EUGENE, Ore. — LaMichael James ran for 166 yards and three touchdowns Thursday night to send No. 7 Oregon to the Rose Bowl with a 37-33 victory over No. 13 Oregon State in the Civil War.
Oregon (10-2, 8-1) also claimed the Pac-10 championship with the win, ending USC’s seven-season hold on the title. The Ducks, who have not been to the Rose Bowl since 1995, will face Ohio State in Pasadena on New Year’s Day.
LeGarrette Blount, who hadn’t played since throwing a punch after Oregon’s season-opening loss to Boise State, returned to the field and scored on a 12-yard run in the third quarter. Afterward, fans thrust roses into his hands.
“This means everything to me,” Blount said. “I’m kind of at a loss for words.”
Oregon State (8-4, 6-3) was vying for its first Rose Bowl berth since the 1964 season. The Beavers will have to wait until the rest of the Pac-10 wraps up the season to find out which bowl they will play in. It was the first time the annual rivalry game was a winner-takes-all path to Pasadena.
Jeremiah Masoli threw for 201 yards and a touchdown for the Ducks, who capped a stunning turnaround from their 19-8 crash in the season opener against the Broncos.
“I think our team has always been capable of this greatness,” Masoli said.
Sean Canfield threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns for the Beavers. Jacquizz Rodgers, the Pac-10’s second-leading rusher behind Stanford’s Toby Gerhart with an average of 119.4 yards a game, ran for just 64 yards and a score.
Oregon State had a chance to take the lead late in the fourth, but Canfield threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-15 from the Oregon 28. Masoli took over with more than six minutes left and ran out the clock with an impressive drive that featured two fourth-down conversions. He absorbed a hit during a 6-yard scramble on fourth-and-3, and he pitched to Kenjon Barner for a 4-yard gain on fourth-and-2 that allowed the Ducks to finish it off.
