Oregon State Rolls Behind Simonton

Ken Simonton ran for 169 yards and two touchdowns as No. 18-ranked Oregon State kept its Rose Bowl hopes alive by overpowering Washington State, 38-9, on Saturday night.

The Beavers, 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the Pacific 10, are tied with Washington for second place behind unbeaten Oregon, but the Huskies hold the tiebreaker edge over Oregon State.

The game featured the two most productive offenses in the Pac-10, but Washington State (3-5, 1-4) gained only 240 yards.

Jason Gesser, the leading passer in the Pac-10, completed 11 of 29 passes for 109 yards and had two passes intercepted. Oregon State won its eighth consecutive home game and is 7-1 for the first time since 1964, the last time the Beavers went to the Rose Bowl.

Simonton had 97 yards in the first quarter, going over the 1,000-yard mark and becoming the first player in Pac-10 history to reach the milestone in his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons.

Simonton surpassed the mark on his second carry, beating the Cougars’ secondary to the corner and running down the right sideline for 53 yards.

That set up a 22-yard field goal by Ryan Cesca to make it 3-0. The run was the longest of Simonton’s career, topping a 49-yarder against Stanford his freshman year. Simonton, who has 1,163 yards this season, began the year No. 42 on the Pac-10 career yardage list but has climbed into the top 10.