The Barometer Online

Issue date: 10/17/06 Section: Sports

Media Credit: John Castle Matt Moore completed 14 of 19 passess and threw an 80-yard pass to Sammie Stroughter to lead OSU to a 27-17 victory over UW Saturday.

Matt Moore was fired up.

Just after being shoved to the Husky Stadium turf after the Beavers scored the game-clinching touchdown, Moore expressed his emotions to the Beaver fans in the east end zone. Pumping his fists and pointing to the crowd in orange and black, the senior quarterback had just completed one of his best all-around performances as a Beaver.

"I didn't know we even scored because I got drilled, so I had to ask Gunderson if we scored," Moore said. "Then I just lost it because I was so excited. It was a good feeling and I just let the emotions go."

Moore, who had received mixed emotions from fans and the media in the past weeks after his performances against California and Washington State, put aside the criticism and had a career day. He picked apart the Pac-10's worst defense, completing 14 of 19 passes for a season-high 308 yards and a touchdown in OSU's 27-17 win. He wasn't sacked once.

"On some plays I felt we were just beating ourselves, so we fixed it and executed," Moore said. "At halftime we came in and made some adjustments and just took it to them in the second half."

Although Moore had completed seven of 10 passes in the first half, the Beavers found themselves down 17-10 at halftime. Tailback Yvenson Bernard carried the ball 19 times for 106 yards in the first half and scored the Beavers' first touchdown of the game from two yards out to give the Beavers a 7-3 lead midway through the first quarter.

In the second half, Moore began throwing the ball more downfield, and the end result was a monster two quarters of football. His 80-yard touchdown strike to wideout Sammie Stroughter gave the Beavers a 20-17 lead they would not relinquish. Stroughter also had a career day and one of the best receiving performances in school history. The junior caught seven passes for 223 yards and a touchdown. The total receiving yards by Stroughter was the fourth highest single game mark ever by a Beaver.

"We were much better on the deep passes, and that touchdown was definitely one of them," coach Mike Riley said. "Matt had great poise and he made a big play finding Sammie open."

Continued...

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