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OSU enters top 25 after win
By The Associated Press
Monday, November 10, 2008 | No comments posted.
PASADENA, Calif. — Jacquizz Rodgers did his part to help keep Oregon State’s Rose Bowl hopes alive, breaking a record in the process.
Rodgers established a Pac-10 mark for rushing yards by a freshman and scored two touchdowns, quarterback Sean Canfield again filled in ably for the injured Lyle Moevao, and the Beavers ran off 31 points in the second half to beat UCLA 34-6 on Saturday.
The win pushed Oregon State into the national rankings for the first time this season. The Beavers are ranked 23rd in the Associated Press poll and 25th in the USA Today coaches poll.
Coach Mike Reilly’s team needs to run the table in their final three games against California, Arizona and Oregon to win the conference title and return to the Arroyo Seco on Jan. 1.
The Beavers (6-3, 5-1 Pac-10) have won seven of their past nine meetings against the Golden Bears, eight of nine against the Wildcats, and two straight against the Ducks — including a double-overtime win last season at Eugene.
“It would be a dream to come back here in January,” Canfield said after completing 16 of 22 passes for 222 yards.
Oregon State’s 27-21 upset victory over USC on Sept. 25 would serve as the tiebreaker for the Rose Bowl if it came down to that. The school’s last appearance in Pasadena on New Year’s Day was at the end of the 1964 season, a 34-7 loss to Michigan.
“Our guys knew what the story was tonight,” offensive guard Adam Speer said. “We have three games left, so we must step back and take a deep breath.”
Rodgers left the UCLA defense breathless, rushing for 144 yards to increase his season total to 1,089 — the most ever by a freshman in the conference. He’s only the third Pac-10 first-year player to eclipse the 1,000-yard plateau. Ken Simonton, the Beavers’ career rushing leader, had 1,028 in 1998 and Darrin Nelson had 1,069 for Stanford in 1977.
Rodgers scored on a 1-yard TD run with 7:18 left in the third quarter and a 5-yard pass with 10:15 remaining after safety Greg Laybourne intercepted a pass by Kevin Craft. It was Rodgers’ first reception for a touchdown as a collegian.
“We just weren’t executing in the beginning on offense and we were beating ourselves, but the defense played lights out,” Rodgers said. “In the second half, we put it on ourselves to come out and play hard. To not give up a touchdown, that was big.”
Rodgers’ brother, James, had six receptions for 115 yards — including a 75-yard pass play that set up one of Justin Kahut’s two field goals. Sammie Stroughter gained 93 yards on six catches.
The teams were tied 3-3 at halftime. But Canfield broke the deadlock with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Stroughter with 12:04 left in the third quarter, and then the floodgates opened.
“Field position got us in the third quarter,” UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said. “We left the defense out there with too many short fields. That ultimately changed the complexion of the game, and we gave up a couple of big plays.
“We were just not able to sustain the line of scrimmage, which is a difficult place for us when we’re on offense and we’re just not able to generate consistent play there,” Neuheisel added. “Then we compounded things with untimely turnovers, which is very demoralizing for a defense that’s playing as hard as it was.”
Last week, the left-handed Canfield led the Beavers to a come-from-behind 27-25 victory over Arizona State, throwing for 218 yards and two touchdowns after Moevao went down in the second quarter with a strained muscle in his shoulder.
Saturday’s win, which snapped a five-game losing streak against UCLA, came a year and five days after Canfield injured his shoulder against USC and lost his starting job to Moevao. Canfield underwent surgery for a torn labrum and missed spring practice, then suffered a setback early in fall practice when shoulder soreness sidelined him for the first few games.
“My arm felt great today and my timing is getting back to where it should be,” Canfield said.
UCLA (3-6, 2-4) was 2-for-15 on third-down conversions after coming up empty on its first nine attempts. Craft completed 20 of 42 passes for 189 yards and threw two interceptions, one by Patrick Henderson that set up Ryan McCants’ 35-yard touchdown run with 2:18 to play.
“It’s tough when you leave the defense out on the field like that,” Craft said. “The defense is playing as well as we want the offense to be playing. They were really good up front, and we knew that going in. So we tried to get off quick passes, but weren’t too successful.”
