CORVALLIS – Every rose has its thorn.
On a night when No. 25 Oregon State was supposed to seal its first Rose Bowl bid since the 1964 season, its 65-38 Civil War loss to No. 16 Oregon was especially painful.
Playing in front of a national television audience and more fans than ever before in Reser Stadium history (46,319), it was the Ducks (9-3, 7-2 Pacific-10 Conference) who won convincingly in a game that left its considerable mark in the record books, before the clock struck midnight. The Ducks entered the game ranked 19th compared to the 17th-ranked Beavers, who had all the momentum and home-field advantage they could ask for at the start.
“It’s the culmination of a couple years of frustration and one great football game that they played,” head coach Mike Bellotti said. “That wasn’t in my wildest dreams.”
The finish was just as much about how Oregon beat Oregon State as it was about the Beavers’ lost chance. By the time the Oregon players and coaches hooted and hollered their way to their locker room in the basement of Gill Coliseum, dozens of rose bouquets brought by Oregon State fans lay trampled on the cement behind the home sideline.
Long before they doused Bellotti with a water bucket with 20 seconds left in the game, the Ducks ran all over the Beavers’ Pacific-10 Conference title hopes and energized their own bowl preparation that will last nearly a month before they play next, likely against the third-place team in the Big 12 Conference.
“I can’t describe a win ever feeling like this before in 50 games,” senior center Max Unger said.

In the process of breaking the Beavers’ six-game winning streak and eight-game home streak, Oregon amassed 694 yards, the most in school history, and scored 65 points, the most ever allowed by Oregon State – and the Ducks won in Corvallis for the first since 1996. Every time Oregon ran a play, it averaged a 10.1-yard gain.
Senior running back Jeremiah Johnson, never a factor in his three previous games due to playing time or injury, broke free for runs of 79 and 83 yards in the first half, part of his Civil War-record 219 yards rushing on 17 carries, to help swing the momentum from the raucous Reser crowd to the white-clad Oregon sideline. His last run, where he broke, stiff-armed and ran past three tacklers, drew special praise from Unger.
“Unbelievable,” he said. “One of the best runs I’ve ever see in my life.”
That Rose Bowl bid for Oregon State? It will only happen now if UCLA can beat No. 5 USC next Saturday, a game the Trojans have won eight of the past nine years. Oregon, its season over, looks to be a likely candidate for the Holiday Bowl.
“They were a hard team to stop,” said Oregon State head coach Mike Riley, whose team never led. “They made a lot of plays, and it is always hard to play from behind.”
It’s no surprise the 103 total points between the teams is a new record, although Oregon set the pace and never let Oregon State catch up. With Johnson and junior running back LeGarrette Blount’s 112 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown that broke the Oregon school record for single-season scores, Oregon ran for 385 yards, the most allowed by the Beavers since 1991.
Without Oregon State’s star freshman running back Jacquizz Rodgers in the game due to a shoulder strain suffered against Arizona, the Oregon State rushing offense never got the ball moving, finishing with 89 yards on an average 2.9 yards per carry. Behind a resurgent junior quarterback Lyle Moevao, the Beavers threw for 374 yards and a career-high five touchdowns and allowed the Beavers to stay in the game, cutting the lead to 37-24 on a pass touchdown to freshman tight end Joe Halahuni in the third quarter and 44-31 as the fourth quarter began.

The Ducks hurt themselves multiple times via penalties, committing 15 for 129 yards.
“We didn’t start out well on offense and we didn’t start well on defense,” Moevao said. “Usually when you have that you don’t come out on top.”
Twice, however, Moevao’s passes were intercepted and returned for a touchdown. Both occurred before the end of each half; the two touchdowns by Oregon’s defense – half of its four takeaways – were daggers to the Beavers’ comeback. Junior cornerback Walter Thurmond’s 40-yard return with 43 seconds left in the first half put the Ducks up 37-10, while sophomore linebacker Spencer Paysinger brought back the game’s final score 70 yards to provide the final margin.
“I couldn’t believe that happened,” Paysinger said.
Predicted to be a close game in the media and in Las Vegas, the Oregon players weren’t surprised by their output, calling offensive coordinator Chip Kelly a “genius” and a “wizard.”
“Why not? We got the line, we got the right plays to call, we got a good (offensive coordinator), we got a good quarterback, I mean, why not?” said Johnson, who broke the 1,000-yard barrier for the season on his 83-yard touchdown run.
Off the team’s second bye this season, Oregon is now 15-2 in games after a bye week under Bellotti and was the sharper team on offense, scoring on 11 of its 16 drives. Its defense also forced two fumbles, both recovered by the Ducks, but wasn’t immune to the quick-strike offense, either, allowing the Beavers to score in 26 seconds on three plays to close the first half, cutting the lead to 37-17.
Sophomore quarterback Jeremiah Masoli countered with 53 yards rushing and a touchdown plus 274 yards passing for three touchdowns, none bigger than the 76-yard touchdown on third-down and six to go as the fourth quarter began, a play Kelly called “the play of the game.” The score broke the margin back to 20 points in Oregon’s favor, and was another score, with Johnson’s two long runs, where the Ducks were able to burst free on “explosion” plays while seemingly stuck inside their own territory.
The win helped to shed Oregon’s recent trouble in November games. When Oregon lost the Civil War the past two seasons, it had a record of 2-5 in November games (excluding last year’s Civil War loss played Dec. 1). This season, after a mistake-filled and rain-drenched loss at California on Nov. 1, Oregon has won three straight.
“In order to move forward you have to stop looking back,” Bellotti said. “I said, ‘We’re not looking back anymore.’”
Kelly
doesn’t comment on Syracuse interview
Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly received permission last week to interview with Syracuse University for its vacant head coaching job, but wouldn’t talk about the opening Saturday after the game.
“(I’m) talking about Oregon State,” he said. “You know me, I’m not talking about any other thing.”
Mike Bellotti said Sunday night he was unaware of any interview with Kelly and Syracuse scheduled for this week.
Kelly said his players weren’t bothered by the news last week about his interview. Jeremiah Johnson said he didn’t even know about Syracuse’s interest in its head coach.
“Nothing bothers these guys,” Kelly said.
The same can be said for him, who said the job reports didn’t bother him personally.
“Nothing bothers me,” he said. “I don’t even pay attention to it.”
ANDREW GREIF
[email protected]