2008 Oregon State Beavers football team

The 2008 Oregon State Beavers football team represented Oregon State University as a member of the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by eighth-year head coach Mike Riley, the Beavers compiled an overall record of 9–4 with a mark of 7–2 in conference play, tying for second place in the Pac-10. Oregon State was invited to the Sun Bowl, where the Beavers defeated Pittsburgh. For the third straight season, Oregon won at least nine games and finished in the top three in the Pac-10 standings. The team played home games Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon.

2008 Oregon State Beavers football
Sun Bowl champion
Sun Bowl, W 3–0 vs. Pittsburgh
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 19
AP	No. 18
Record	9–4 (7–2 Pac-10)
Head coach	Mike Riley (8th season)
Offensive coordinator	Danny Langsdorf (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Mark Banker (6th season)
Captains	Victor Butler Brandon Hughes Andy Levitre Sammie Stroughter
Home stadium	Reser Stadium

2008 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 3 USC $		8	–	1					12	–	1
No. 10 Oregon		7	–	2					10	–	3
No. 18 Oregon State		7	–	2					9	–	4
California		6	–	3					9	–	4
Arizona		5	–	4					8	–	5
Arizona State		4	–	5					5	–	7
Stanford		4	–	5					5	–	7
UCLA		3	–	6					4	–	8
Washington State		1	–	8					2	–	11
Washington		0	–	9					0	–	12
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 28	6:00 pm	at Stanford		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	ESPN2	L 28–36	30,223
September 6	12:30 pm	at No. 19 Penn State*		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ABC/ESPN2	L 14–45	108,159
September 13	1:00 pm	Hawaii*		Reser Stadium Corvallis, OR	FSNNW	W 45–7	45,059
September 25	6:00 pm	No. 1 USC		Reser Stadium Corvallis, OR	ESPN	W 27–21	42,839
October 2	6:00 pm	at No. 15 Utah*		Rice–Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	Versus	L 28–31	45,599
October 11	3:30 pm	Washington State		Reser Stadium Corvallis, OR	FSNNW	W 66–13	45,289
October 18	4:00 pm	at Washington		Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	Versus	W 34–13	63,996
November 1	7:15 pm	Arizona State		Reser Stadium Corvallis, OR	FSN	W 27–25	44,109
November 8	3:00 pm	at UCLA		Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	FSNNW	W 34–6	83,478
November 15	12:30 pm	California	No. 23	Reser Stadium Corvallis, OR	ABC	W 34–21	45,969
November 22	4:00 pm	at Arizona	No. 21	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	Versus	W 19–17	48,503
November 29	4:00 pm	No. 19 Oregon	No. 17	Reser Stadium Corvallis, OR (Civil War)	Versus	L 38–65	46,319
December 31	11:00 am	vs. No. 18 Pittsburgh*	No. 24	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX (Sun Bowl)	CBS	W 3–0	49,037
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Game summaries

Stanford

	1	2	3	4	Total
Beavers	0	17	3	8	28
Cardinal	0	17	5	14	36

See also: 2008 Stanford Cardinal football team

Oregon State was almost able to come back late in the fourth quarter when Darrell Catchings caught the ball just outside the end zone, but it was knocked loose by Taylor Skaufel, resulting in a touchback and victory for the Cardinal.

Penn State

See also: 2008 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

Despite the off-field distractions, the Nittany Lions rolled to a 35-7 halftime lead en route to a 45-14 win in their first-ever meeting with the Beavers. Penn State's sophomore tailback Evan Royster ran for a career-high 141 yards on 17 carries and three touchdowns. Lion quarterback Daryll Clark's 276 total yards of offense (215 yards passing, 61 yards rushing) helped Penn State total 454 yards of offense.

Penn State linebackers Tyrell Sales and NaVorro Bowman both recorded 10 tackles each, both career-highs and linebacker Josh Hull and safety Mark Rubin both made their first career interceptions. 108,159 were in attendance at Happy Valley for this first-ever meeting between the schools.

	1	2	3	4	Total
Beavers	0	7	0	7	14
Nittany Lions	14	21	10	0	45

Hawaii

	1	2	3	4	Total
Warriors	7	0	0	0	7
Beavers	7	14	17	7	45

See also: 2008 Hawaii Warriors football team

Oregon State scored 45 unanswered points ien route to their first victory of the season. It was the second time in 3 years that Oregon State has defeated Hawai'i.

