Ducks ruin party

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Jacquizz Rodgers watched solemnly on the sideline wearing his No. 1 jersey over his street clothes as Oregon State’s Rose Bowl aspirations slipped away.

Rival Oregon all but crushed the Beavers’ hopes of going to Pasadena on New Year’s Day with a 65-38 victory Saturday in the highest-scoring game in the Civil War rivalry.

Rodgers, the Beavers’ wily freshman running back who was not able to play in the game because of a shoulder injury, walked quietly off the field afterward with his older brother and teammate, James. Oregon State cornerback Keenan Lewis laid on the turf until two of his teammates finally helped him up.

A win would have sent the No. 17 Beavers (8-4, 7-2 Pac-10) to the Rose Bowl for the first time since the 1964 season.

Instead, Oregon State will have to wait to see if UCLA can upset No. 5 USC on Dec. 6. Should the Bruins win, the Beavers would share a three-way tie for the conference title with the Trojans and the Ducks, and Oregon State would have the tiebreaker for the Rose Bowl.

The No. 19 Ducks (9-3, 7-2) foiled the Beavers and snapped their six-game winning streak as they avenged a Civil War loss last year at Oregon. With about 20 seconds left to play, Oregon players doused coach Mike Bellotti.

“To go out and ruin somebody’s dreams like that, it feels real good,” Oregon receiver Jaison Williams said.

It was the most points the Beavers had ever allowed.

“We as team wanted this championship so bad and the city of Corvallis has been behind us the whole way. I feel awful we couldn’t bring that in,” Oregon State defensive lineman Slade Norris said.

The loss snapped Oregon State’s eight-game winning streak at Reser Stadium.

Lyle Moevao, who sat out of the game against Arizona because of a shoulder injury, completed 27 of 51 passes for 374 yards and a career-high five touchdowns for the Beavers. He threw two interceptions.

Jeremiah Masoli completed 11 of 17 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns for the Ducks, who were coming off a bye. Jeremiah Johnson ran for 219 yards and a score.

Oregon had 694 yards in total offense, and won despite 15 penalties for 129 yards. The Beavers racked up 463 yards in total offense.

“Oh it’s terribly disappointing. It’s been a long time since we had a locker room where we’ve lost a game and this one is doubly hard,” Beavers coach Mike Riley said.

Oregon State fans were gracious in the loss, and more than 100 stayed afterward to applaud the Beavers as they left the team’s Valley Football Center. One young boy held a sign that said, “We’re so proud of you.”

Earlier in the season, Oregon State defeated then-No. 1 USC 27-21, and the Beavers were a win away from riding that victory against the Trojans to Pasadena.

“It definitely hurts coming this whole way during the season, playing through the games we had to play through and then not being able to top it off,” Moevao said.