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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 5:19 p.m., Saturday, November 29, 2008

CFB: Oregon thwarts Oregon State, 65-38

By ANNE M. PETERSON
AP Sports Writer

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Jeremiah Masoli threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns and Oregon all but crushed Oregon State's hopes of going to the Rose Bowl with a 65-38 victory today in the annual Civil War rivalry game.

A win would have sent the No. 17 Beavers (8-4, 7-2 Pacific-10 Conference) to Pasadena on New Year's Day for the first time since after 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 their six-game overall winning streak as they avenged a Civil War loss last year at Oregon.

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

Oregon State was without freshman running back Jacquizz Rodgers, who leads the conference in rushing (averaging 113.9 yards a game) and is 12th in the nation.

Rodgers, known as Quizz, injured his shoulder early in Oregon State's 19-17 victory over Arizona last weekend. Without him, the Beavers' offense looked ordinary.

Quarterback 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 Johnson ran for 219 yards and a score for the Ducks. Masoli, who completed 11 of 17 passes, also ran 53 yards for a score.

The Ducks jumped out in front on Masoli's 17-yard scoring pass to Jeff Maehl and Morgan Flint's 38-yard field goal.

Oregon State's Jeremy Francis caught a short pass from Moevao and then shook off two defenders as he rumbled into the end zone for a 20-yard scoring reception to make it 10-7.

But Oregon answered on the next series with LeGarrette Blount's 9-yard touchdown run. It was his 16th rushing TD this season, a new school record. Flint added 22-yard field goal to put Oregon ahead 20-7.

Justin Kahut missed a 21-yard field goal for the Beavers, but made a 24-yarder on the Oregon State's next series.

After Morgan Flint's 25-yeard field goal, Johnson ran 83 yards for a score and Walter Thurmond added a 40-yard interception return, making it 37-10 for the Ducks and utterly silencing Reser Stadium's record crowd of 46,319.

Johnson ran for 203 yards in the first half alone.

The Beavers scored on Moevao's 11-yard pass to Shane Morales with nine seconds left in the first half, then narrowed it to 37-24 on Moevao's 3-yard scoring pass to Joe Halahuni.

After Masoli had a 14-yard keeper for Oregon, Morales grabbed a 10-yard pass from Moevao.

Terence Scott ran a catch 76 yards for a score to make it 51-31 for Oregon to start the fourth quarter, but Moevao found Brady Camp with a 2-yard scoring pass with 8:34 left, making it 51-38.

Masoli hit Ed Dickson with a 45-yard scoring pass with just under four minutes left, then Oregon finished the Beavers off with Spencer Paysinger's 70-yard interception return for a touchdown.

The Ducks lead the series 56-46-10, but had not won in Corvallis since 1996. The 103 total points was a Civil War record.

Last season the Beavers snapped a 10-game winning streak for the home team in the series with a 38-31 victory in double overtime at Autzen Stadium.

Oregon lost 23-13 to the Beavers in the 2000 Civil War, which knocked the Ducks out of the Rose Bowl.