USC

	1	2	3	4	Total
Trojans	0	0	14	7	21
Beavers	7	14	0	6	27

See also: 2008 USC Trojans football team

The Beavers shocked the college football world as they upset the No. 1 Ranked USC Trojans at home on September 25, 2008. Oregon State is one of two Pac-10 Conference school to have beaten USC twice during the Pete Carroll era.

Freshman Jacquizz Rodgers ran for 186 yards and two touchdowns for OSU, USC quarterback Mark Sanchez passed for 227 yards, and Damian Williams caught 80 yards for the Trojans.

This was the last time an unranked team defeated a AP No. 1 team until 2021, where unranked Texas A&M upset AP No. 1 Alabama 41-38.

Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Beavers	3	12	6	7	28
Utes	3	17	0	11	31

See also: 2008 Utah Utes football team

After five games, the pattern for the 2008 Beavers has been the home team wins. The Beavers led 28-20 with about 2 minutes remaining in the fourth. They let Utah drive all the way down the field and score along with a 2-point conversion to tie it up. The Beavers gave the ball right back to Utah and place kicker Louie Sakoda nailed a 37-yard field goal as time expired. Sophomore kicker Justin Kahut of Oregon State missed an extra point in the early stages of the game which led Mike Riley to go for the two-point conversion after two of the Beaver's touchdowns. Both failed and it cost the Beavers the game.

Washington State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	0	13	0	0	13
Beavers	21	3	21	21	66

See also: 2008 Washington State Cougars football team

During the Beavers blow out of the Cougars, they managed to set a school record for most points in a Pac-10 game. "Quizz" had 168 yard day as the Cougars lost another quarterback. Washington State's quarterback problems, along with other difficulties would lead them to a 1-8 season. The Beavers on the other hand improved their record to 2-1 in the conference.

Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
Beavers	7	10	7	10	34
Huskies	3	3	0	7	13

See also: 2008 Washington Huskies football team

The Beavers, led by the two Rodgers brothers, were able to fly by the winless Huskies in dramatic fashion. Jacquizz Rodgers had 93 yards, but the spotlight was on his older brother, James Rodgers who had over 200 yards returning kicks, running, and receiving. The Huskies would go on to lose the rest of their games, as they go winless in conference and non-conference.

Arizona State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sun Devils	3	3	10	9	25
Beavers	7	0	10	10	27

See also: 2008 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

After a low-scoring half, the Beavers lead the Sun Devils 7-6 at halftime. Teams exchanged touchdowns and field goals in the third and fourth quarters. After Arizona State's last touchdown with 21 seconds remaining, Rudy Carpenter's pass on the two-point conversion was picked off by Victor Butler. The onside kick was also recovered by the Beavers as they held on to the win, and the undefeated home record.

UCLA

	1	2	3	4	Total
Beavers	3	0	14	17	34
Bruins	3	0	3	0	6

See also: 2008 UCLA Bruins football team

After two field goals by either side in the first half, the teams headed into the locker room at the half in a 3-3 tie. In the second half, the Beavers blew open the game and ended up only giving up a second Bruin field goal in the second half. The Beavers blew out the Bruins 34-6

California

See also: 2008 California Golden Bears football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Bears	7	7	7	0	21
Beavers	14	3	10	7	34

Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
Beavers	0	3	7	9	19
Wildcats	0	3	7	7	17

See also: 2008 Arizona Wildcats football team

Oregon

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ducks	17	20	7	21	65
Beavers	7	10	14	7	38

Main article: 2008 Oregon vs. Oregon State football game

See also: 2008 Oregon Ducks football team and Oregon–Oregon State football rivalry

Oregon gained 694 yards on 69 plays, a 10.1 yard per play average. The loss was a Civil War record for points allowed as well as yards allowed, and kept the Beavers from going to the Rose Bowl for the first time since the 1964 season. The loss to Oregon snapped a six-game home winning streak by the Beavers and a two-game winning streak in the Civil War. The Beavers were knocked out of contention for the Rose Bowl, which matched up two of their previous opponents, USC and Penn State. The Beavers finished in the third place in the Pac-10, and went on to win the Sun Bowl by 3-0.

