Oct. 28, 2000

Final Statistics

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Ken Simonton carried Oregon State again, and the Beavers stayed among a shrinking pack of teams still alive for the Rose Bowl.

Simonton ran for 169 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the first player in Pac-10 history to run for at least 1,000 yards in his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons, as the No. 18 Beavers overpowered Washington State 38-9 on Saturday night.

"He just amazes you every time he goes out there and plays," Oregon State coach Dennis Erickson said. "He's a great back, one of the best in football right now."

With Arizona's loss to UCLA, the Beavers (7-1, 4-1 Pac-10) are tied with Washington for second place behind unbeaten Oregon, but the Huskies hold the tiebreaker over Oregon State.

The game featured the two most productive offenses in the Pac-10, but Washington State (3-5, 1-4) gained just 240 yards. Jason Gesser, the leading passer in the conference, was 11-of-29 for 104 yards and two interceptions under heavy pressure.

"It's called blocking and tackling. It's as simple as that," Cougars coach Mike Price fumed. "They came in and smacked us right in the face."

Oregon State won its eighth straight home game and is 7-1 for the first time since 1964, the last time the Beavers went to the Rose Bowl.

Simonton had 97 yards in the first quarter, and went past 1,000 for the season on his second carry. He went around the right side and beat the Cougars secondary to the corner, running for 53 yards. That set up a 22-yard field goal by Ryan Cesca to make it 3-0.

The run was the longest of Simonton's career, topping a 49-yarder against Stanford his freshman year.

"This is when it's fun," Simonton said. "It's where you want to be."

Simonton, who has 1,163 yards this season, began the year No. 42 on the Pac-10 career yardage list but has climbed into the top 10. In just 31 games, he has 3,677 yards, and Saturday night he moved past Washington State's Rueben Mayes, who had 3,519 yards from 1982-85. Simonton is 12 yards short of No. 9 Ricky Bell, who had 3,689 yards at Southern California from 1973-76.

"Kenny was great for us, it's really amazing to watch that guy go," quarterback Jonathan Smith said.

Only five other players have recorded three 1,000-yard seasons in the Pac-10: Washington's Napoleon Kaufman, Cal's Russell White, Stanford's Darrin Nelson, and USC's Charles White and Anthony Davis. Nelson and Simonton are the only players to accomplish the feat as freshmen.

Simonton's 2-yard run put Oregon State ahead 10-0, and Cesca made a pair of 32-yarders for a 16-0 lead with 7:34 to go in the second quarter.

Smith completed 13 of 28 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns to T.J. Houshmandzadeh. In the past four games, Smith has 1,135 yards, 11 TDs and two interceptions.

Cesca has made seven straight field goals and is 8-of-9 for the season. His one miss was a 46-yarder late in the Beavers' only loss, 33-30 at Washington.

Washington State gained just 43 yards on its first seven possessions, and didn't get a first down until there were 7:19 left in the second quarter. The Cougars' only scoring drive began when Billy Newman intercepted a pass by Smith and returned it to the Oregon State 42.

Washington State had first and goal at the 2, but settled for a 20-yard field goal by Anousith Wilaikul with 34 seconds left in the half to get within 16-3.

"We kept Gesser in the pocket, which a lot of people haven't done," Erickson said.

The Beavers ran off 22 straight points in a 7 1/2-minute span of the third, exploiting the Pac-10's worst defense. Simonton had a 5-yard touchdown, followed by a 2-point conversion run. Smith then hit Houshmandzadeh for scores of 17 and 23 yards to make it 38-3.

"We probably played as good in one quarter as we have all year," Erickson said.

The Cougars' lone touchdown came on a trick play, as Gesser threw a screen to Collin Henderson, who lobbed a 35-yard pass to wide-open Nakoa McElrath with 13:01 to play. Wilaikul missed the extra point.

By LANDON HALL
AP Sports Writer