Ore. St. sends BCS into frenzy

The Beavers showed no fear in taking down top-ranked Southern California, 27-21, Thursday night.

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — It seemed a near certainty that loaded Southern California was headed for a national championship bid. Then the top-ranked Trojans were introduced to diminutive Oregon State running back Jacquizz Rodgers.

Rodgers, a 5-foot-7 freshman, played David to Goliath USC, leading the unheralded Beavers to a 27-21 upset Thursday night that suddenly redrew the landscape of college football this season.

Rodgers ran for 186 yards and two touchdowns and his older brother James caught a pair of TD passes from Lyle Moevao, as the Beavers (2-2, 1-1 Pacific-10 Conference) showed no fear in taking down a top-ranked team for first time in 41 years.

Jacquizz Rodgers, known as ’Quizz, was blissfully unaware of the significance of his play. His rushing yards were the most by a Trojan opponent since Vince Young ran for 200 for Texas in the BCS national championship game in 2006.

“It really hasn’t hit me yet,” he said after the game. “But later on tomorrow I’ll probably be really excited that we won.”

By losing, the Trojans (2-1, 0-1) effectively left open the top spot in the rankings, placing greater emphasis on today’s game between No. 2 Oklahoma (3-0) and No. 24 TCU (4-0), and the SEC showdown between No. 3 Georgia (4-0) and No. 8 Alabama (4-0).

But at least on Thursday night, the national spotlight fell on the 25-point underdog Oregon State.

Afterward, the field at Reser Stadium was stormed by orange-clad Beavers fans. Moevao jumped into the arms of coach Mike Riley. Safety Greg Laybourn, who had a key interception late in the game, was hoisted by fans.

Trojans quarterback Mark Sanchez stormed off the field in anger.

“It doesn’t taste very good right now,” he said.

USC had shown little vulnerability in victories at Virginia and then at home against then-No. 5 Ohio State. But uncharacteristic mistakes, notably tailback Joe McKnight’s fumble in the second quarter and Sanchez’s late interception, cost the Trojans against the Beavers.

With Oregon State ahead 21-14 and less than three minutes to play, Sanchez’s pass was picked off on the USC 30 by Laybourn, who ran the ball back to the 2.

Jacquizz Rodgers, who had been unfazed by the Trojans’ fearsome defense, ran the final 2 yards to make it 27-14.

Sanchez hit Patrick Turner with a 14-yard scoring pass with 1:19 left, but with no timeouts the clock ran out on the Trojans.