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Route 66 – Beavers kick Cougars while they're down

Highest OSU output in 12 years buries Washington State

By Kerry Eggers

The Portland Tribune, Oct 11, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

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CORVALLIS – It was the most points Oregon State has ever scored on a Pac-10 foe and the highest-scoring output by a Beaver team since a 67-28 victory over Northern Illinois in 1996, during the Jerry Pettibone era.

Yet Oregon State’s 66-13 victory over Washington State Saturday at Reser Stadium contained an element of suspense, if ever so brief.

Four first-half interceptions – three in the second quarter – put the Cougars in position to pull off one of those monumental upsets.

Didn’t last, though. Oregon State outscored the outmanned visitors from the Palouse 42-0 in the second half to prove the oddsmakers, who made the Beavers a 30-point favorite, knew what they were talking about.

Oregon State improved to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in Pac-10 play, and the rout gave the Beavers confidence heading into their date with Washington at Seattle next Saturday.

“We’re proud of the way we have played” the last four games, said Oregon State defensive end Slade Norris, a thorn in the side of Washington State quarterback Marshall Lobbestael all afternoon. “We’re just going to keep on winning. We’re rolling right now. We feel very confident.”

The Beavers, who went on to 19 wins the past two seasons after consecutive 2-3 starts, can finish strong again, Norris said.

“We have that old feeling back,” said Norris, who registered nine tackles, 2 1/2 sacks and a forced fumble against the Cougars. “We’re just going to try to keep it going.”

Still, after the Cougars (1-6, 0-4) set up one touchdown with an interception and scored one on another pick to creep back to within 21-13 late in the first half, a tinge of anxiety coursed through Beaver Nation.

Maybe Oregon State’s quick start – scoring on three of their first four possessions to jump in front 21-0 in the first quarter – had come too easy.

“It was kind of scary, and also good for the Cougars, what they did,” Oregon State coach Mike Riley said. “And it added a lot to the drama of the game. I was disappointed, because we’d been so efficient and looked so sharp.”

Riley was asked if it’s too much to ask for 60 minutes of focused football from his team against an opponent such as Washington State.

“It probably is, but we’re going to ask, anyway,” the OSU coach said. “That’s why the game is always about you, and being sharp. For a time today, we squandered that ability. We weren’t sharp there for a period of time.”

After sure-handed Shane Morales dropped a touchdown pass and the Beavers settled for a 28-yard Justin Kahut field goal to go into intermission ahead 24-13, Riley was surprised at the mood of his players in the locker room.

“Frankly, I was kind of worried about us being so tight,” Riley said. “I made everybody nervous. It was a close game. ... It felt like coming into the locker room when we’d just lost. It kind of scared me.

“I didn’t want them to be tight. I wanted them to go play. I knew we had a bad quarter there, but we did have a lead. I could have been mad about the plays; that’s pretty obvious. But I was actually worried when I saw what our (players were) acting like.”

Riley’s message to the players: “Let’s go win the game. Let’s go take it to them. Have some fun with this deal.”

When Oregon State – which had taken the third-quarter kickoff – was faced with fourth-and-3 at the WSU 38, Riley decided to go for it, in part to send a message to Moevao and his teammates.

“It was, ‘Let’s go get this thing,’ “ the OSU coach said. “We were not going to turn around from it at that point.”

The call was a bootleg pass play left. Moevao turned to find blitzing pressure in his face, but got rid of the ball just in time to Morales, who turned it into a 13-yard gain and a first down.

“That was huge – a really good quarterback play,” Riley said.

A 22-yard pass to Morales set up Jacquizz Rodgers’ 1-yard TD run, and the Beavers, ahead 31-13, never looked back.

Statistically, it was probably the most dominant victory in the modern era of Oregon State football.

OSU ruled the battle of first downs (26-8), total offense (548-132) and rushing yardage (323-132) and held Washington State to 79 yards passing. The Beavers were 7 of 10 on third- and fourth-down conversions to 3 of 15 for the Cougars. Oregon State punted only once the entire game.

Last year in Pullman, Oregon State had beaten Washington State 52-17, the most one-sided verdict in the history of the 92-game rivalry. The Beavers won even more decisively Saturday against the Cougars and first-year coach Paul Wulff.

“In our conference, you don’t get many games like that,” Riley said. “Washington State is in one of those cycles. Paul will pull (the Cougars) out of it, but with the transition and the number of injuries they’ve had, this is what you’ll get for awhile. That’s football life in the Pac-10.”

“It was very frustrating,” Wulff said. “The kids are trying. The players are trying.”

There was nothing Washington State could do to slow down the Beavers. Rodgers notched his fourth straight 100-yard game, going for 168 yards and a TD on 23 carries. And his backups, Ryan McCants and Jeremy Francis, combined for 97 yards on 15 carries.

“I got through a couple of holes and was able to get into the secondary early,” Rodgers said. "I stuck to the cut-back lane, and it was open.”

Rodgers offered a hint of the Beavers’ psychological struggle to get up for the Cougars when he said, “We knew this week was going to be mainly a pretty easy win. We just put it on ourselves to get better during this game.”

It wasn’t one of Moevao’s better games. The junior QB, who had only four interceptions in Oregon State’s first five games, had two balls tipped for interceptions Saturday. The other two picks were poorly thrown balls, including a swing pass intended for Rodgers that Washington State’s Louis Bland returned 16 yards to the house for a TD.

At that point, it was 21-13 and anybody’s game. Or was it?

“We still felt we had total control of the game,” Norris said. “We just needed to go make our plays and do what we do. We weren’t frightened.”

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