The Oregon State football team came armed with home-field advantage and great hope, but no Jacquizz Rodgers or any detectable defense. The tradeoff was not nearly enough to secure an elusive Rose Bowl berth.

In the 112th running of college football’s Civil War, the southern team won, with the Oregon Ducks traveling 40 miles up Interstate 5 to Corvallis, Ore, and the home of their state rival, and proceeding to crush the Beavers 65-38 on a cool yet dry November Saturday in the Northwest.

The outcome all but cinched a fourth consecutive postseason trip to Pasadena for USC (10-1, 7-1 Pac-10) while knocking Oregon State (8-4, 7-2 Pac-10) out of the running for the coveted New Year’s Day game, with the Trojans needing only a victory over presumably overmatched UCLA (4-7, 3-5 Pac–10) next weekend to lock everything in place. Oregon (9-3, 7-2 Pac-10) likely cemented a Holiday Bowl berth, with the Beavers sliding to the Sun Bowl.

People clutched roses as they filled up Reser Stadium, intent on watching Oregon State advance to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 44 years. Instead, they were treated to 60 minutes of misery rather than a watershed moment, most notably 15 fateful seconds of horror before halftime that helped quash ultimate dreams.

The Beavers were trailing 23-10 when Oregon tailback Jeremiah Johnson stunned the crowd of 46,319 with an 83-yard touchdown run with just 58 seconds remaining in the first half, bursting through a huge hole on a third-and-19 play, shaking off three would-be tacklers and sprinting up the right sideline. An extra point, kickoff and ill-timed Lyle Moevao pass later, and the Ducks struck again in unsympathetic fashion, with Oregon cornerback Walter Thurmond touching down in the end zone with a 40-yard interception return. There were now 43 seconds left in the half. The general feeling among the packed house at this point was things weren’t going to go well for Mike Riley’s overachieving players.

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

Oregon State tried to do it without Rodgers, the Pac-10’s leading rusher and most logical choice for conference player of the year honors. Wearing street clothes, the speedy little back was relegated to the sideline after suffering a shoulder injury the week before against Arizona. Even if the player nicknamed “Quiz” had been available, the Beavers would have been hard-pressed to win this one.

The defense couldn’t tackle or cover anyone in the Ducks’ high-powered attack. Oregon State served up a whopping 694 yards of total offense and the highest point total in school history, surpassing the 63 points previously permitted Stanford, USC and Louisville. Johnson finished with 17 carries for a career-best 219 yards rushing, 203 by halftime. Fellow Oregon tailback LeGarrette Blount supplied another 17 carries for 112 yards and school-record 16th touchdown. Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli provided another 53 yards rushing and 274 yards passing.

While allowing 38 points, the Ducks’ defense did plenty to secure the victory, sacking Moevao five times, causing two fumbles and intercepting and returning two passes for scores.

“I don’t think it was nerves,” Riley said of the Beavers’ failure to land a Rose Bowl bid. “I just think we didn’t play how we wanted to play. We didn’t stick to our assignments, and that hurt us in the end.”

Scoreboard:

Arizona State 34, UCLA 9
Hawaii 24, Washington State 10
Oregon 65, Oregon State 38
USC 38, Notre Dame 3

Team of the Week: Oregon

Overlooked in all the excitement surrounding Oregon State’s rare Rose Bowl possibilities, the Ducks wasted no time in taking control of this contest. They needed just four minutes to get on the scoreboard and take a lead they never relinquished, jumping in front 7-0 on Jeffrey Maehl’s 17-yard touchdown catch. They won for the first time in Corvallis in 12 seasons. They had no remorse at all over keeping the Beavers out of Pasadena.

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

Disappointment of the Week: Oregon State

For two months the Beavers toyed with Rose Bowl dreams, precipitated by their 27-21 upset of then No. 1-ranked USC. Win out, and they were in for the first time since 1965. A return match with Penn State awaited them. They missed Jacquizz Rodgers and his 1,200-plus yards rushing, always table-setter. They played catch-up the entire game, getting five touchdown passes from Lyle Moevao. But they’re likely headed for the Sun Bowl. Pasadena would have been so much more fun.

