Corvallis, OR (Sports Network) – Jacquizz Rodgers ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns as he helped lead the Oregon State Beavers to a 31-28 win over the Arizona State Sun Devils in Pac-10 Conference action at Reser Stadium.
Rodgers carried the ball 24 times for the Beavers (2-2, 1-0 Pac-10) as they won for the second time in the last three outings. Ryan Katz hit on 19-of-29 passes for 260 yards and two more touchdowns for OSU in the home victory.
The Sun Devils (2-3, 0-2) managed to close the gap in the second half, but quarterback Steven Threet had his issues throughout the contest as he converted 14-of-29 for 203 yards and a touchdown. However, Threet was also sacked six times and saw three of his pass attempts picked off. Deantre Lewis gained 104 yards and scored once on 20 carries.
The opening drive of the game resulted in a 39-yard TD pass from Threet to Gerell Robinson at the 12:41 mark of the first quarter, but from there the Beavers tallied three straight scores to take control.
Justin Kahut’s 27-yard field goal, followed by a four-yard TD run by Jacquizz Rodgers and a 27-yard scoring pass from Katz to Aaron Nichols gave the home team a 17-7 advantage three minutes into the second quarter.
Lewis capped off a nine-play, 69-yard drive for the Sun Devils when he crossed the goal line on a four-yard effort, cutting the deficit to 17-14, but with just 20 seconds remaining in the first half Katz combined with Joe Halahuni on a 19-yard TD play to push OSU back out to a 24-14 lead at the break.
Arizona State kicker Thomas Weber made good on field goal attempts of 45 and 25 yards in the second half to draw the Sun Devils to within four points at 24-20.
After the second successful conversion by Weber, Jacquizz Rodgers stepped in for the Beavers and raced 74 yards to the end zone on the first play from scrimmage for OSU, a scramble that turned out to be the game-winning score for the hosts.
A 21-yard touchdown run by ASU’s Cameron Marshall with less than three minutes to play in the contest, plus a successful two-point conversion between Threet and Marshall made the score 31-28, but that was as close as the visitors would come.
Arizona State ran a total of 80 plays, 20 more than the Beavers, yet it was OSU that generated 416 yards of offense compared to only 364 for the Sun Devils.