Beavers stuff Ducks in 2 OTs

EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon State receiver James Rodgers rounded the corner in the second overtime, looked up field and saw just one defender between himself and a go-ahead score.

“I knew he couldn’t catch me,” the freshman said. “I just homed in on a touchdown.”

Rodgers dashed 25 yards for the score, and the Beavers defense stuffed No. 18 Oregon on fourth down to preserve a 38-31 victory Saturday in the 111th Civil War.

“We knew it had to be a big play,” Oregon State coach Mike Riley said of the eventual winning touchdown.

The two teams matched field goals in the first extra session before Rodgers broke free on the first play of the second overtime. Oregon (8-4, 5-4 Pac-10) was faced with fourth-and-1 from the 16 when it got its chance to answer, but tailback Jonathan Stewart was stopped on a run up the middle.

“That play should have been measured, but the officials ran off before it could be,” Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. “I’m not as fast as Joe Paterno. I couldn’t catch them.”

The Beavers (8-4, 6-3) wasted little time spilling onto the field to celebrate their victory, which gave a monumental lift to their bowl resume with a third straight win. It was the first time a road team had won the rivalry game since 1996.

Both teams had a chance to win in regulation with field goal attempts in the final minutes.

Oregon cornerback Walter Thurmond blocked a 35-yard field goal attempt by Oregon State’s Alexis Serna with 1:09 left to play, and Ducks kicker Matt Evensen missed from 53 yards with 26 seconds on the clock.

“We were absolutely confident in Serna but we put him in a bad situation,” Riley said. “That was the first time we’ve had a kick blocked like that in a long time.”

Evensen got a second chance after the Beavers were flagged for a personal foul, but confusion over spiking the ball to stop the clock forced the Ducks to rush the field goal unit onto the field. His 40-yard attempt on the last play of regulation fell short.

“There was miscommunication on the sidelines,” Bellotti said.

Serna set the Pac-10 record for consecutive extra points with 140, then got one more in overtime to push it to 141.