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Oregon State hopes to avoid emotional letdown in Sun Bowl

Dec 31, 2008 - 12:13 PM (25) Oregon State (8-4) vs. (21) Pittsburgh (9-3), 2:00 pm EST

EL PASO, Texas (Ticker) -- After hoping to spend New Year's Day at the Rose Bowl, Oregon State will be celebrating New Year's Eve in El Paso, Texas.

Denied their first Rose Bowl appearance in more than four decades, the 25th-ranked Beavers settled for a berth in the Sun Bowl where they will take on No. 21 Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

Oregon State (8-4) likely will be severely shorthanded as freshman running back Jacquizz Rodgers is not expected to play against the Panthers due to a shoulder injury that kept him out of the Beavers' regular-season finale against Oregon.

Without Rodgers, the Pac-10's second-leading rusher with 1,253 yards and a 11 touchdowns, Oregon State suffered a 65-38 defeat to the Ducks, although he was not responsible for a defense that yielded a school-record 694 yards.

The loss ended Oregon State's dream of playing in its first Rose Bowl game since 1965. Instead, the Beavers are headed to the Sun Bowl for the second time in three years.

Overall, Oregon State is seeking its fifth straight bowl victory, a streak that includes a 39--38 victory over Missouri in the 2006 Sun Bowl.

The absence of Jacquizz Rodgers would put more of a burden on his brother, sophomore James Rodgers, Oregon State's second-leading rusher with 408 yards and five TDs.

The Beavers allowed Oregon's Jeremiah Johnson to rush for 219 yards on just 17 carries, which doesn't bode well for Oregon State's defense as it now has to face one of the nation's top running backs in LeSean McCoy.

The seventh-leading rusher in the Football Bowl Subdivision, McCoy ran for 1,403 yards and 21 TDs, the second straight 1,000-yard season for the sophomore. The 21 TDs are tied for second in the FBS behind Ball State's MiQuale Lewis, who has 22.

The Panthers (9-3) are making their third appearance in the Sun Bowl. Pittsburgh first came to El Paso under the direction of Johnny Majors in 1975 and returned in 1989 with Paul Hackett at the helm.

"A trip to El Paso for this year's Sun Bowl is a tremendous reward for our football program and university," said Pittsburgh head coach Dave Wannstedt, whose team is seeking its first 10-win season since three straight 11-win campaigns under Jackie Sherrill from 1979-81. "I had the pleasure of being part of this great bowl game as a first-year grad assistant at Pitt with Coach Majors back in 1975."

The Panthers posted their first nine-win regular season since 1982.