Not only can the (opposing) offense hear nothing, but (the OSU defense) is also out there trying to make hand signals. But I loved it.”

• There was plenty of quote-worthy material afterward.

Defensive tackle Joe Golden said the players call Trent Bray “Bray-zy, because he’s a little crazy.”

It was Bray’s 41st birthday, but Smith was unaware until after the game. It was all business until then.

“I didn’t even know,” he said sheepishly. “That’s how we operate.”

The Beavers punted seven times and scored on only three of 12 possessions, though they had the ball on the Utah 21 when the game ended.

“It only takes one play to make a big play,” Bolden said. “That’s the motto around here. That’s how we won today.”

Bolden, on the promise of the 6-3, 200-pound Chiles: “Aidan going to be the truth. When Aidan gets his shot, he going to be the truth. Y’all just wait to see.”

Smith liked that his players had no major letdowns throughout the game.

“The guys battled for four quarters,” he said. “Defensively, it was a nice response from last week. They played locked in for 60 minutes. We’re going to have to do it every week now. The conference schedule is going to be that way.”

• Facts and figures: Oregon State has won seven in a row and 14 of its last 15 home games. Left on the schedule at Reser: UCLA on Oct. 14, Stanford on Nov. 21 and Washington on Nov. 28. … The Beavers rushed for 54 yards on their opening drive Friday, culminating with a four-yard Damian Martinez touchdown. OSU netted 77 yards on the ground the rest of the way. DaShawn Fenwick had a particularly rough evening, carrying six times for a net one yard. “Utah is going to challenge you up front,” Ulagalelei said. “The offense did a good job grinding it out, taking what they gave us. We played an all-around solid game. We can play better, but we got the win.” … press notes say that Oregon State held a conference opponent to seven points or fewer for the 22nd time since 1980, and is 18-3-1 in those games. My question is this: How could they lose those three games? … Or as Golden noted after Friday’s game, “It’s hard for a team to win when they score only seven points.” … The Beavers’ last shutout victory was 42-0 over Idaho in 2021. Their last conference shutout? A 0-0 tie in 1983, the infamous “Toilet Bowl” game in Eugene.

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If the Beavers hoped to have a chance to play in the Pac-12 Championship Game, they couldn’t afford to start the season 0-2 in conference play. So Mascarenas-Arnold was asked: Was the Utah game a must-win?

“From now on, each week is the same,” he said. “It’s win or go home. No more losses for us. We gave up one. That’s on us. … We knew from last week, carrying on for the rest of the season, it’s going to be hard to beat us, especially at home.”

It’s clear the OSU players have confidence that they are destined for big things this season.

“We showed one bad half of football (against Washington State),” Golden said. “That’s all you’re going to get out of us this year. I don’t see us taking any steps back.”

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