Ronen ZilbermanAssociated Press Oregon State's quarterback Matt Moore screams instruction to his teammates Saturday during the second half against Hawaii at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.

OSU, 9-4, will next face Missouri, 8-4, in the Sun Bowl

HONOLULU — Maybe it’s the island air or the wild atmosphere, but the Oregon State football team showed it can play WAC football with the best.

The Beavers felt at home with the wide-open offense and big-plays on special teams.

In the end they overmatched No. 24 Hawaii of the Western Athletic Conference 35-32 on Saturday night before a crowd of 46,683 in Aloha Stadium.

With the victory, the Beavers moved into the top 25 Sunday. OSU is ranked 24th in the AP poll and 25th in the USA Today Top 25 Coaches' Poll.

OSU also learned Sunday that its opponent in the Sun Bowl will be Missouri. The Tigers, who finished second in the Big 12 North Division, are 8-4 overall and 4-4 in conference play. The Sun Bowl will be played Dec. 29 in El Paso, Texas.

“This is an exciting matchup for the Beavers,” said Oregon State coach Mike Riley. “I haven’t had a chance to look at Missouri yet, but obviously the Tigers are a very good team out of a very good Big 12 Conference.”

For Hawaii, the loss to OSU snapped a nine-game winning streak. It was the first time the Warriors lost at home since Nov. 25, 2005, to Wisconsin.

The game came down to a dramatic finish with wide receiver Sammie Stroughter lining up at punter for the Beavers (9-4) and running around the end zone before taking a safety to leave two seconds left in the game.

Alexis Serna pooched the kickoff, and Hawaii (10-3) tried a series of laterals but were quickly stopped.

“We thought that was the smartest thing to do,” coach Mike Riley said. “We didn’t want to put the ball in their hands.”

OSU’s defense withstood a rally by the Warriors, who feature the best passing and scoring offense in the nation.

Quarterback Colt Brennan threw for 401 yards and two touchdowns, completing 37-for-50. However, Sabby Piscitelli intercepted him twice.

That gave the senior safety 15 in his career. He tied Dan Espalin (1962-64) for the second most in OSU history.

“It wasn’t nerve-racking at all,” Piscitelli said. “That’s why you play the game. You play the game to face an offense like that.”

The Beavers pressured Brennan all night, sacking him seven times. Dorian Smith had three of them.

OSU quarterback Matt Moore threw three touchdown passes to three receivers: Joe Newton, Ruben Jackson and Stroughter. He competed 11 of 17 for 245 yards with no interceptions.

Running back Yvenson Bernard carried the ball 20 times for 108 yards and a touchdown.

“We expected it be like this,” Moore said. “It was good to see our guys didn’t fold when they moved the ball, which was all the time. We expected to be scoring a lot. It was good that we always answered.”

Gerard Lawson returned a second-quarter kickoff for a touchdown out of the end zone for 100 yards. It was the first OSU score that way since Steven Jackson ran an 89-yarder back against Northern Arizona in 2001.

Lawson’s play ties an OSU record for the longest kickoff return with two others. Ray Taroli was the first to go the length of the field in 1971 against UCLA, followed by Tim Alexander in 1998 against Southern California.

The Beavers started strong on defense in the first quarter, shutting out Hawaii. Their various blitz and stunts gave the Warriors some trouble, but they moved the ball into field goal position twice.

Place-kicker Dan Kelly missed both attempts from 50 and 38 yards. The first was short and the other was wide left.

OSU struck first on a 21-yard touchdown pass by Moore to Newton. The drive was set up by Bernard ripping off chucks of yards at the beginning of the 79-yard drive.

From there, both teams traded touchdowns to go into halftime tied at 21.

The Beavers opened up the passing game on their final touchdown of the first half. Moore tossed a 30-yard pass over two Hawaii defenders to the waiting hands of Jackson, who backpedaled into the end zone untouched.

It was a quick strike, which left enough time for Hawaii to score just before intermission to tie the game.

Any momentum the Warriors gained was taken away when Moore found Stroughter on an 80-yard touchdown pass early in the third quarter.

“Coach Riley always talks about finishing, and that’s what we did today,” safety Al Afalava said.

Quick hits

LB Alan Darlin (stinger) didn’t play because Riley wanted to rest him for the Sun Bowl. Bryant Cornell made his first start in his place. ... DE Naymon Frank made his first start in his hometown. ... DE Joe Lemma (ankle) did not play. ... OG Jeremy Perry (knee) was hurt on the final drive. The extent of the injury is unknown until an evaluation when the team goes home.

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