Player of the Week: Jeremiah Johnson, Oregon, RB

The senior from Los Angeles was ready for a big game, running for 219 yards, nearly all of it in the first half. He passed the 1,000 mark for the season, pushing his total to 1,082, no small feat considering he platoons with LeGarrette Blount, who has 928 yards.

Freshman of the Week: Darron Thomas, Oregon, QB

He didn’t see a lot of action, but was in long enough to line up in the backfield, take a pitch and deliver a 35-yard strike to Jeffrey Maehl, setting up the Ducks on the Oregon State 7 and leading to a field goal and a 23-10 Oregon lead.

Irish eyes were blackened

USC put itself in firm position for another conference championship and Rose Bowl appearance by overwhelming Notre Dame 38-3 and possibly costing Charlie Weis his coaching job. The Trojans didn’t permit a first down until the last play of the third quarter when James Aldrich ran for 15 yards. They permitted just 91 yards of total offense and four first downs. They swallowed the Fighting Irish whole.

“They have one of the fastest pass rushes we’ve faced,” said Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen, who completed just 11 of 22 passes for a paltry 41 yards and was intercepted twice and sacked four times.

Said USC coach Pete Carroll, “It just seemed like series after series after series nothing happened.”

The teams were only competitive before and near the end of the game, when they scuffled on the field 45 minutes before kickoff, requiring police and coaches to intervene and prevent something worse; got into another sideline shoving match and had the afternoon capped by a last-minute fight in the middle of the field that got USC defensive end Malik Jackson and Notre Dame defensive back Robert Hughes, both reserves, ejected from the contest.

Weis added to his growing list of detractors after he lost for the 15th time in two seasons — more than any other era in Notre Dame history — with his team providing no competition for USC for the second consecutive season. Quizzed about his job security, which will be reviewed by his athletic director in a week’s time, the fourth-year coach said flatly, “I’m the head football coach at Notre Dame. When the time comes in my career, either my choice or their choice, that they’re going to tell me I’m not, then I’m not.”

Sun Devil stop signs

With a chance to salvage its season and possibly a bowl game, Arizona State is depending heavily on its aggressive and opportunistic defense to get the job done. The Sun Devils scored four times on defense in beating UCLA 34-9. They scored a defensive touchdown for the fourth consecutive game. Senior safety Troy Nolan scored his fifth career defensive touchdown.

All of this helped offset a tepid offensive performance in which Arizona State (5-6, 4-4 Pac-10) was outgained 306-122, chalking up just 21 yards rushing, and still remains bowl eligible with a rivalry game against Arizona remaining while the Bruins were eliminated from postseason contention.

“I’m going to put this game film in the archives,” Sun Devils coach Dennis Erickson said. “Well, the defensive side. The offensive side I think I’ll burn.”

In order, Arizona State’s defense found the end zone when end Paul ‘Unga returned a fumble 17 yards for a second-quarter score, linebacker Travis Goethel had a 38-yard interception return for a TD in the same quarter, Nolan tipped a ball to himself and raced 100 yards with an interception return for a fourth-quarter score and linebacker Mike Nixon went 45 yards with an interception for a TD to finish things off.

The Sun Devils have returned four interceptions and three fumble recoveries for points this season, with the always-in-the-right-place-at-the-right-time Nolan supplying two of the former and one of the latter. He had two interception returns for scores last season.

“In all the years I’ve been doing this, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Erickson said. “But you’ve got to build your program around your defense.”

No Hawaiian vacation

Washington State brought one of its more frustrating football seasons in school history to a close with a 24-10 defeat in Honolulu to Hawaii, which accepted a Hawaii Bowl invitation immediately after the match-up. Considering their lopsided outcomes earlier, giving up 58 points or more in six conference outings, the Cougars (2-10, 0-9 Pac-10) came away little encouraged after they finished with a victory over Washington and the two-touchdown loss to the Warriors.

“From injuries to inexperience to finding ways to lose games, that part has been tough,” said first-year coach Paul Wulff, who had 19 seniors play their final game.

The Cougars, with their worst season since posting a 2-9 record in 1974, were outscored on the average 43.8-12.7 and outgained 443-241 in total yards in 12 games.

Wide receiver Brandon Gibson had just one catch for 18 yards against Hawaii, finishing his Washington State career with 182 catches and 2,756 yards, totals that were second and first in school history.

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