Beavers in must-win territory against UW.

Byline: Bob Rodman The Register-Guard

OSU vs. Washington

SEATTLE - It's another Saturday. Another crossroads. This time in the Emerald City.

Oregon State, which has won one Pac-10 Conference football game since mid-October 2005, has returned to the scene of that lone success.

Alexis Serna kicked an OSU-record six field goals that early November, rain-soaked day to account for all of his team's points in an 18-10 win over Washington.

But the Beavers then lost four of their last five games, finished 5-6 and still seem to be staggering. They enter today's 3:30 p.m. game against UW (4-2 overall, 2-1 in the Pac-10) at Husky Stadium having lost their first two conference games of the season while scoring one touchdown.

"We know where we stand," Oregon State defensive tackle Curtis Coker said.

While the Huskies are on the brink of a big-time turnaround - four wins already this season after just three in the previous two years - the Beavers have expected victories over Eastern Washington and Idaho, and stinging losses to Boise State, California and Washington State by a combined score of 96-33.

If the Beavers (2-3 overall, 0-2 in the Pac-10) want a bowl bid, their sixth in the past eight years, they must win five of their last eight games. Five of those games are on the road - at Washington, Arizona, UCLA, Stanford and Hawaii.

The three home games are against USC, Arizona State and Oregon.

"Coach (Mike) Riley preaches to just win the next game," cautioned Matt Moore, the beleaguered OSU quarterback who is in a fight for his starting job as far as a good many Beaver fans are concerned.

"Right now, I just want to beat Washington. But I do know that the year before I got here, we won five of the last six games, went to the Insight Bowl and beat Notre Dame."

Today, the Beavers - who have not scored more than 18 points in any of their past five conference games - are chasing a third straight win over Washington, something that has not happened in 59 years.

But the Huskies are not the Huskies of the past two seasons, when they stumbled to a two-year record of 3-19 with one Pac-10 victory.

Washington, which took third-ranked USC to the wire before losing 26-20 a week ago, is two victories away from becoming bowl eligible.

"I'd hoped to be undefeated right now," UW coach Tyrone Willingham said. "Now it comes down to whether we can finish the second half of the year, and an important test is (today)."

The Huskies' defense has made marked improvement, but quarterback Isaiah Stanback, seemingly unbothered by a hip pointer sustained in the USC game, is the straw that stirs Washington's drink. And the Beavers know it.

Riley said his defense will keep more than one eye on the senior who has 1,163 yards and 10 touchdowns passing, and who also has run for 339 yards and two scores.

"We have to have, at times, a special awareness for him and what they do with him," Riley said.

Oregon State strong safety Sabby Piscitelli, the active leader in the Pac-10 and tied for second in the nation with 13 career interceptions, said that "in the past, we've been hurt by mobile quarterbacks. Isaiah could easily be one of the running backs the way their offense is designed."

Coker said the slowing of Stanback requires "pressure up the middle and containment on the edge ... make sure the ends are there while we collapse the pocket.

"We need to establish early the things he's not going to be able to do."

Getting to Stanback will not be easy. The Huskies have allowed just five quarterback sacks, second-best in the Pac-10.

The Beavers' biggest challenge will be scoring. In losses to Boise State, Cal and WSU, OSU has scored two offensive touchdowns and was charged with eight turnovers.

Key to Oregon State's game plan is tailback Yvenson Bernard, second in the Pac-10 in rushing with 495 yards and five touchdowns despite having just 34 of his 100 carries in the losses to Cal and WSU.

"He's had 17 carries in each of the last two games and we need to get that to 25," Riley said.

Moore, who has 22 interceptions and 15 touchdowns as OSU's starter, summed up the whole deal for the Beavers.

"It doesn't really matter how we win," he said, "just that we win."

Matchup: Oregon State vs. Washington

When and where: 3:30 p.m. at Husky Stadium

TV: Live on FSN 

Radio: KKNX-AM (840), KNND-AM (1400); in Spanish on KXOR-AM (660)

Line: Washington by 9 1/2