OSU primed for Civil War showdown

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PULLMAN, Wash. — For the second Civil War in a row, a Rose Bowl trip will be on the line for the Oregon State Beavers, who affirmed that with a routine 42-10 romp over Washington State on Saturday.

This time, however, it's mutual.

Oregon spoiled the Beavers' plans in 2008 with a 65-38 drubbing in Corvallis — a favor OSU would love to return when the rivals meet for the 113th time on Dec. 3 at Autzen Stadium. The Pacific-10 Conference title goes to the winner, a circumstance assured Saturday when the Ducks survived a double-overtime thriller over Arizona while Stanford lost to Cal.

In any case, the Beavers were happy to gaze ahead at last after expending considerable effort not to overlook the hapless Cougars.

"I think regardless it's going to be one of the great matchups ever in the Civil War," said OSU coach Mike Riley. "Both teams had outstanding years, though we got here by different paths. If it happens to be for the Rose Bowl, it would be really neat."

Loud, too.

"It'll be crazy," said quarterback Sean Canfield, a senior who has never played against the Ducks. "I was talking to Lyle (Moevao, who Canfield succeeded as the starter this year), and when he started there two years ago he said it was insane on third down — and even on all the other downs. It's a hostile environment, but it'll be a great stage for us — and our team in those situations rises to the occasion."

A year ago, the Beavers took control of the Rose Bowl race with an upset of USC —- the first of seven straight Pac-10 wins. This year they had to battle back after losses to the Trojans and Arizona, as the league leaders cut one another up.

"This year, nobody really jumped on the bandwagon," said Beavers linebacker Keaton Kristick, "which is kind of neat. We're stealthy. We just come in at the end of the year."

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OREGON STATE DIDN'T EXACTLY put the hammer to the Cougars early as most teams have done. After grabbing a 7-0 lead, the Beavers immediately surrendered a field goal — doubling WSU's total of first-quarter points this season. The Cougars even managed to keep it a two-score game with an 80-yard touchdown drive just before halftime — with considerable help from the Beavers.

A 27-yard screen pass from Kevin Lopina to Dwight Tardy got the Cougars moving, but Oregon State quickly chipped in with penalties on four successive plays — a pass interference call on James Dockery, personal fouls on David Pa'aluhi III and Gabe Miller and offsides on Ben Terry. That added up to 45 yards and set the Cougars up on the OSU 4-yard line.

They needed four tries to get in, Dwight Tardy covering the final yard.

"They made some plays and we had some poor choices," Riley said.

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AFTER PUTTING TOGETHER brisk drives of 80, 65 and 65 yards on its first three possessions, Oregon State fell into a bit of an offensive funk — and Canfield took the fall for that.

His only interception of the day blew up what looked to be another scoring drive, when WSU safety Xavier Hicks found his way into the path of a ball intended for tight end Joe Halahuni — though Hicks was actually shadowing Markus Wheaton on the play.

"They like bringing the No. 2 receiver across the field off a play-action pass and they ran it a couple of plays before that," Hicks said. "I was just being aware of them doing it again and I just wanted to sink deep enough so I could get coverage on him and the quarterback threw it right to me."

Acknowledged Canfield, "It was a bad read. I should have went over the top. I'd like to have that one back."

The Beavers' next three possessions ended in punts before they finally got back on the rails with a 63-yard drive that included a 12-yard Canfield-to-Colby Prince completion on fourth-and-five.

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JACQUIZZ RODGERS' TWO touchdown runs — of 10 and 39 yards — pushed his total to 19, tying him on the school's single-season list with Ken Simonton (1999 and 2000) and Steven Jackson (2003). His 165 yards also bumped his season total to 1,313 — sixth on the OSU list. "¦The victory moved Riley ahead of Tommy Prothro on the OSU career wins list with 64, 10 behind Lon Stiner.

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