Oregon State 39 – Missouri 38
Thrilling finishes were nothing new for the Oregon State football team, so it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise when the Beavers pushed into the end zone on a 2-point conversion run with 22.1 seconds left, and No. 24 OSU beat Missouri 39-38 in the Brut Sun Bowl on Dec. 29.
Yvenson Bernard completed the 2-point conversion run after Joe Newton caught a 14-yard touchdown pass as the Beaver racked up another last-minute victory.
The victory was the latest in a series of nail-biters for Oregon State, which won eight of its last nine games, including beating Hawaii and Oregon by a combined five points in the last two regular-season games. The Beavers’ biggest triumph of the regular season was a 33-31 stunner over then-No. 3 Southern California on Oct. 28.
Oregon State (10-4) trailed by 14 points with 12:08 to go before rallying for the Sun Bowl victory. Bernard’s 7-yard reception had cut the gap to seven with 6:02 to go.
Matt Moore threw four touchdown passes and ran for a fifth for Oregon State, which helped produce the second-highest scoring game in the Sun Bowl’s 73-year history. Moore was 5-for-7 for 55 yards on the winning drive, set up after Sammie Stroughter’s 38-yard punt return to the Oregon State 46.
Bernard’s conversion run came after Missouri called a timeout to freeze kicker Alexis Serna before the extra point. Instead, it gave the Beavers time to persuade coach Mike Riley to go for two, and the gamble paid off.
Moore was 31-for-54 for 356 yards and set a school record of 182 passes without an interception before getting picked off by Brandon Massey in the third quarter. Oregon State retained possession on the play after Massey was fumbled after intercepting the ball.
Bernard is now the third leading rusher in OSU history with 2,664 yards rushing. He sits in good company behind Ken Simonton and Steven Jackson.
Moore finished the season with 3,022 yards passing. This is only the fifth time an OSU quarterback has passed for more than 3,000 yards in a season.
