BYU football: Fumble took any Beaver momentum

LAS VEGAS — It was the play of the game and it cost No. 16 ranked Oregon State any and all early momentum it ever had in a loss to No. 15 BYU on Tuesday in the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Sean Canfield, the Pac-10's best quarterback, threw a lateral pass to the one of the league's top running backs, sophomore Jacquizz Rodgers, with the score tied at 7-7 late in the first quarter.

Disaster ensued.

Rodgers, who'd never fumbled in his career with an amazing 621 touches, couldn't hold on to the football as it got tangled in his hands at waist level before hitting the turf at OSU's 34 yard line.

Perhaps it was BYU linebacker Jordan Pendleton bearing down on him, reading the play perfectly, or it may have been the results of a cold, bitter and biting wind that encircled the stadium from the northwest.

But Rodgers lost the handle and Pendleton, screamed at middle linebacker Matt Bauman to pick up the ball because it was a live lateral.

Bauman, an academic All-American, got the message. The senior from Skyline High scooped up the ball and raced a third of the length of the field for a touchdown that put the Cougars up 14-7.

The rout was on as BYU scored 37 unanswered points.

That play changed the entire momentum of Tuesday's 44-20 loss by OSU to the Cougars, who were two-point underdogs to the Beavers. BYU ended a five game bowl win streak by the Beavers.

OSU NOTES: Canfield ended his career with 19-of-40 passes for 168 yards and no touchdowns. Rodgers gained 63 net yards on 18 carries. ... Damola Adeniji led the Beavers with 102 yards on seven catches for one touchdown. OSU had two six-yard punts in the first half, mainly due to a gusting 50-mph wind. ... James Rodgers' three receptions gives him 90 for the season, tying OSU's single season record.

e-mail: dharmon@desnews.com