Epic rally gives OSU 39-38 Sun Bowl victory

'Our guys never quit," says Riley; Moore finishes his OSU career with game MVP honors

By Kerry Eggers

LocalNewsDaily.com, Dec 29, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (12 Reader comments)

Oregon State quarterback Matt Moore launches a pass as tailback Yvenson Bernard sets up to block in the Beavers' come-from-behind, 39-38 Sun Bowl victory Friday over Missouri.

BRIAN KANOF

EL PASO, Texas – It had to end this way, didn't it?

Oregon State in a tough situation – hopeless, really – but bouncing off the ropes, digging deep, fighting, battling, and in the end, winning.

The 24th-ranked Beavers showed that kind of mettle often in the latter stages of an unforgettable season. So maybe their 39-38 Sun Bowl victory over Missouri Friday wasn't that much of a stunner.

It was a comeback for the ages by a team that, over the last three months, stockpiled memorable wins like Beyonce rolling up platinum.

Southern Cal. Oregon. Hawaii. And now Missouri in a bowl game appearance that could only have been dreamed of three months ago when the Beavers were 2-3.

It was a fitting finale for Matt Moore, the once-maligned quarterback who led Oregon State to eight wins in its final nine games. Moore was named the Sun Bowl Most Valuable Player after completing 31 of 54 passes for 356 yards and a Sun Bowl-record four touchdowns.

And when it was over – after the Beavers (10-4) had rallied from a 38-24 fourth-quarter deficit with a pair of touchdowns in the final six minutes, then rolled the dice and hit paydirt on a two-point conversion with 23 seconds to go – nobody watching the nationally televised game should have been all that surprised.

"Probably a lot of people turned the channel," Oregon State coach Mike Riley observed with a smile. "They forgot they were watching the Beavers."

Even Beaver Nation must have felt wan, though, after Oregon State failed on fourth-and-three from the Missouri 48 and turned the ball over to the Tigers, trailing by 14 points with 10:17 remaining. Many among the sun-splashed crowd of 48,732 began to head for the exits. Those who left missed something spectacular.

The Oregon State defense held, and the Beavers covered 76 yards quickly, scoring on a seven-yard pass play from Moore to workhorse tailback Yvenson Bernard. Suddenly, with 6:02 remaining, Missouri's advantage was only 38-31.

Missouri drove to the Oregon State 45, stalled and punted to the OSU seven. Sammie Stroughter fielded the punt, sidestepped a couple of tacklers and raced 39 yards to the Beavers' 46.

"That return was huge," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel lamented.

With 1:23 on the clock, the Beavers moved methodically downfield, scoring on Moore's 14-yard pass across the middle to Joe Newton – the senior tight end's second TD catch of the day – with 23 seconds remaining.

That made it 38-37, and Alexis Serna – the 2005 Lou Groza Award-winner – was sent out to kick the game-tying extra point with 23 seconds. Surely, overtime loomed.

But Pinkel asked for a review of Newton's catch, and during the timeout, Riley reversed field and decided to go for two points and the win.

The call was "blast," a dive with Bernard running over left guard. The junior tailback bulled his way behind blockers Adam Speer, Kyle DeVan and a pulling Roy Schuening into the end zone – albeit barely.

Incredibly, the scoreboard read Oregon State 39, Missouri 38.

Moments later, after the Tigers tried three plays but ran out of time, a storybook season was over for the Beavers.

"How many of those finishes have we had this year?" said OSU middle linebacker Alan Darlin, out of breath and almost out of voice afterward. "It puts an exclamation mark on the identity of this team."

Riley had little trouble drumming up emotion as he met with the media afterward. His pride beamed through.

"This is another example of of our players' heart, their character, their determination," Riley said. "Missouri played a great game. We had a hard time slowing down their offense, and (the Tigers) played a ton of great defense. But our guys never quit. It's just a special group."

It was a fitting end to a storybook season for the Beavers (10-4), who made an opportunity to become the second team in school history to register a 10-win season their collective goal.

"The 10th win means so much to everybody," said Bernard, who carried 23 times for 97 yards and caught eight passes for 69 yards and a TD. "I'm so glad we got it."

Underdog Missouri (8-5) was no foil. Behind versatile sophomore QB Daniel and tailback Tony Temple, the Tigers rolled up 561 yards total offense. Five times, they converted third-and-long in key situations of the game.

"Our worst deal was getting them into third-and-long," Riley said, wryly. "We should have kept it to like third-and-four instead of third-and-14.

"They gave us some problems, got us off balance at times. We knew they were going to move the ball, get some yardage, but we told our guys before the game, 'It's not about how many yards they get. It'll only be about the scoreboard at the end.'

"We got the great stop at the end to give us a final chance. Our defense gave up some plays but never lost heart."

Temple, who came into the game with only 869 yards in 12 games, looked like LaDainian Tomlinson Jr. The 5-9, 200-pound junior carried 20 times for 194 yards and two TDs, the second-greatest rushing performance in the Sun Bowl's 73-year history.

Daniel completed 16 of 29 passes for 330 yards and two scores and beat the Beavers deep on several occasions. But the men in orange had the last word.

"Coach Riley has been preaching all year to finish, to never give up," Moore said. "Credit the guys for not getting a bad attitude when we got behind, not frowning on the situation, and staying in there and playing."

The game came down to the two-point conversion decision that wouldn't have happened had not Pinkel prodded officials into a review of Newton's TD catch.

"We thought he bobbled it," Pinkel said. "It was worth the try."

Or not.

"We were just going to kick the extra point," Riley said. "With that time (during the review), we got to explore a little bit. The first guy who looked me right in the eye and said, 'Let's go for it. Run the blast play,' was Yvenson Bernard. He had a lot of encouragement from the offensive line.

"I loved the feel of that. One of our deals over the last couple of days was, like in a card game at the end, we were all in for this one. We put all our chips on the table. And these guys made it happen."

Heroes were plentiful on the Oregon State side. Moore and Bernard, for two. Stroughter, who caught eight passes for 87 yards and a TD and returned three punts for 54 yards. Newton, shining with six catches for 74 yards and two scores in his swan song as a Beaver.

Oregon State piled up 30 first downs and 457 yards total offense against a Missouri team that sent plenty of people at Moore, sacking him three times and hurrying him on countless other occasions.

"I haven't been hit that hard in a long time," the senior QB said. "They gave us some looks that were confusing to me, took some stuff away from us, disguised coverages fairly well. Their front four caused some problems for us with the pass rush."

But Moore conquered. And he said he wasn't bothered at all when the Beavers took the ball at their 46 with the game on the line.

"We only had 56 seconds against Oregon, and we got it done (with Serna's game-winning field goal," Moore said. "I knew with two minutes left we'd be all right."

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