Oregon St. 21, Maryland 14

12/29/2007 12:18 AM

By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -Yvenson Bernard figured the only defense that could have stopped him in the Emerald Bowl was wearing the same uniform as he was.

Bernard rushed for 177 yards and a touchdown in his final college game, and Oregon State stopped Maryland's running game cold to emerge from a rainy baseball stadium with a 21-14 victory Friday night.

After carrying the ball 38 times and jumping four spots to sixth place on the Pac-10's career rushing yardage list, Bernard felt he had carved out a perfect ending to the Florida native's four-year stint in rural Oregon - with plenty of help from his stalwart defense, of course.

``I always said I wouldn't want to run against our defense, and you just saw why,'' Bernard said. ``I don't really worry about the records and all that. I just wanted to leave this program with a win, and I think we all did a great job, offensively and defensively.''

Bernard teamed up with freshman James Rodgers, who rushed for a career-best 115 yards, caught an early TD pass and recovered Bernard's fumble for the second half's only score. With one defensive stand after another, the Beavers (9-4) extended the Pac-10's longest bowl winning streak to four and snapped Ralph Friedgen's three-game postseason winning streak at Maryland.

``That kid does it all,'' Bernard said of Rodgers. ``He's definitely a threat, and you see what he causes on the offensive side. I can't imagine being a defense going against our offense.''

Chris Turner passed for 205 yards and hit Isaiah Williams and Darrius Heyward-Bey with first-quarter TD passes, but the Terrapins (6-7) stalled in the second half of their fifth loss in seven games.

The Beavers' vaunted rushing defense - ranked second in the nation - was just as good as Maryland feared, holding the Terrapins to 2 yards on the ground in the first three quarters. Maryland ended up with 19 yards on the ground.

``We didn't get much done after the first quarter,'' Friedgen said. ``When you can never mount any type of running game at all, then you become one-dimensional, and it's easier to defend you. ... I don't think we played as well as we can play. There's still a consistency thing happening.''

Oregon State finished with seven victories in its last eight games by surviving the unique challenges of the Emerald Bowl, where both teams stand on the same sideline at the San Francisco Giants' waterfront ballpark.

The unorthodox setup got even tougher when officials turned off the malfunctioning play clock in the third quarter. A light rain pelted the largely orange-clad crowd of 32,517 in the second half, with even Terrapins mascot Testudo donning a rain poncho over his shell.

Sean Canfield returned from a three-game injury absence to pass for 68 yards in relief of Lyle Moevao, who sprained his left ankle early in the second quarter. Canfield mostly did what Oregon State does best: Hand off to Bernard and Rodgers.

Though the Beavers dominated much of the play, they only went ahead when Bernard's fumble at the goal line was recovered by Rodgers, who stretched out for a TD with 10 seconds left in the third quarter.

``I'm really proud of our football team for fighting through a strange game in a lot of ways,'' coach Mike Riley said. ``I thought the defense got stronger and stronger as the game went on. ... Offensively, I couldn't describe what the formula is - just getting the ball to Yvenson Bernard and James Rodgers as much as possible.''

Bernard leapfrogged Arizona's Trung Canidate, UCLA's Gaston Green and USC stars Anthony Davis and Ricky Bell on the conference's career rushing chart with his workhorse performance.

With three final quarters of dismal offensive play, Maryland finished with a losing record for the third time in the last four seasons under Friedgen, who hadn't lost a bowl game since the Orange Bowl defeat six years ago after winning the Terps' last ACC title.

``We started off fast, and for whatever reason, we slowed down after that,'' Turner said. ``They made some adjustments and changed some matchups, and they were physical late. ... We've just got to get on the same page. We've got to rebuild the chemistry. For whatever reason, it wasn't there after the first quarter, and it cost us.''

Maryland opened the game with an impressive 11-play, 80-yard scoring drive capped by Williams' 9-yard TD catch. Turner went 6-of-7 on the drive, with Williams dropping his only incompletion.

After Canfield threw a TD pass to Rodgers, Turner hit Heyward-Bey in stride for a 63-yard TD pass down the sideline later in the first quarter, the second-longest scoring play in Maryland bowl history. But Turner also threw two interceptions in the second quarter, and Bernard tied it at 14 with a 2-yard TD run 16 seconds before halftime.