Oregon thwarts Oregon State 65-38

[December 01, 2008]  CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) -- Jeremiah Masoli threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns and Oregon all but crushed Oregon State's hopes of going to the Rose Bowl with a 65-38 victory Saturday in the highest-scoring game ever in the Civil War rivalry.

A win would have sent the No. 17 Beavers (8-4, 7-2 Pacific-10 Conference) to Pasadena on New Year's Day for the first time since after the 1964 season.

Instead, Oregon State will have to wait to see if UCLA can upset No. 5 USC on Dec. 6. Should the Bruins win, the Beavers would share a three-way tie for the conference title with the Trojans and the Ducks, and Oregon State would have the tiebreaker for the Rose Bowl.

The No. 19 Ducks (9-3, 7-2) foiled the Beavers and snapped their six-game winning streak as they avenged a Civil War loss last year at Oregon.

Oregon State's prolific freshman running back Jaquizz Rodgers, who sat out the game with an injured shoulder, watched solemnly from the sidelines in the waning moments before he walked dejectedly off the field.

Oregon players dosed coach Mike Bellotti with a cooler about 20 seconds before it ended. Then the Ducks, including Bellotti, walked across the field to salute the visiting team's fan section.

The loss snapped Oregon State's eight-game winning streak at Reser Stadium.

Rodgers, who leads the conference in rushing (averaging 113.9 yards a game) and is 12th in the nation, injured his shoulder early in Oregon State's 19-17 victory over Arizona last weekend.

His brother James, who the Beavers turned to in the victory over Arizona, was held in check, with seven carries for 56 yards.

Lyle Moevao, who sat out of the game against Arizona because of a shoulder injury, completed 27 of 51 passes for 374 yards and a career-high five touchdowns for the Beavers. He threw two interceptions.

"It definitely hurts coming this whole way during the season, playing through the games we had to play through and then not being able to top it off," Moevao said.

Jeremiah Johnson ran for 219 yards and a score for the Ducks. Masoli, who completed 11 of 17 passes, also ran 53 yards for a score.

Oregon had 694 yards in total offense, and won despite 15 penalties for 129 yards. The Beavers racked up 463 yards in total offense.

The Ducks jumped out in front on Masoli's 17-yard scoring pass to Jeff Maehl and Morgan Flint's 38-yard field goal.

Oregon State's Jeremy Francis caught a short pass from Moevao and then shook off two defenders as he rumbled into the end zone for a 20-yard scoring reception to make it 10-7.

But Oregon answered on the next series with LeGarrette Blount's 9-yard touchdown run. It was his 16th rushing TD this season, a new school record. Flint added 22-yard field goal to put Oregon ahead 20-7.

Justin Kahut missed a 21-yard field goal for the Beavers, but made a 24-yarder on the Oregon State's next series.

Earlier in the season, Oregon State defeated then-No. 1 USC 27-21.

The Ducks lead the series 56-46-10, but had not won in Corvallis since 1996.

After Morgan Flint's 25-yeard field goal, Johnson ran 83 yards for a score and Walter Thurmond added a 40-yard interception return, making it 37-10 for the Ducks and utterly silencing Reser Stadium's record crowd of 46,319.

Johnson ran for 203 yards in the first half alone.

The Beavers scored on Moevao's 11-yard pass to Shane Morales with nine seconds left in the first half, then narrowed it to 37-24 on Moevao's 3-yard scoring pass to Joe Halahuni.

After Masoli had a 14-yard keeper TD for Oregon, Morales grabbed a 10-yard pass from Moevao.

Terence Scott turned a short reception into a 76-yard TD for a score to make it 51-31 for Oregon to start the fourth quarter, but Moevao found Brady Camp with a 2-yard scoring pass with 8:34 left, making it 51-38.

Masoli hit Ed Dickson with a 45-yard scoring pass with just under four minutes left, then Oregon finished the Beavers off with Spencer Paysinger's 70-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Oregon State fans were gracious in the loss, and more than 100 staying afterward to applaud the Beavers as the left the team's Valley Football Center. One young boy held a sign that said, "We're so proud of you."

[Associated Press; By ANNE M. PETERSON]

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