Wars of the Roses

The euphoria of No. 8 Oregon State’s 23-13 victory over No. 5 Oregon on Saturday at Reser Stadium refused to yield to a more pragmatic reality.

In clinching a share of their first Pacific 10 Conference championship since 1964, Beaver fans earned a few hours of unabashed joy.

As the game drew to a close, a man among the sellout crowd of 36,044 held up a sign that read: “Hell has frozen over and Pigs Are Flyin’.”

Who could argue?

Yet, while the victory probably ranks as the greatest sporting moment in the history of the school, it was also a conflicted day.

Oregon State won the 104th Civil War but may have lost the Battle of BCS.

The Beavers improved to 10-1 with another surgical performance against a Pac-10 opponent, then watched their bowl fortunes waver as a frigid day grew colder.

Fans mounted a rousing cheer of “Rose Bowl! Rose Bowl!” knowing full well the issue of Pasadena was not in their hands.

In fact, Washington’s victory over Washington State later in the day clinched the Rose Bowl berth for the Huskies--Washington winning in the three-team tiebreaker formula over Oregon State and Oregon.

So what to do with the flowers?

Ron Oakum, incoming president for the Tournament of Roses, lingered in the background all day, a man desperately trying not to appear too conspicuous.

He had brought with him 48 roses, to be presented to Oregon State in the event the Beavers won and Washington lost, which would have sent Oregon State to Pasadena for the first time since the 1964 season.

Until the outcome of the Washington-Washington State game was known, however, the roses were stored in a refrigerator in the office of Oregon State Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart.

“They’re in there for someone,” Barnhart said. “If they don’t present them to us, we’ll go out and present them to our next of kin, I guess.”

The real roses went to Washington.

Oregon State players were too busy celebrating to consider the consequences of their victory, how the Beavers and their conference may ultimately get squeezed out of a $13-million bowl championship series game.

How could you explain to Oregon State quarterback Jonathan Smith, a walk-on from Glendora High who had just played the game of his life, completing 14 of 27 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns, that Oregon State might have actually ended up on the short end Saturday?

“I dreamed of games like this,” he said. “I listened to Keith Jackson, watched college football on ABC thinking, ‘If I was in the game, how would I feel?’ This is something I’ll never forget.”

Jackson, in fact, was in the booth calling Saturday’s action.

Didn’t anyone want to talk about the game?

In the first quarter, Smith set the tone when he threw scoring passes of 31 and 49 yards to Robert Prescott, giving Oregon State a 14-0 lead it would not relinquish.

“We’ve been playing well the whole month,” Smith said. “We thought we could beat this team.”

The Beavers led 17-0, then 17-7, then 23-7.

Strong safety Jake Cookus, like Smith a walk-on, claimed three of Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington’s five intercepted passes.

“I never thought I’d be part of anything like this,” Cookus said later.

Running back Ken Simonton, who had only 10 rushing yards in the first half, finished with 124 yards in 24 carries.

The Oregon State defense held Oregon (9-2) to its lowest point total of the season. The Beaver defense forced six turnovers, the last with 6:06 left when end Sefa O’Reilly dislodged the ball from Harrington and DeLawrence Grant recovered, ending any thoughts of an Oregon comeback.

“I don’t like to lose,” Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti said, “but Oregon State played a good football game today. They created turnovers and did a good job with the time they had the ball.”

But how much was Oregon State’s effort worth?

With their record, and their ranking, and their feel-good qualities, the Beavers are certainly worthy of getting one of two at-large spots in a $13-million BCS bowl, but there’s a chance the Pac-10 will only end up with one school, Washington, in the BCS.

“It would be an enormous disappointment if we only got one,” said Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen, who attended Saturday’s game.

The best scenario for the conference was an Oregon win coupled with a Washington victory. That would have landed Oregon in the Rose Bowl and Washington, almost certainly, in the Fiesta Bowl.

It remains to seen whether Oregon State, No. 9 in last week’s BCS standings, has the national clout and fan base to warrant a Fiesta Bowl bid.

It could be that the Beavers will have to settle for a trip to the Holiday Bowl.

Not bad, but not befitting.

Oregon State’s problem: If Notre Dame beats USC next week to finish 9-2 and Florida State ends up No. 3 in the BCS standings behind Oklahoma and Miami, the Fiesta will almost assuredly match Florida State versus Notre Dame.

“We’d love to take 10-1 Oregon State,” Fiesta Bowl spokesman Shawn Schoeffler said. “With the team winning the way they won today, and their Cinderella season, we couldn’t go wrong. But we’re going to have to wait until Dec. 3 to do anything official.”

Barnhart and Hansen are already lobbying the Fiesta Bowl to get Oregon State in the Jan. 1 game.

Barnhart said he would “empty out the state” to get fans to Tempe.

“These kids deserve to go to the biggest possible game they can go to,” Barnhart said. “They deserve to be a part of a BCS game. They’ve earned it. They belong.”

The good news for Oregon State is that the pool of available at-large teams is shrinking. Michigan’s win over Ohio State helped, knocking the two-loss Buckeyes from consideration.

A USC victory over Notre Dame next week would also likely cinch a BCS spot for Oregon State. Might the Trojans actually end up doing something positive for the Pac-10 this year?

But if it’s a question of 10-1 Oregon State versus 9-2 Notre Dame, forget about it.

Even the Beavers understand that.

“You have to be realistic,” Oregon State tight end Marty Maurer said. “We’re coming off 28 straight losing seasons, the longest streak in history. When you’re talking about Notre Dame, you’re talking about the epitome of college football. I personally understand why they would not take us. I just hope they give us the opportunity.”

Most Beavers say none of it matters. No man in a lime-colored jacket can deny Oregon State what it earned Saturday and in this championship season:

Respect.

“When you go 10-1 at a place that has never been 10-1 before, and the program was rock bottom three years ago, it doesn’t get much better,” Coach Dennis Erickson said.

What more could Oregon State do?

“We handled as much business as we could,” Smith said.

Oregon State to the Holiday Bowl?

“It doesn’t dampen how excited we are about being champions,” Smith said. “It may all be up in the air, but I’m on Cloud 9 just winning the game.”

FULL BLOOM

Purdue gets first trip to Pasadena since 1967, while Washington keeps hopes alive for bid to BCS title game.