Oregon St. 52, Washington St. 17

11/17/2007 9:47 PM

By JOHN K. WILEY
Associated Press Writer

PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) -Yvenson Bernard ran for two touchdowns and Oregon State came up with seven interceptions in a 52-17 rout of Washington State on Saturday.

Lyle Moevao, James Rodgers, Clinton Polk and Matt Sieverson also ran for scores as the Beavers (7-4, 5-3 Pac-10) assured themselves of a bowl game.

The Beavers came into the game with the best run defense in the nation at 62.1 yards per game. Washington State (4-7, 2-6) tried to let quarterback Alex Brink carry the offense, but he was intercepted six times, five in the first half. Backup Gary Rogers also threw an interception.

The Beavers came one interception short of a school record.

Making the best of his second career start, Moevao completed 15 of 28 for 202 yards, and threw for another TD. The Beavers had 431 yards of total offense.

Bernard, who has been dealing with injuries, carried 17 times for 74 yards, but sat out the second half as a precaution after what OSU said was a minor injury to his right knee.

Kevin McCall had scoring runs of 19 and 1 yards for the Cougars' only touchdowns.

The Beavers rushed for 218 yards, including 121 in the first half when the Cougars were held to minus-4 yards on the ground.

Brink completed 21 of 45 for 314 yards. He was sacked once. WSU had 397 yards of total offense, but only 83 yards rushing on 30 carries.

The Beavers took a 31-3 halftime lead.

Oregon State took the opening kickoff and drove 76 yards to take a 7-0 lead on Moevao's 1-yard touchdown run.

After the Beavers' Daniel Drayton recovered a fumble by WSU's Chris Ivory, Bernard scampered 18 yards to make it 14-0.

OSU's Joey LaRocque picked off Brink's pass and returned it to the WSU 30. Rodgers ran 8 yards to score, putting the Beavers up 21-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Derrick Doggett had two interceptions, while Jeff Van Orsow and Gerard Lawson also picked off Brink.

Washington State took just two plays and 16 seconds to get its first touchdown; a 61-yard pass from Brink to Jeshua Anderson and a 19-yard scoring run by McCall to make it 31-10 late in the third quarter.

Oregon State responded with a 54 yard drive of three plays, capped by Matt Sieverson's 7-yard scoring run to put the Beavers up 38-10.

After a 67 yard pass play from Brink to Brandon Gibson, the apparent TD was overturned on review. McCall scored on a 1 yard run the next play.

Two plays later, Polk zigzagged 56 yards to make it 45-17.

After Doggett's second pick of Brink, Moevao hit Howard Croom with a 3-yard scoring strike to make it 52-17.

The loss eliminated Washington State from bowl contention and ensured a losing record this season. The Cougars play Washington in the Apple Cup in Seattle next week.

With seven wins, the Beavers are assured of a bid to one of six bowls guaranteed to Pac-10 teams.

The victory in Pullman was only the second for the Beavers in 11 tries since 1984.

The Beavers' Brandon Hughes, Bryan Payton and James Dockery sat out the first half after being ejected from the Washington game for fighting, but their absence was little noticed.