CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) - When Oregon State travels to Los Angeles to try and reverse a 48-year road losing streak to Southern California, it may have to do it without its best offensive player.
Yvenson Bernard ran for 62 yards and a touchdown in the first half of Oregon State's 23-6 victory over Stanford Saturday, but he went out with a shoulder injury and never returned.
Coach Mike Riley feared the injury was serious and that the iron-tough 5-foot-9, 201-pound tailback could miss time.
"I'm just guessing but he seems doubtful to me," Riley said.
With Bernard sitting in the second half, backup Matt Sieverson ran for 68 yards and Oregon State (5-3, 3-2 Pacific-10 Conference) kept Stanford at a comfortable distance while not trying anything too risky on offense.
Oregon State quarterback Sean Canfield threw for 142 yards and a touchdown on 14-of-21 passing and he avoided throwing an interception for the third game in a row. He connected with freshman Darrell Catchings six times for 51 yards.
"The way that game was, it was not necessarily artistic but it was what we had to do to win it," Riley said. "You have to play the game that you're in. It became obvious to me what kind of game this was, especially after Ev (Bernard) got hurt."
With Anthony Kimble nursing a sore shoulder and Jason Evans out for the season with a torn ACL, Stanford got nowhere on the ground, finishing with minus-8 yards rushing.
Freshman Tavita Pritchard completed 16 of 32 passes for 168 yards for the Cardinal (3-5, 2-4). Richard Sherman caught three passes for 70 yards.
Stanford's points came on two Derek Belch field goals.
"In the end we couldn't run the ball, and we couldn't protect the passer," Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said.
The Cardinal had won two straight Pac-10 games - over Arizona and its upset of 41-point favorite USC Oct. 6. Stanford has Washington next week.
The Beavers relied on three Alexis Serna field goals to pull away in the second half, but that won't likely be enough offense against the Trojans (6-2, 3-2), who likely fell out of national championship contention after losing 24-17 to Oregon Saturday.
Bernard, a senior who has rushed for 101.8 yards a game this season and is Oregon State's third all-time leading rusher, has been particularly important to Oregon State's success this year as it breaks in new QB Canfield.
Bernard has been banged up before and played through injuries, and that is what has Riley nervous.
"If he's not playing, it's a pretty serious deal," the coach said.
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum hasn't been a place the Beavers have enjoyed playing. They last won there in 1960. The Beavers did ruin USC's national title hopes last year, with a 33-31 upset of the third-ranked Trojans. But that game was at Reser Stadium.
Interestingly, Bernard missed that game with an injury and Clinton Polk ran for 100 yards in his place.
Polk, who is third on Oregon State's tailback depth chart behind Sieverson, had 27 yards on eight carries against Stanford.
"Between the two of us, I don't see us doing the job quite like Ev did, but I think we can get in there and do our thing," Sieverson said. "Ev carries this team, so knowing he was out, I've got to go in there and do the best I can to keep us going. He's really what drives the offense."
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
