Oregon Lets Its Play Do Talking

Keith Lewis not only broke his silence, he made a fashion statement too.

Silent in the week leading up to the 107th Civil War, Oregon’s free safety sported an Oregon State T-shirt after the Ducks downed the Beavers, 34-20, Saturday.

“I figure since their apparel is now so cheap, and I got this off the clearance rack, I’d wear it,” he said.

Lewis was mocking comments earlier in the week by Oregon State linebacker Richard Siegler, who joked that Oregon State would be willing to accept any Duck fans who wanted to jump on the Beaver bandwagon.

“We focused all week on not letting our emotions get out of control. I really believe me not talking to the media really helped,” Lewis said. “We respected them and gave them all the praise and they dogged us. That made us play to our potential.”

Kellen Clemens passed for three touchdowns and ran for another as Oregon, which improved to 8-4 overall and 5-3 in the Pacific 10 Conference, completed its regular season. Oregon State (7-4, 4-3) closes against No. 2 USC on Dec. 6.

Clemens completed 11 of 26 passes for 125 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown pass to Dante Rosario in the third quarter to give the Ducks a 28-13 lead.

Oregon State quarterback Derek Anderson was 21-for-45 passing for 271 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions for Oregon State.

The last time Anderson and Clemens played against each other was in the Oregon high school class 3A semifinals in 2000, when Anderson led Scappoose to a victory over Clemens-led Burns.

The Beavers cut the margin to 28-20 early in the fourth quarter on Anderson’s one-yard touchdown pass to Pat Loney, but Oregon’s Jared Siegel made up for an earlier miss with field goals of 18 and 22 yards. The Ducks held Pac-10 leading rusher Steven Jackson, averaging 126.6 yards a game, to 68 yards in 18 carries.