Oregon St. 34, UCLA 6

OREGON STATE WON in Pasadena for the first time since 2000 as they won their fourth straight conference game improving to 6-3 and becoming bowl eligible.

Jacquizz Rodgers set a Pac-10 rushing record for freshmen and Sean Canfield filled in ably at quarterback to help Oregon State beat UCLA 34-6 on Saturday.
Rodgers ran for 144 yards to increase his season total to 1,089 - the most ever by a freshman in the conference. He's only the third Pac-10 first-year player to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark in a season. Ken Simonton, the Beavers' career rushing leader, had 1,028 in 1998 and Darrin Nelson had 1,069 for Stanford in 1977.
Rodgers, who has now rushed for over 100 yards seven times, scored on a 1-yard TD run with 7:18 left in the third quarter and a 5-yard pass with 10:15 remaining after an interception by safety Greg Laybourne.
The victory helped keep Oregon State's chances at a return trip to the Rose Bowl alive. The Beavers (6-3, 5-1 Pac-10) need to run the table in their final three games against No. 21 California, Arizona and Oregon to win the conference title.
Oregon State's 27-21 upset victory over USC on Sept. 25 would serve as the tiebreaker for the Rose Bowl if it came down to that. The school's last appearance in Pasadena on New Year's Day was at the end of the 1964 season, a 34-7 loss to Michigan.
Canfield completed 16 of 22 passes for 222 yards, including a 75-yard pass play to James Rodgers that set up one of Justin Kahut's two field goals. Last week, the left-handed Canfield led the Beavers to a come-from-behind 27-25 victory over Arizona State, throwing for 218 yards and two touchdowns after starting quarterback Lyle Moevao went down in the second quarter with a strained muscle in his shoulder.
Saturday's win, which snapped a five-game losing streak against UCLA, came a year and five days after Canfield injured his shoulder against USC and lost his starting job to Moevao. Canfield underwent surgery for a torn labrum and missed spring practice, then suffered a setback early in fall practice when shoulder soreness sidelined him for the first few games.
UCLA (3-6, 2-4) was 2-for-15 on third-down conversions after coming up empty on its first nine attempts. Kevin Craft completed 20 of 42 passes for 189 yards and threw two interceptions, one by Patrick Henderson that set up Ryan McCants' 35-yard touchdown run with 2:18 to play.
James Rodgers had six receptions for 115 yards, and Stroughter gained 93 yards on six catches.
UCLA, coming off a bye that followed a 41-20 loss at Cal, was missing offensive guards Micah Reed and Scott Glicksberg along with defensive tackle Jess Ward - all of whom were suspended for the game for violating team rules.

The blue and gold alas are out of bowl contention this season. I can only look forward to next season.

oh my...we lost again...sniffle...sniffle...dang it!

Oregon's Late Start Pushes the Ducks Past Bruins
MEDICAL UPDATE: UCLA wide receiver Terrence Austin was injured in the fourth quarter of UCLA's game at Oregon. He was fitted for a neck collar, placed on a spine board and transported from the field to RiverBend Hospital. While on the field, he was conscious and able to move his arms and legs.
Tests at the hospital were negative. He was diagnosed with a neck strain and a mild concussion and released from the hospital in time to fly home to Los Angeles with the UCLA football team late Saturday night.
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli ran for 170 yards and a touchdown in ther Ducks' 31-24 victory over UCLA on Saturday night.
Masoli, who entered the season as the third-string quarterback, also completed five of 19 passes for 42 yards and a score for the Ducks (5-2, 3-1 Pacific-10).
Kahlil Bell and Derrick Coleman each ran for a touchdown for the Bruins (2-4, 1-2), hit late in the game by a scary injury to receiver Terrence Austin, who had to be carted off the field at Autzen Stadium.
The Ducks did not use quarterback Justin Roper, who had been out the last four games with a knee injury and a lingering illness. Given the starting spot just before the opener after Nate Costa had knee surgery, Roper returned to practice this week.
Instead, Oregon stayed with Masoli, who had a 5-yard TD run in the first quarter.
But Oregon was generally lackluster until the waning moments of the first half. Matt Evensen missed a 42-yard field goal and had a 50-yarder blocked.
The Bruins weren't any more inspired. The closest they came to scoring early was a missed field goal by Kai Forbath, a 47-yard attempt that went wide left.
Bell, who injured his left ankle in the opener and aggravated it last weekend against Washington State, was hit late in the first half and had to be helped off the field.
Oregon made it 14-0 with 22 seconds left before the half when Masoli hit Chris Harper - who has played at backup quarterback this season - with a 24-yard scoring pass. Harper, a true freshman, last week asked coach Mike Bellotti if he could play more at receiver.
UCLA scored its first touchdown on the road so far this season on Coleman's 1-yard run, but Oregon answered with LeGarrette Blount's 6-yard scoring run to make it 21-7.
Oregon cornerback Jairus Byrd was called for pass interference on what had looked like an interception of Craft in the end zone, and Bell subsequently ran 2 yards for the score to make it 21-14. The call was loudly booed by Ducks fans at Autzen, who were also warned for throwing items on the field.
In the fourth quarter, Austin was hurt when he was trying to make a catch and got hit by Oregon rover T.J. Ward. The ball tipped off of Ward's helmet and was intercepted by Byrd.
Austin was knocked headfirst into the turf. He remain prone on the field for several minutes, but could be seen moving his feet, before he was placed on a stretcher and taken from the field on a cart.
At the same time, a fan involved in an apparent scuffle was taken from the stadium on a stretcher, but further details were not known.
When the game resumed after a lengthy delay, Evensen hit a 32-yard field goal to make it 24-14, but Forbath answered with a 28-yard field goal for the Bruins.
Blount sealed it for the Ducks with a 69-yard scoring run.
Craft, pressed into duty this season after Patrick Cowan and Ben Olson were injured, hit Jeff Miller with a 1-yard touchdown pass with less than a minute left. Craft completed 27 of 43 passes for 288 yards.
The game is just the second on the road for the Bruins this season.

