Pac-10 Notebook | Oregon State proved USC is not the monster of conference

Around the nation this week, thousands of high school and college football coaches will gather their teams for a few final words and try to convince them to ignore the long odds against beating a superior team.

Free of charge, here's a suggested closing line: "Just go pitch a perfect game."

Essentially, that's what Oregon State did last week to USC, yanking the tablecloth that lined all the neat assumptions about the Trojans' invincibility, even challenging the idea that nobody in 2008's watered-down Pac-10 can bother USC on its way to a conference championship.

The Beavers gave hope to everybody, not only in the league, but to every team that faces hopelessness. As if scripted, it was on Thursday-night TV, so as not to dilute the message: Do enough things right, play within yourselves, don't beat yourselves, and it can happen.

"I thought they played just about a perfect game, on offense and defense," said Oregon coach Mike Bellotti Tuesday on the Pac-10's weekly conference call.

He listed the ways: The Beavers blocked, they ran Jacquizz Rodgers straight ahead ("It was unbelievable how he got through some of those holes"), they minimized USC's quickness by throwing a lot of short-drop passes, and they blanketed well enough in the secondary to flush Trojans quarterback Mark Sanchez from the pocket as he abandoned first options.

"They used the time well," Bellotti added. As USC coach Pete Carroll lamented, "It all kind of fed together."

OSU had a 73-51 edge in plays. It committed only five penalties for 27 yards. If I were Carroll, I don't know if I'd be more concerned about the run defense or an offense that wheezed against a team that replaced its starting front seven this year.

Two thoughts on the fallout from this game: Good luck to the rest of the league tackling Rodgers the next four years. Already, he leads the Pac-10 with 112.2 yards rushing per game, a staple that should do wonders for the consistency of OSU's offense.

Meanwhile, it's presumptuous to think USC just gets off the canvas and demolishes the rest of its Pac-10 schedule, even in a down season for the league. Its 52-7 win at Virginia means next to nothing — Duke just beat Virginia by four touchdowns — and Ohio State is still finding itself.

A clearer read on both Oregon State and USC comes this week. OSU visits BCS-hopeful Utah, having frequently struggled on the road in nonleague games, and the Trojans host Oregon.

Asked if USC would be angry, Carroll responded, "I don't know if it's angry, but they're going to be ready."

Bruins brain-lock

It was one thing when UCLA's marketing department challenged USC earlier with the newspaper advertisement declaring the Trojans' football monopoly to be "over." The Bruins (1-3) went to BYU and lost 59-0.

Last week, before Fresno State's trip to the Rose Bowl, the marketers struck again, running a quarter-page ad in The Fresno Bee, beckoning fans in that area to attend "So You Can Say I Was There."

For the benefit of adding maybe a thousand fans to the gate — generously — is it really worth the negativism recruiters might spread over a school asking the opposition to help fill its stadium?

Hurtin' for certain

In what might be the most injury-fraught year in history in the league, USC linebacker Rey Maualuga is "day-to-day" after a knee sprain, Carroll said. Safety Taylor Mays, who coughed up blood after a hit to the chest, is ready again.

California running back Jahvid Best will miss a game or two with a dislocated elbow. Arizona State's Keegan Herring, recovering from a hamstring problem, is iffy for Cal. And Stanford is monitoring running back Toby Gerhart's concussion, hoping he can play at Notre Dame.

The end zone

• Judges are socking Cal's infamous tree-sitters with fines and legal fees that could total more than $10,000 per sitter, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. One of the sitters' attorneys called it "really vindictive" of Cal to press the issue, but the school says it spent $800,000 on police and other security measures during the 22 months of protests.

• Maurice Simmons, a Compton, Calif., linebacker who had committed to USC, was sentenced to four years in prison for his part in an armed robbery. He's the brother of former WSU and USC linebacker Melvin "Champ" Simmons.

• Don't sleep on OSU as a Pac-10 title threat. In October, the Beavers play only WSU and Washington in the league, and then get Arizona State, Cal and Oregon at home.

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com