UCLA, coming off a bye that followed a 41-20 loss at Cal, was missing offensive guards Micah Reed and Scott Glicksberg along with defensive tackle Jess Ward — all of whom were suspended for the game for violating team rules.
Rodgers established a Pac-10 mark for rushing yards by a freshman and scored two touchdowns, quarterback Sean Canfield again filled in ably for the injured Lyle Moevao, and the Beavers ran off 31 points in the second half to beat UCLA 34-6 on Saturday.
The win pushed Oregon State into the national rankings for the first time this season. The Beavers are ranked 23rd in the Associated Press poll and 25th in the USA Today coaches poll.
Coach Mike Reilly’s team needs to run the table in their final three games against California, Arizona and Oregon to win the conference title and return to the Arroyo Seco on Jan. 1.
The Beavers (6-3, 5-1 Pac-10) have won seven of their past nine meetings against the Golden Bears, eight of nine against the Wildcats, and two straight against the Ducks — including a double-overtime win last season at Eugene.
“It would be a dream to come back here in January,” Canfield said after completing 16 of 22 passes for 222 yards.
Oregon State’s 27-21 upset victory over USC on Sept. 25 would serve as the tiebreaker for the Rose Bowl if it came down to that. The school’s last appearance in Pasadena on New Year’s Day was at the end of the 1964 season, a 34-7 loss to Michigan.
“Our guys knew what the story was tonight,” offensive guard Adam Speer said. “We have three games left, so we must step back and take a deep breath.”
Rodgers left the UCLA defense breathless, rushing for 144 yards to increase his season total to 1,089 — the most ever by a freshman in the conference. He’s only the third Pac-10 first-year player to eclipse the 1,000-yard plateau. Ken Simonton, the Beavers’ career rushing leader, had 1,028 in 1998 and Darrin Nelson had 1,069 for Stanford in 1977.
Rodgers scored on a 1-yard TD run with 7:18 left in the third quarter and a 5-yard pass with 10:15 remaining after safety Greg Laybourne intercepted a pass by Kevin Craft. It was Rodgers’ first reception for a touchdown as a collegian.
“We just weren’t executing in the beginning on offense and we were beating ourselves, but the defense played lights out,” Rodgers said. “In the second half, we put it on ourselves to come out and play hard. To not give up a touchdown, that was big.”
Rodgers’ brother, James, had six receptions for 115 yards — including a 75-yard pass play that set up one of Justin Kahut’s two field goals. Sammie Stroughter gained 93 yards on six catches.
The teams were tied 3-3 at halftime. But Canfield broke the deadlock with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Stroughter with 12:04 left in the third quarter, and then the floodgates opened.
“Field position got us in the third quarter,” UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said. “We left the defense out there with too many short fields. That ultimately changed the complexion of the game, and we gave up a couple of big plays.
“We were just not able to sustain the line of scrimmage, which is a difficult place for us when we’re on offense and we’re just not able to generate consistent play there,” Neuheisel added. “Then we compounded things with untimely turnovers, which is very demoralizing for a defense that’s playing as hard as it was.”
Last week, the left-handed Canfield led the Beavers to a come-from-behind 27-25 victory over Arizona State, throwing for 218 yards and two touchdowns after Moevao went down in the second quarter with a strained muscle in his shoulder.
Saturday’s win, which snapped a five-game losing streak against UCLA, came a year and five days after Canfield injured his shoulder against USC and lost his starting job to Moevao. Canfield underwent surgery for a torn labrum and missed spring practice, then suffered a setback early in fall practice when shoulder soreness sidelined him for the first few games.
“My arm felt great today and my timing is getting back to where it should be,” Canfield said.
UCLA (3-6, 2-4) was 2-for-15 on third-down conversions after coming up empty on its first nine attempts. Craft completed 20 of 42 passes for 189 yards and threw two interceptions, one by Patrick Henderson that set up Ryan McCants’ 35-yard touchdown run with 2:18 to play.
“It’s tough when you leave the defense out on the field like that,” Craft said. “The defense is playing as well as we want the offense to be playing. They were really good up front, and we knew that going in. So we tried to get off quick passes, but weren’t too successful.”
UCLA, coming off a bye that followed a 41-20 loss at Cal, was missing offensive guards Micah Reed and Scott Glicksberg along with defensive tackle Jess Ward — all of whom were suspended for the game for violating team rules.
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