If It's Saturday...It's Time for UCLA Football...GO BRUINS

UCLA FOOTBALL... Fight On~

Favored UCLA desperate for a win
Sam Allen, Bruin Sports senior staff (Contact)
Published: Friday, October 3, 2008
Oddsmakers favor the UCLA football team to beat Washington State by 17 points when the two teams meet Saturday night at the Rose Bowl.
The Cougars (1-4, 0-2 Pac-10) lost their first two conference games, 63-14 to Oregon and 66-3 to California. Their top two quarterbacks sustained serious injuries in the first month of the season, and the team has now turned to redshirt freshman Marshall Lobbestael.
Washington State is also in the midst of a rebuilding process under first-year coach Paul Wulff.
But none of that matters to the Bruins (1-3, 0-1 Pac-10).
“I didn’t know we were favored at all,” linebacker Reggie Carter said. “I haven’t won a game in three weeks. I’m just looking for a win. I couldn’t care less if we’re favorites. I just want to win.”
After a daunting nonconference schedule, UCLA shifts into Pac-10 play this week against a listless Washington State team. But the Bruins cannot afford to take this game lightly, not after a September month in which they lost badly to Brigham Young and Arizona, and then missed an opportunity to upset Fresno State.
Washington State knows that kind of hardship just as well; the Cougars haven’t reached a bowl game in four years, and they lost eight scholarships this offseason because of poor academic progress.
“Sometimes, when things are struggling, it can be an advantage to go on the road, just because you can circle the wagons with your team,” UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said. “So we expect a great effort from (Washington State).”
Players and coaches pointed to their rushing attack as the key to the offense this week. The Bruin runners were ineffective in the first three games of the season before gaining 246 yards last week against Fresno State.
The Bruins hope that rushing performance is an indication they are starting to improve. This week, senior Kahlil Bell will start at tailback, with freshman Derrick Coleman as his backup. Washington State has allowed almost 270 yards rushing per game this season.
“We just want to go in and get 300 yards rushing, that’s our goal,” freshman offensive tackle Jeff Baca said. “We came close last week. But we want 300. We want a steady number every week from now on and, of course, good pass protection for Kevin Craft.”
The UCLA defense has a lot to prove, too. Last week Fresno State cruised to a 36-31 victory with a long, crushing drive in the fourth quarter that ran out the remaining 8 minutes, 55 seconds on the clock.
Carter said that pressuring the quarterback and limiting big plays will be the biggest goals this week. The Bruins have emphasized defensive assignments and discipline this week in practice.
“Pass rush and pass coverage go hand in hand; we need to get more pressure,” Carter said.
Carter also said that confidence is not an issue for the team; they’re just desperate for a win.
“Washington State runs and passes just like any other team,” he said. “For some reason we’ve had problems stopping that the past few weeks, so we have to do it this week.”

Saturday and UCLA football...

It's Saturday and of course you will find me sipping a cup of coffee on the porch. It has been raining off and on today...a light drizzle. The coffee cup is one of my favorites as it highlights the decade of dominance over USC. I guess you can tell I am a BRUIN football fan by now.