SAN FRANCISCO — Yvenson Bernard figured the only defense that could have stopped him in the Emerald Bowl was wearing the same uniform as he was.

Bernard rushed for 177 yards and a touchdown in his final college game, and Oregon State stopped Maryland's running game cold to emerge from a rainy baseball stadium with a 21-14 victory last night.

After carrying the ball 38 times and jumping four spots to sixth place on the Pac-10's career rushing yardage list, Bernard felt he had carved out a perfect ending to the Florida native's four-year stint in rural Oregon — with plenty of help from his stalwart defense, of course.

"I always said I wouldn't want to run against our defense, and you just saw why," Bernard said. "I don't really worry about the records and all that. I just wanted to leave this program with a win, and I think we all did a great job, offensively and defensively."

Bernard leapfrogged Arizona's Trung Canidate, UCLA's Gaston Green and USC stars Anthony Davis and Ricky Bell on the conference's career rushing chart with his workhorse performance.

Bernard teamed up with freshman James Rodgers, who rushed for a career-best 115 yards, caught an early TD pass and recovered Bernard's fumble for the second half's only score. With one defensive stand after another, the Beavers (9-4) extended the Pac-10's longest bowl winning streak to four and snapped Ralph Friedgen's three-game postseason winning streak at Maryland.

"That kid does it all," Bernard said of Rodgers. "He's definitely a threat, and you see what he causes on the offensive side. I can't imagine being a defense going against our offense."

Chris Turner passed for 205 yards and hit Isaiah Williams and Darrius Heyward-Bey with first-quarter TD passes, but the Terrapins (6-7) stalled in the second half of their fifth loss in seven games.

The Beavers' vaunted rushing defense — ranked second in the nation — was just as good as Maryland feared, holding the Terrapins to 2 yards on the ground in the first three quarters. Maryland ended up with 19 yards on the ground.

"We didn't get much done after the first quarter," Friedgen said. "When you can never mount any type of running game at all, then you become one-dimensional, and it's easier to defend you. ... I don't think we played as well as we can play. There's still a consistency thing happening."

Oregon State finished with seven victories in its last eight games by surviving the unique challenges of the Emerald Bowl, where both teams stand on the same sideline at the San Francisco Giants' waterfront ballpark.

The unorthodox setup got even tougher when officials turned off the malfunctioning play clock in the third quarter. A light rain pelted the largely orange-clad crowd of 32,517 in the second half, with even Terrapins mascot Testudo donning a rain poncho over his shell.

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