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Moore leads embattled Beavers past Huskies 27-17

Bernard rushes for 144 yards as OSU gets a win at Washington

By Kerry Eggers

LocalNewsDaily.com, Oct 14, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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SEATTLE — The first half, Oregon State established the run. The second half, the Beavers went to the pass — the long pass.

When the smoke had cleared Saturday, the embattled visitors rolled out of Husky Stadium with a 27-17 victory over Washington that will at least temporarily silence the critics who said the Men in Orange were going nowhere fast.

“This was great for us,” said Oregon State linebacker Derrick Doggett, the best defensive player on the field against the Huskies. “It’s just the beginning. We just turned around our season. This is going to give us confidence going into our next games.”

Allow the Beavers (3-3 overall, 1-2 in Pac-10 play) to enjoy this one for a little while first. They entered the game as nine-point underdogs to a Washington team that many considered to be the most improved team in the conference through the early season. Coach Mike Riley was being hung in effigy by a vocal minority in Beaver Nation, and there were calls for senior quarterback Matt Moore to be replaced by redshirt freshman Sean Canfield.

Moore vindicated himself by passing for a season-high 308 yards — 241 in a rousing second half that saw the Beavers storm back from a 17-10 halftime deficit and silence a crowd of 62,656 fully expecting a Husky victory.

The OSU signal-caller was flanked by tailback Yvenson Bernard, who rushed for 106 of his game-high 144 yards in the first half as the Beavers mounted a relentless ground attack against the Washington defensive unit.

Moore’s chief target was Sammie Stroughter, the punt return sensation who finished with seven catches for 223 yards, including an 80-yard TD strike in the third quarter that pinned the Huskies (4-3, 2-2) on their ears. It was the fourth-greatest single-game receiving yardage total in school history.

The Oregon State defense, led by the fleet Doggett, came through with its second straight outstanding performance. The OSU D-men contained electric-legged UW quarterback Isaiah Stanback, sacked Stanback and backup Carl Bonnell six times and kept the Beavers close until their offense came to the party in the second half. Oregon State had 13 tackles for loss in the game, four by defensive end Jeff Van Orsow.

Oregon State’s offensive line also won the battle up front, paving the way for a 488-256 advantage in total yardage.

“Usually when you get beat in the trenches, you get beat in the trenches,” Washington coach Tyrone Willingham said. “We took it on the chin in that particular area.”

Stanback injured an ankle midway through the fourth quarter on a 23-yard scramble and had to be helped off the field. He walked on crutches to the locker room after the game.

“We’ll see,” Riley said when asked if the victory will be the beginning of something big for his team. “We’re in another one-week season (leading up to next Saturday’s game at Arizona). But it was a tremendous example of perseverence and persistence. I loved it. That’s the main part of it for me. The execution was better, particularly in the second half, and the football was good that way, too.”

Oregon State overcame three turnovers and 70 yards in penalties with a second-half aerial attack that caught Washington by surprise.

The Beavers’ air-out passing game, dormant through the season’s first five games, caught a spark early in the third quarter. Over the next quarter and a half, the Beavers struck for passes covering 51, 24, 80, 27 and 40 yards. Suddenly, an offense in which long passing plays had run desert dry looked like the Indianapolis Colts’.

With the Beavers riding Bernard to 17 carries and 106 yards in the first half, Washington’s defense was creeping up with seven and eight players at the line of scrimmage. Go deep and spread the field, Riley directed of Moore.

“They were really loading the box and blitzing to stop the run,” Riley said. “Coming out like that in the second half was a big factor — some of the big plays we had.”

“We caught them in the right formations and hit the holes in their zone coverage,” Moore said.

From the OSU 13 on the second possession of the third quarter, Moore found Ruben Jackson for a 51-yard bomb to the Washington 36. On the next play, Moore hit Stroughter on a 24-yard out pattern to the UW 12.

The Beavers stalled there, settling for a 26-yard Alexis Serna field goal to cut the Huskies’ lead to 17-13 with 7:02 to play in the third period. But a pattern had been established.

When the Beavers got the ball back at the OSU 20, they were loaded for bear. Moore unloaded a howitzer to a wide-open Stroughter, who caught it at midfield and turned it into an 80-yard scoring play. With 5:15 remaining in the quarter, Oregon State was back in front 20-17.

“The play call was ‘Eight Apache,’ “ said Stroughter, who came all the way from the left side to haul in the first TD reception of his career. “Matt got the ball there, and after that I got a great block to spring me for six.”

“That turned the game right there,” Bernard said.

The Huskies responded with a drive that took them from the UW 29 to the OSU 35. On fourth-and-six, Stanback was nailed on a scramble by Doggett for a one-yard loss, and the Beavers had it at their own 36.

Moore found Stroughter again for 27 yards, but the OSU junior fumbled and UW’s Dashon Goldson recovered on the Husky 37. The OSU defense held, though, and when the Beaver offense got the ball back, it was ready.

Taking it from the OSU 22, the Beavers moved 78 yards in six plays. Moore connected with Stroughter on pass plays of 16 and 40 yards to set up Bernard’s three-yard TD run., and the Beavers led 27-17 with 12:32 on the clock.

On Washington’s next possession, Stanback got hurt on the scramble on a third-and-26 from the UW four and departed, along with the Huskies’ waning hopes for victory.

Moore, who had four 300-yard passing games as a junior last year but had averaged only 156.4 yards through the first five games this season, was 14 of 19 for 308 yards and a TD with one interception.

“Moore’s good, man,” said Washington linebacker Scott Lewis, who had both of his team’s interceptions. “He did a good job. We saw on film that he struggles with turnovers, but if he can hold on to the ball, he’s a quality quarterback.”

Maybe the Huskies were watching game video from last season, when Moore had 19 interceptions. He has had only four in six games this season, and he was as accurate as he has ever been against the Huskies Saturday.

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