Oregon State outlasts Oregon in overtime

Oregon State receiver James Rodgers rounded the corner in the second overtime, looked up and saw only one defender between him and a go-ahead score.

“I knew he couldn’t catch me,” the freshman said. “I just homed in on a touchdown.”

Rodgers dashed 25 yards for the score, and the Beavers’ defense stuffed No. 18 Oregon on fourth down to preserve a 38-31 victory Saturday at Eugene in the 111th Civil War.

“We knew it had to be a big play,” Oregon State Coach Mike Riley said of the eventual winning touchdown.

The two teams matched field goals in the first extra session before Rodgers broke free on the first play of the second overtime. Oregon (8-4, 5-4) was faced with fourth and one from the 16 when it got its chance to answer, but tailback Jonathan Stewart was stopped on a run up the middle.

“That play should have been measured, but the officials ran off before it could be,” Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti said. “I’m not as fast as Joe Paterno. I couldn’t catch them.”

The Beavers (8-4, 6-3) wasted little time spilling onto the field to celebrate their victory, which gave a monumental lift to their bowl resume with a third straight win. It was the first time a road team had won the rivalry game since 1996.

Both teams had a chance to win in regulation with field-goal attempts in the final minutes.

Oregon cornerback Walter Thurmond blocked a 35-yard field-goal attempt by Oregon State’s Alexis Serna with 1:09 left to play, and Ducks kicker Matt Evensen missed from 53 yards with 26 seconds on the clock.

Serna set the Pac-10 record for consecutive extra points with 140, then got one more in overtime to push it to 141.

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No. 13 Arizona State 20, Arizona 17 -- After their Rose Bowl hopes died shortly before they took the field, the Sun Devils (10-2, 7-2) kept their Fiesta Bowl hopes alive after beating the Wildcats (5-7, 4-5) at Tempe, Arizona State’s third straight Territorial Cup victory.

Rudy Carpenter threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns for the Sun Devils, who have never played in a Bowl Championship Series game.

ASU’s slim shot at a Rose Bowl berth evaporated when USC defeated UCLA -- a game that ended just as the Sun Devils and Wildcats were about to kick off. USC and ASU finished with identical conference records, but the Trojans had the tiebreaker by virtue of a 44-24 victory in Tempe on Nov. 22.

Trailing 7-0, ASU tied the score on a three-yard pass from Carpenter to Tyrice Thompson in the second quarter.

Thomas Weber kicked a 19-yard field goal in the second and converted from 21 yards in the third to give ASU a 13-7 lead.

Arizona cut it to 13-10 on a 31-yard field goal by Jason Bondzio with 8:47 to play.

The Sun Devils responded with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Carpenter to Michael Jones with 4:27 to play.