2008 Oregon State Beavers football team The 2008 Oregon State Beavers football team represents Oregon State University in the college football season of 2008 - 2009 . The team ' s head coach is Mike Riley . Home games were played at Reser Stadium in Corvallis , Oregon . Postseason . After two straight finishes in the top three of the Pacific - 10 Conference , Oregon State finished third place to make it three straight finishes in the top three . The Beavers defeated the Pittsburgh Panthers in the 2008 Sun Bowl , extending their streak of 9 - win seasons to three . Game notes . Stanford . Oregon State was almost able to come back late in the fourth quarter when Darrell Catchings caught the ball just outside the end zone , but it was knocked loose by Taylor Skaufel , resulting in a touchback and victory for the Cardinal . Penn State . Despite the off - field distractions , the Nittany Lions rolled to a 35 - 7 halftime lead en route to a 45 - 14 win in their first - ever meeting with the Beavers . Penn State ' s sophomore tailback Evan Royster ran for a career - high 141 yards on 17 carries and three touchdowns . Lion quarterback Daryll Clark ' s 276 total yards of offense ( 215 yards passing , 61 yards rushing ) helped Penn State total 454 yards of offense . Penn State linebackers Tyrell Sales and Navorro Bowman both recorded 10 tackles each , both career - highs and linebacker Josh Hull and safety Mark Rubin both made their first career interceptions . 108 , 159 were in attendance at Happy Valley for this first - ever meeting between the schools . Hawaii . Oregon State scored 45 unanswered points ien route to their first victory of the season . It was the second time in 3 years that Oregon State has defeated Hawai ' i . USC . The Beavers shocked the college football world as they upset the No . 1 Ranked USC Trojans at home on September 25 , 2008 . Oregon State is one of two Pac - 10 Conference school to have beaten USC twice during the Pete Carroll era . Freshman Jacquizz Rodgers ran for 186 yards and two touchdowns for OSU , USC quarterback Mark Sanchez passed for 227 yards , and Damian Williams caught 80 yards for the Trojans . Utah . After five games , the pattern for the 2008 Beavers has been the home team wins . The Beavers led 28 - 20 with about 2 minutes remaining in the fourth . They let Utah drive all the way down the field and score along with a 2 - point conversion to tie it up . The Beavers gave the ball right back to Utah and place kicker Louie Sakoda nailed a 37 - yard field goal as time expired . Sophomore kicker Justin Kahut of Oregon State missed an extra point in the early stages of the game which led Mike Riley to go for the two - point conversion after two of the Beaver ' s touchdowns . Both failed and it cost the Beavers the game . Washington State . During the Beavers blow out of the Cougars , they managed to set a school record for most points in a Pac - 10 game . " Quizz " had 168 yard day as the Cougars lost another quarterback . Washington State ' s quarterback problems , along with other difficulties would lead them to an 1 - 8 season . The Beavers on the other hand improved their record to 2 - 1 in the conference . Washington . The Beavers , led by the two Rodgers brothers , were able to fly by the winless Huskies in dramatic fashion . Jacquizz Rodgers had 93 yards , but the spotlight was on his older brother , James Rodgers who had over 200 yards returning kicks , running , and receiving . The Huskies would go on to lose the rest of their games , as they go winless in conference and non - conference . Arizona State . After a low - scoring half , the Beavers lead the Sun Devils 7 - 6 at halftime . Teams exchanged touchdowns and field goals in the third and fourth quarters . After Arizona State ' s last touchdown with 21 seconds remaining , Rudy Carpenter ' s pass on the two - point conversion was picked off by Victor Butler . The onside kick was also recovered by the Beavers as they held on to the win , and the undefeated home record . UCLA . After two field goals by either side in the first half , the teams headed into the locker room at the half in a 3 - 3 tie . In the second half , the Beavers blew open the game and ended up only giving up a second Bruin field goal in the second half . The Beavers blew out the Bruins 34 - 6 Oregon . Oregon gained 694 yards on 69 plays , a 10 . 1 yard per play average . The loss was a Civil War record for points allowed as well as yards allowed , and kept the Beavers from going to the Rose Bowl for the first time since the 1964 season . The loss to Oregon snapped a six game home winning streak by the Beavers and a two - game winning streak in the Civil War . The Beavers were knocked out of contention for the Rose Bowl , which matched up two of their previous opponents , USC and Penn State . The Beavers were demoted to the third position in the Pac 10 , and went on to win the Sun Bowl by 3 - 0 ( sic ) . Pittsburgh ( 2008 Sun Bowl ) . The Sun Bowl was played on December 31 , 2008 in El Paso , Texas . Victor Strong - Butler was named the game ' s MVP .