BEAVS WIN: Oregon State steamrolls Hawaii

AFTER AN UNEVEN start, Oregon State methodically wore down Hawaii on Saturday in Corvallis, racking up 200-plus rushing yards in a 45-7 victory. Jacquizz Rodgers went over the century mark and the Lyle Moevao-to-Shane Morales connection was clicking. And the OSU defense, in stretches, played the 11 hats flying to the football type of D the Beaver Nation has been looking for this season.

Now this, this was Mike Riley football.

The final statistics had yet to be made official but preliminary numbers showed the Beavers ran the ball 50 times on Saturday. And few stats were necessary to verify the dominance of the OSU defense.

It didn't start well for Oregon State, who saw Hawaii go 73 yards in six plays to take a 7-0 lead on their first possession. But they would not score again.

Oregon State ripped off 45 straight points, as Moevao threw for two first half touchdowns, finishing unofficially 20-of-34 for 268 yards and three touchdowns . Morales caught four of those passes for 77 yards and a touchdown in the first 30 minutes, finishing with 93 yards on five grabs.

Perhaps most telling on offense before the game was decided, however, the Beavers' improved third down conversion percentage -- they were 7 of 10 in the first half.

Defensively, after some early miscues on Hawaii's first drive, the Beavs applied pressure on the quarterback and disrupted the running game in ways they hadn't their first two games. The Beavs also had three picks on the afternoon while not turning the ball over once.

Strong safety Al Afalava was one of the early enforcers with hard hits and sure tackles, while Keenan Lewis and Brandon Hughes locked down the corners.

The much maligned Beaver front seven through the first two games were key in limiting Hawaii to 131 yards in the first half and 211 all told, with DE Slade Norris, linebackers Bryant Cornell and Keaton Kristick, and d-tackle Stephen Paea among the impact players.

The Beavs had only one sack in the first half -- logged by Keith Pankey -- but the defense had Hawaii QB Tyler Graunke on his heels and rushing throws. The Beavs logged two sacks and held Hawaii to a single third down conversion on the afternoon.

Jacquizz Rodgers was the workhorse on offense, eclipsing the 100-yard mark on 24 carries midway through the third quarter. Quizz was given an extended breather shortly thereafter with the game in hand, finishing with 26 carries for 110 yards and two touchdowns.

And his brother, James Rodgers was in on the touchdown highlight of the afternoon.

Moevao smartly stepped up away from pressure and delivered a strike on the run to Rodgers in the flat. The Beaver slotback made the first man miss, shrugged off what looked like a certain tackle and angled to the cone for a 56-yard score. He finished his receiving day with three catches for 76 yards.

The tight ends also got involved in the passing game in Week 3 -- John Reese had one of the key third down conversions on an 18-yard reception and Brady Camp had a 12-yard grab on fourth-and-four.

Sammie Stroughter had 42 receiving yards and a touchdown plus another 71 hashes on punt returns, while Ryan McCants came on in the second half to churn out 60 yards on 14 carries.

One of the few problem areas for the Beavers on Saturday was in the kicking game. Justin Kahut had a rough day and may have injured himself on the opening kickoff. He missed his first three field goal attempts and did not play in the second half, coming out after the break with an ice pack on his hip. Sean Sehnem connected on a 32-yard field goal and two PATs in his stead.

The Beavers have a bye this week, with 12 days to prepare for their Thursday night clash with USC in Corvallis on Sep. 25.

NOTABLE NOTE:
The Beavs now have hold a 25-game winning streak against non-conference opponents in Reser Stadium, going back to the 1996 season.