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Oregon State not feeling rosy anymore

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Associated Press

. -- Jeremiah Masoli threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns and Oregon all but crushed Oregon State’s hopes of going to the Rose Bowl with a 65-38 victory Saturday in the highest-scoring game ever in the Civil War rivalry.

A win would have sent the No. 17 Beavers (8-4, 7-2 Pacific 10 Conference) to Pasadena on New Year’s Day for the first time since after the 1964 season.

Instead, Oregon State will have to wait to see whether UCLA can upset No. 5 USC next Saturday. Should the Bruins win, the Beavers would share a three-way tie for the conference title with the Trojans and the Ducks, and Oregon State would have the tiebreaker for the Rose Bowl.

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The No. 19 Ducks (9-3, 7-2) foiled the Beavers and ended their winning streak at six games as they avenged a Civil War loss last year at Oregon.

Oregon State’s prolific freshman running back Jaquizz Rodgers, who sat out the game because of an injured shoulder, watched solemnly from the sidelines in the waning moments before he walked dejectedly off the field.

Oregon players doused Coach Mike Bellotti with a cooler about 20 seconds before the game ended. Then the Ducks walked across the field to salute the visiting team’s fan section.

The loss ended Oregon State’s winning streak at Reser Stadium at eight games.

Rodgers, who leads the conference in rushing (113.9 yards a game) and is 12th in the nation, injured his shoulder early in Oregon State’s 19-17 victory over Arizona last weekend.

His brother James, who the Beavers turned to in the victory over Arizona, was held in check, with seven carries for 56 yards.

Lyle Moevao, who sat out of the game against Arizona because of a shoulder injury, completed 27 of 51 passes for 374 yards and a career-high five touchdowns for the Beavers. He threw two interceptions.

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“It definitely hurts coming this whole way during the season, playing through the games we had to play through and then not being able to top it off,” Moevao said.

Jeremiah Johnson ran for 219 yards and a score for the Ducks. Masoli, who completed 11 of 17 passes, also ran 53 yards for a score.

Oregon had 694 yards in total offense, and won despite 15 penalties for 129 yards. The Beavers racked up 463 yards in offense.

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