Four weeks into the season things weren’t looking good for ninth-year head coach Mike Riley’s Oregon State football team as it sat 2-2 overall and 0-1 in Pacific-10 Conference play. But now more than two months later, Riley and the Beavers will be taking on the Oregon Ducks for a trip to the Rose Bowl — again.
This year, the No. 13 Beavers enter the game with one of the most talented and balanced offensive attacks in the Pac-10 Conference, which will rely on a heavy dose of sophomore running back Jacquizz Rodgers.
 
The 5-foot-7, 191-pound Rodgers has followed up his freshman campaign as the Pac-10’s second-leading rusher with 1,313 yards and 19 touchdowns on 239 carries through 11 games. His four-touchdown performance against Stanford in early October reminded the nation that he wasn’t just a one-year-wonder. And after being named the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year last season, Rodgers has helped OSU to an 8-3 overall record as the Beavers sit in second place in the conference standings.
 
“They’ve got a great running game,” Oregon junior linebacker Casey Matthews said. “They can even hand the ball off to James Rodgers and that’s tough to stop, too.”
 
Jacquizz Rodgers was sidelined with a shoulder injury in last year’s Civil War and has yet face the speedy Oregon defense. James Rodgers, Jacquizz Rodgers’ older brother, was held in check for the most part in last year’s Civil War, rushing seven times for 56 yards.
 
This season James Rodgers has played an intricate role for OSU in the return game and has been a force to be reckoned with offensively, as he leads the Pac-10 with 77 receptions (seven per game) for 865 yards and eight touchdowns, while also carrying the ball 49 times for 260 yards and another score.
 
But the Beavers main facilitator, senior quarterback Sean Canfield, has been a rock all season long for OSU, completing over 70 percent of his passes and averaging more than 254 yards per game through the air. His mark of 19 touchdowns through the air is tops in the conference for quarterbacks.
 
“He’s actually turned into one of the better quarterbacks in the Pac-10 this year,” Matthews said of Canfield. “He’s had a great senior season and he can throw a deep ball. He’s pretty efficient.”
 
And while the Beaver offense is putting up an average of 32.4 points per game, their defense has continued to shine — a typical Mike Riley team. The Beavers have allowed 98.5 yards per game on the ground, but have had some trouble defending the pass as they’ve given up more than 242 yards per game through the air.
 
“They’re good tacklers,” Oregon senior running back Andre Crenshaw said. “And they play well in space and they all get to the ball.”
 
Senior linebacker Keaton Kristick has been a force up the middle all season long for OSU and he ranks sixth in the Pac-10 with 80 tackles (7.3 per game) on the year. Defensive coordinator Mark Banker has gotten plenty of help from the Beavers sophomore class as well, with linebacker David Pa’aluhi III and safety Cameron Collins following closely behind with 64 and 60 tackles, respectively. Safety Lance Mitchell, also a sophomore, is tied for fifth in the Pac-10 with three interceptions on the year.
 
“Those guys, they really fly around to the ball,” Oregon’s LaMichael James said. “They’re really aggressive and they don’t miss too many tackles. They’re just a really great defense.”
 
Oregon State featured a similarly strong defense in 2008, but it proved to be no match for Oregon’s zone-read option in last year’s Civil War. With another shot at the Roses, and the bitter taste left in OSU’s mouth after the 65-38 stomping at home last year, Riley and his team will have one thing on their minds — redemption.


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