Close game turns into a rout for Beavs

REDSHIRT FRESHMAN QB Sean Mannion threw for 252 yards and a touchdown for Oregon State (2-7, 2-4), but it wasn't enough, as OSU is now guaranteed a losing season with the 38-13 defeat at the hands of Stanford.

Stanford had 507 yards in total offense, while Oregon State had 285. With five and a half minutes to go in the third quarter, it was a tight game. And then Stanford left OSU in the dust.

The Beavers were short-handed on offense because of injuries, missing slotback Jordan Bishop, tailback Jovan Stevenson and two offensive line starters, Grant Johnson and Burke Ellis.

Andrew Luck shook off the rain and the chill to throw for 206 yards and three touchdowns in No. 4 Stanford's win.

The victory was costly for the Cardinal, who lost senior receiver Chris Owusu to a concussion in the second quarter after a helmet-to-helmet collision with Beavers cornerback Jordan Poyer. Owusu was taken from the field by ambulance.

Stanford (9-0, 7-0 Pac-12) extended the nation's longest winning streak to 17 games. The Cardinal have not opened 9-0 since 1952.

Stanford was coming off a thrilling triple-overtime 56-48 victory over Southern California. Next week, the Cardinal host No. 6 Oregon in a game that could decide the Pac-12 North's representative in the league's inaugural championship game.

Luck completed 20 of 30 passes with one interception. He upped his touchdown pass total to 26, six shy of his own school record set last year, by spreading it around and connecting for scores with Coby Fleener, Stepfan Taylor and Griff Whalen.

Saturday's victory was the Heisman Trophy candidate's first in the state of Oregon.

The Cardinal opened with a 2-yard touchdown run by Jeremy Stewart before Luck found Whalen with a 17-yard scoring pass to make it 14-0.

Oregon State was efficient on the drive that ended with Mannion's 15-yard TD pass to James Rodgers midway through the second quarter.

On Stanford's ensuing drive, Poyer collided helmet-to-helmet with Owusu, though the officials called it a hit above the shoulders. As he was loaded into the ambulance, the receiver gave a thumbs up. Poyer was charged with a personal foul for the hit.

Erik Whitaker added a 31-yard field goal for Stanford before halftime to make it 17-7.

The Beavers narrowed it early in the second half on true freshman Malcolm Agnew's 2-yard scoring dive, but Stanford went up 23-13 on Luck's 27-yard touchdown pass to Taylor.

Before the third quarter was over, Luck found Fleener with a 14-yard pass. Tyler Gaffney ran 10 yards for Stanford's final score. Overall the Cardinal rushed for 300 yards, compared to just 33 rushing yards for the Beavers.

Stanford said Owusu was conscious and had full range of mobility in his extremities. He was taken to the hospital for X-rays.

Last week in the 56-48 victory over the Trojans, safety T.J. McDonald leveled Owusu with a hit to the head, drawing a personal foul penalty late in regulation. The Pac-12 suspended McDonald for the first half of Friday's night game at Colorado for the late hit.

Tests after the game did not show a concussion, but Owusu did strain his shoulder.

Owusu also suffered what Stanford coach David Shaw described as a "minor concussion" in a win at Washington State in mid-October.

Going into the game, the senior receiver had 33 catches for 370 yards and two touchdowns this season. He had a 33-yard run against the Beavers in the first quarter.