Linebacker D.J. Welch verbally committed to the Oregon State football team this week, according to The Desert Sun newspaper.

He's a 6-foot-2, 200-pounder out of Palm Desert High in Indio, Calif. That's the school OSU junior cornerback James Dockery attended.

Scout.com has Welch running the 40-meter dash in 4.39-seconds. He was a first-team All-CIF Eastern Division selection last season.

Welch had more than 20 schools after him, according to The Desert Sun, but many backed off due to his academics. Colorado and San Diego State were among them. He told the paper he improved his grades.

This is OSU's ninth verbal commitment for the 2010 class, and the second linebacker. North Eugene's Michael Bibbee is the other.

Injury news

Backup split end Geno Munoz has a hip-flexor injury and he may not make the trip to Southern California on Saturday, coach Mike Riley said.

Aaron Nichols, who is the No. 3 slot back, will back up Damola Adeniji at split end.

Reserve offensive guard Colin Lyons went down with a knee injury this week. He had an MRI and the severity of the injury isn't known yet.

Freshman receiver Micah Hatfield will be on crutches for six weeks from his broken leg suffered last week. His rehab will be long-term.

Run the ball

Since the 2002 season, OSU is second in the Pacific-10 Conference for the number of times a player reached the 1,000-yard rushing plateau with six, missing in 2004.

California leads the Pac-10 with seven, followed by the Beavers, Oregon (five), Southern California (three), UCLA (two) and Stanford, Arizona, Arizona State, Washington and Washington State with one each.

Road warriors

The Beavers have the longest road winning streak in the Pac-10 at five games. There have been six wins away from Reser Stadium counting the Sun Bowl, but that's considered a neutral site.

The Beavers haven't won six straight road games since capturing five in a row in 1969 over Iowa, Arizona State, Washington, California and Oregon and the first road game of 1970 over Oklahoma.

Passing first downs

The Beavers have been successful gaining first downs through the air with a Pac-10-leading 76. They have 41 on the ground. Opponents have managed 81 first downs passing, but only 34 on the ground.

Big crowd

Saturday's game is sold out in the 93,607-seat Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. That will be the largest OSU-USC crowd ever.