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Oregon crushes Oregon State, sets USC up for Rose Bowl

Nov 30, 2008 - 5:55 AM CORVALLIS, Oregon (Ticker) -- Oregon turned out to be a thorn in Oregon State's side and now it's Southern California that may end up smelling the roses.

The 18th-ranked Ducks scored early and often, rolling to a 65-38 victory over the No. 17 Beavers on Saturday in the 112th annual Civil War.

Oregon State (8-4, 7-2 Pac-10) held the tiebreaker with USC after beating the Trojans earlier this season. All the Beavers needed to wrap up their first Rose Bowl bid since 1965 was a win over the Ducks (9-3, 7-2), but Jeremiah Johnson and Jeremiah Masoli had other plans.

"I have to give credit to Oregon, they played well," Oregon State coach Mike Riley said. "They made a lot of plays, and it is always hard to play behind. And it is not something we like to do."

Johnson rushed for 219 yards, 205 in the first half including an 83-yard touchdown run. Masoli threw for three TDs and ran for another.

Lyle Moevao threw five TD passes for the Beavers, who need USC to lose to UCLA next Saturday to go to the Rose Bowl.

"We didn't start out well on offense, and we didn't start well on defense. Usually when you have that you don't come out on top," Moevao said. "It's definitely tough losing in front of a crowd like this. They've supported us all year. I think we have a good season to celebrate. We've come this far, and we're not looking back at the mistakes, but we're looking forward, and we have to make sure we correct the mistakes."

Masoli threw a 17-yard TD pass to Jeff Maehl and Morgan Flint kicked a 38-yard field goal in the first quarter to give Oregon a 10-0 lead. The Ducks never trailed and Johnson's long TD run in the second quarter extended the lead to 30-10.

After missing last week's game at Arizona with a shoulder injury, Moevao completed 27-of-51 passes for 374 yards. He threw two interceptions, both of which were returned for touchdowns by the Oregon defense.

"Our team never quit, and they always kept trying," Riley said. "They were a hard team to stop. We had to throw the ball too much, and I knew it would eventually lead to a turnover."

Oregon State played without freshman running back Jacquizz Rodgers, who entered Saturday leading the conference in rushing at 113.9 yards per game, good for 12th in the country.

The Ducks, who lead the series 56-46-10, had not won in Corvallis since 1996.