Beavers' season becoming one for record book.

Byline: Bob Clark The Register-Guard

CORVALLIS - Which record is most likely to fall to the Oregon State offense?

The Beavers are in pursuit of several offensive milestones, and they haven't even played the Pac-10's worst defense. That comes Saturday when OSU is at Washington State.

Based on the current numbers, the Cougars will be attempting to defend the most accurate passer ever at OSU, along with possibly OSU's highest scorer and the top all-purpose yardage producer, all part of an overall offense that is so far the program's most successful on third down and the Pac-10's best at scoring points once it reaches the opponent's 20-yard line, or the "red zone."

That's quite an array of accomplishments, which has the Beavers (7-3 overall, 5-2 in the Pac-10) bidding for their first Rose Bowl appearance in 45 seasons.

As OSU coach Mike Riley put it, "this offense has turned into a pretty good picture" of what the Beavers want to do when they have possession of the football.

The team record is within reach for third-down conversion percentage, with the Beavers currently at 47.5 percent. And when they fail, they convert fourth downs 75 percent of the time (6 of 8), leaving the offense on the field.

OSU leads the Pac-10 and is tied for third in the nation by scoring on 95.5 percent of their possessions that reach the opponent's 20-yard line. That's 42 of 44 attempts, with 32 touchdowns and 10 field goals, including nine touchdowns in the past 10 trips into the red zone.

Senior quarterback Sean Canfield's completion rate is .698. OSU's record is .606 by Matt Moore in 2006; the Pac-10 mark is .707 by California's Rich Campbell in 1980.

Canfield is also leading the Pac-10 in passing yardage per game (256.6). Only two other OSU quarterbacks have done that: Erik Wilhelm for three seasons ending in 1989 and Derek Anderson in 2003 and '04.

"It's the continuity with the receivers," Canfield said. "We're getting better and better."

James Rodgers leads the Beavers and the Pac-10 in receptions with 71, putting him within reach of the OSU record of 90 (Mike Hass, 2005) with two games left in the regular season, plus a bowl game.

That isn't the only OSU record hunt for Rodgers.

His 1,795 all-purpose yards, which combine rushing (244), receiving (832), and punt (133) and kickoff (586) return yardage, put him on pace for the OSU record of 2,015 set by Steven Jackson in 2003.

Rodgers also leads the Pac-10 in all-purpose yardage, and is bidding to join Jackson as the only Beavers to do that in a season.

Jackson set the school record of 1,690 rushing yards in 2002. Quizz Rodgers (1,148) will need an astounding final three games to threaten that mark, but with 108 points (on 18 touchdowns), he is four touchdowns from matching Jackson's OSU record for points (132) in a season.

The significant factor for the Beavers is they aren't limited to Quizz Rodgers in their running game, with both his brother James and increasingly freshman Markus Wheaton offering yardage on fly sweeps or reverses.

"Our running game is fairly balanced," Riley said. "We threaten people with our interior running game with Quizz. It threatens on the edge with James and Markus."

Those running options only add to the passing game.

"That balance is what we look for and what we want," Canfield said. "It makes the quarterback's life a lot less stressful when there's a running game."

The OSU passing game has flourished even though it lost Darrell Catchings, the expected top receiving threat, to injuries after he participated in only two games.

Catchings was replaced at split end by senior Damola Adeniji, who has 42 receptions for 583 yards and three touchdowns.

That puts Adeniji ninth in the Pac-10 in both receptions and yardage.

In recent weeks, the Beavers have also gotten more out of backups Aaron Nichols and Jordan Bishop, who had a combined five receptions last week against Washington.

"We have a number of (receivers) making plays in the passing game," Riley said.

That group would include sophomore tight end Joe Halahuni, who has 19 of his 28 receptions in the past four games. Halahuni is within one catch of what all the OSU tight ends and H-backs combined for last season.

"Playing (in games) for Joe is a big deal," Riley said. "We'd been anticipating this from Joe, as far as his ability to make plays and run with the football.

"He just hadn't played much in games so it was just a matter of time before it clicked in."