The 2008 Oregon State Beavers football team represented Oregon State University in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Mike Riley. Home games were played at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon. Postseason After two straight finishes in the top three of the Pacific-10 Conference, Oregon State finished third place to make it three straight finishes in the top three. The Beavers defeated the Pittsburgh Panthers in the 2008 Sun Bowl, extending their streak of 9-win seasons to three. Schedule Roster Game summaries Stanford Oregon State was almost able to come back late in the fourth quarter when Darrell Catchings caught the ball just outside the end zone, but it was knocked loose by Taylor Skaufel, resulting in a touchback and victory for the Cardinal. Penn State Despite the off-field distractions, the Nittany Lions rolled to a 35-7 halftime lead en route to a 45-14 win in their first-ever meeting with the Beavers. Penn State's sophomore tailback Evan Royster ran for a career-high 141 yards on 17 carries and three touchdowns. Lion quarterback Daryll Clark's 276 total yards of offense (215 yards passing, 61 yards rushing) helped Penn State total 454 yards of offense. Penn State linebackers Tyrell Sales and NaVorro Bowman both recorded 10 tackles each, both career-highs and linebacker Josh Hull and safety Mark Rubin both made their first career interceptions. 108,159 were in attendance at Happy Valley for this first-ever meeting between the schools. Hawaii Oregon State scored 45 unanswered points ien route to their first victory of the season. It was the second time in 3 years that Oregon State has defeated Hawai'i. USC The Beavers shocked the college football world as they upset the No. 1 Ranked USC Trojans at home on September 25, 2008. Oregon State is one of two Pac-10 Conference school to have beaten USC twice during the Pete Carroll era. Freshman Jacquizz Rodgers ran for 186 yards and two touchdowns for OSU, USC quarterback Mark Sanchez passed for 227 yards, and Damian Williams caught 80 yards for the Trojans. This was the last time an unranked team defeated a AP No. 1 team until 2021, where unranked Texas A&M upset AP No. 1 Alabama 41-38. Utah After five games, the pattern for the 2008 Beavers has been the home team wins. The Beavers led 28-20 with about 2 minutes remaining in the fourth. They let Utah