Arizona State pulls away in second half for easy win

By Cliff Kirkpatrick
Corvallis Gazette-Times

CORVALLIS — There were several areas of improvement, but the Oregon State football team ran into another hot team moving up the rankings.

No. 18 Arizona State had too much offense for the Beavers, exploiting their defensive problems. That forced OSU to play catchup throughout the night.

The Sun Devils defeated the Beavers 42-24 Saturday night before a crowd of 41,374 in Reser Stadium. It was the Pacific-10 Conference opener for both teams.

That was the second straight win by Arizona State (3-1, 1-0) over the Beavers (2-2, 0-1), and extended its lead in the series to 23-8-1.

After falling behind on the first drive by the Sun Devils, OSU's offense couldn't keep up and turned the ball over six times. That put the defensive players in a tough position, and they where worn out by the second half.

For all their standout plays to stop the Sun Devils, ASU was persistent and kept putting points on the board.

The Beavers, however, found a running game and controlled the clock. They ran nearly 30 more plays than ASU. That continues a trend of OSU leading the conference in time of possession.

Yvenson Bernard gained more than 100 yards for the first time in his career and scored a touchdown. The sophomore ran outside and between the tackles for 134 yards on 28 carries.

It was the first time a ball carrier accomplished that this season.

The offensive line created holes throughout the game.

Bernard's success started early, but OSU went to the pass in the middle of the game to catch up.

When the Sun Devils were in firm control of the game by late in the third quarter, OSU went back to the running game and Bernard broke off big chunks of yards.

ASU concentrated on stopping senior split end Mike Hass, but he still gained more the 100 yards receiving for the eighth straight game.

Moore passed for more than 300 yards and ran for a 1-yard touchdown. He was pressured much of the night, and forced a few throws. There were three interceptions, but one was tipped in the end zone.

He led the Beavers to more than 500 yards of offense.

When the offense stalled, the defense couldn't contain ASU's high-octane offense. Quarterback Sam Keller threw for more than 400 yards, and preseason All-American wide receiver Derek Hagan had more than 200 receiving yards.

ASU went after tough-luck cornerback Gerard Lawson right away, lining Hagan in front of the sophomore most of the night. Hagan was 2-for-3 on deep passes against Lawson and Keenan Lewis.

Lewis broke up several passes in the first half, but appeared to pull up limping late in the second quarter. He was replaced by Brandon Hughes and didn't return.

OSU didn't improve its pass rush much this week. There was no pressure early, but Keller was uncomfortable in the second half, being sacked and harassed by Sir Henry Anderson.

The Sun Devils scored on their first possession on a 49-yard touchdown pass by Keller to Randy Burgess.

They took advantage of a rare zone defense by the Beavers.

OSU is known for aggressive man-to-man coverage by the secondary, but there have been some problems with the young cornerbacks giving up the big play in the past two games.

Burgess streaked out of the backfield by middle linebacker Trent Bray. The defensive back went to the outside and left the middle open.

Burgess scored another touchdown with 3:53 left in the first half on a 1-yard run. He fumbled on the goal line but the replay official couldn't find conclusive evidence to overturn the call.

The 67-yard drive started off a Moore interception by Jamar Williams. That was ASU's seventh rushing touchdown of season, surpassing last year's total of six.

The Beavers lost an opportunity score in the first half when place-kicker Alexis Serna missed a 47-yard field goal at 12:53 in the second quarter. That was well within his range, he just missed on the trajectory.

Serna came back to hit a 22-yarder with 0:20 left in the first half. It came off a seven-play 67-yard drive.