Pittsburgh (2008 Sun Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Beavers	0	3	0	0	3
Panthers	0	0	0	0	0

Main article: 2008 Sun Bowl

See also: 2008 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

The Sun Bowl was played on December 31, 2008 in El Paso, Texas. Victor Strong-Butler was named the game's MVP.

Rankings

See also: 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	23	21	17	25	19
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	25	21	17	24	18
Harris	Not released				—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	21	17	25	Not released
BCS	Not released							—	—	—	—	—	21	17	—	Not released

Roster

2008 Oregon State Beavers football roster

Wide receivers  2 Chris Johnson – Senior 7 Kyle Brown – Sophomore 8 James Rodgers – Sophomore 13 Shane Morales – Senior 15 Darrell Catchings – Sophomore 18 Geno Munoz – Freshman 19 Sammie Stroughter – Senior 20 Keynan Parker – Freshman 23 Jordan Bishop – Freshman 25 Casey Kjos – Sophomore 46 Aaron Nichols – Sophomore 80 Damola Adeniji – Junior 84 Taylor Kavanaugh – Junior 89 Shawn McGarity – Sophomore Centers  65 Marcus Henderson – Senior Tight ends  81 Gabe Miller – Sophomore 82 Colby Prince – Freshman 83 Brady Camp – Sophomore 85 John Reese – Junior 87 Joe Halahuni – Freshman 88 Howard Croom – Junior

Statistics

Team

Team Opp Scoring 394 300   Points per game 33 25 First Downs 265 196   Rushing       Passing       Penalty     Total offense 5016 3840   Avg per play       Avg per game 418 320 Fumbles lost     Penalties – yards 80-690 91-839   Avg per game 7-58 8-70

Team Opp Punts – yards 50-1905 67-2864   Avg per punt 38.1 42.7 Time of possession 383:16 336:41   Time of possession/game 33:21 28:04 3rd down conversions 69-166 (42%) 50-160 (31%) 4th down conversions 9-15 (60%) 7-13 (54%) Touchdowns scored     Field goals – attempts – long 16-24-47   PAT – attempts 44-47   Attendance at Home 269,584 379,958   Games at Home/Avg per game 6 / 44,930 6 / 63,326

Scores by quarter

1 2 3 4 Total Oregon State 76 93 109 116 394 Opponents 57 104 63 76 300

Offense

Rushing

Name	GP-GS	Att	Yds	Long	Fum	Fum Lost	TD	Avg/Carry	Avg/game
Jacquizz Rodgers	11-11	259	1253	33	0	0	11	4.8	113.9
Ryan McCants	10-1	79	314	35	0	0	2	4	31.4
James Rodgers	12-12	46	408	55	0	0	5	8.9	34
Jeremy Francis	6-0	20	89	21	0	0	1	4.5	14.8
Sammie Stroughter	12-12	5	33	7	0	0	0	6.6	2.8
Johnny Hekker	12-12	1	-9	-9	0	0	0	-9	-0.8
Lyle Moevao	10-10	30	-82	16	0	0	2	-4	-8.6
Darrell Catchings	4-0	1	7	7	0	0	0	7	1.8
Chris Johnson	3-0	3	2	3	0	0	0	0.7	0.7
Sean Canfield	4-2	6	-28	2	0	0	0	-4.7	-7
TEAM		457	1975	55	0	0	21	4.3	165.4
Total		457	1975	55	0	0	21	4.3	165.4
Opponents

Passing

Name	GP-GS	Effic	Att-Cmp-Int	Pct	Yds	TD	Lng	Avg/G
Lyle Moevao
Justin Engstrom
TEAM
Total
Opponents

Receiving

Name	GP-GS	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long	Avg/G
Shane Morales
Sammie Stroughter
James Rodgers
Jacquizz Rodgers
Darrell Catchings
John Reese
Chris Johnson
Brady Camp
Casey Kjos
Ryan McCants
Total
Opponents

Defense

Name	GP	Tackles				Sacks	Pass defense		Interceptions				Fumbles		Blkd kick
		Solo	Ast	Total	TFL-yds	No-yds	BrUp	QBH	No.-yds	Avg	TD	Long	Rcv-yds	FF
Total

Special teams

Name	Punting								Kickoffs
	No.	Yds	Avg	Long	TB	FC	I20	Blkd	No.	Yds	Avg	TB	OB
Total

Name	Punt returns					Kick returns
	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long
Total