Jackson’s Record Day Leads Oregon State Over Oregon

Steven Jackson rushed for 153 yards and set the Oregon State single-season rushing record as the Beavers handily defeated Oregon, 45-24, in their annual Civil War rivalry game Saturday.

With state bragging rights and a Pacific 10 Conference bowl position on the line, the Beavers finished with a slightly better season than the Ducks, who had been ranked as high as No. 6 before losing five of their last six.

Oregon State is 8-4 overall and 4-4 in the conference. Oregon dropped to 7-5 and 3-5.

The game was dominated by Jackson, who ran for two scores and caught a 69-yard touchdown pass from Derek Anderson. It was the sophomore tailback’s ninth game this season with 100-plus yards and he finished with 1,656 yards this season.

Jackson, who went into the game ranked fifth in the nation with an average of 136.6 yards a game, surpassed Ken Simonton’s school record of 1,559 yards set in 2000.

Anderson completed 21 of 37 passes for 370 yards and four touchdowns, upping his season total to 24 touchdowns and passing Jonathan Smith’s school record of 20 set in 2000.

Oregon’s Jason Fife completed 14 of 33 passes for 182 yards and one touchdown. He was intercepted three times.

The only bad news for Oregon State had to do with kick returner Brandon Catenese. The junior was charged with steroid possession last week and did not play in Saturday’s game. The charge wasn’t made public until Friday.