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Beavers savor the moment CORVALLIS � Forget the roses, a fiesta in the desert or whatever other eventuality awaits Oregon State�s Pac-10 championship football team. The Beavers went out and stuffed the Oregon Ducks, 23-13, Saturday afternoon before a raucous crowd at Reser Stadium. Even as news began trickling in from Pullman that Washington was bowling over Washington State, the Beavers were satisfied to let the chips fall where they may. After all, this is a program that has gone from among the worst in the country to legitimate Top-10 standing within the career-span of the senior class. It was a day when the Beavers robbed arch-rival Oregon of its first unbeaten tour of the Pac-10, its first 10-win season and, most importantly, a New Year�s Day appearance against Purdue in the Rose Bowl. "On the local TV station in Eugene, the talk was that Oregon goes up to Corvallis, gets its win and go to the Rose Bowl," said Oregon State senior tight end Marty Maurer. "I know one thing, they weren�t going to come up here, knock us around and go to the Rose Bowl. That�s not going to happen" And the Beavers were quick to make their point, even if they left the door open for an Oregon comeback well into the fourth quarter. The Ducks� Rose Bowl hopes deteriorated each time one of quarterback Joey Harrington�s passes were picked off like rose petals falling to the ground on a frozen November afternoon. By the time Sefa O�Reilly jarred the ball loose from Harrington at the OSU 15 and DeLawrence Grant scooped it up and returned it nine yards with 3:37 to play, the faintest scent of roses had dissolved. While their future briefly hung in the balance, the Beavers didn�t hurry to flip on TV sets. They merely enjoyed the moment and the fruits of their own 10-1 labor. "We dreamed like little kids dream," said tailback Ken Simonton, who rushed for 113 yards and a second-half touchdown that extended OSU�s lead to 23-7 with 7:07 left in the third quarter. "There were people dancing in the lockerroom, even coach (Dennis) Erickson was dancing," Maurer said. "It was crazy." Oregon State junior quarterback Jonathan Smith couldn�t have been happier as the clock ticked toward its final destination. As Oregon took its final timeout before the Beavers ran out the clock, Smith found Erickson and gave him a congratulatory hug. "I don�t think we genuinely believed we could go 10-1 at the beginning of the year," Smith said later in the Valley Center. "Then when we lost to Washington by three points and beat USC, we started believing." The Beavers, who hadn�t won six games in a season for 28 years before last year, now have won six straight in a season for the first time since 1966. They also end the regular season with a better conference record than Ducks for the first time since 1974. Even Erickson, who has won a pair of national championships at Miami, savored this as a special moment, regardless of OSU�s next stop. "When you go to 10-1 at a place that has never been 10-1 before, and the program was rock bottom three years ago, it doesn�t get much better. "I look back at us two years ago when I fist came in and to have this happen and to be 10-1 and have a chance to share the Pac-10 championship is an compliment to those football players that are sitting in the locker room and the assistant coaches that do all of the work." After taking the final snap, giving a couple quick interviews to sideline reporters, Smith eluded several thousand fans and handed the ball to OSU athletic director Mitch Barnhart. "I gave him the ball after we beat UCLA," Smith said. "I knew how important he was in the turn around. But I thought giving him the ball after the UCLA game was kind of weak compared to this and I told him that today." The Rose Bowl is out of reach, but another day in the spotlight, whether in San Diego, Tempe or elsewhere awaits the Beavers. They�ll certainly be paying attention to when the final Bowl Championship Series rankings come out Dec. 3. "I did as much as I possibly could and my team did as much as it possibly could today," Maurer said. "But Washington is going to the Rose Bowl, they beat us head-to-head when they had to. You�d always like a rematch, but I know there is no way we�re going to get one." And there�s no remorse. "It�s hard to realize how far this program has come," Smith said. "When I came here, we won three games my senior year. Now we�re on the mountain top, this is unbelievable. "You dream about going for a championship and the big games when you�re growing up watching (ABC announcer) Keith Jackson. I used to think about what I would do if I were in that game." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.