Among the list of great teams that played in Corvallis, the 2000 season helped Reser Stadium achieve its most inspired crowds on the way to a 11-1 record, Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame and No. 4 ranking.

Coming off a 7-5 season, and appearance in the Oahu Bowl under first-year coach Dennis Erickson, the Beavers were a hopeful group led by juniors Jonathan Smith at quarterback and Ken Simonton at tailback.

The season started with a rather bland 21-19 win over Eastern Washington, but Simonton ran for all three scores and 200 yards on 40 carries to begin a Heisman Trophy quest.

Wins over New Mexico and San Diego State led to a huge win over No. 7 USC, 31-21, in front of a home crowd of 33,775 that earned the team a national ranking at No. 23. Although the team lost at No. 11 Washington, 33-30, the following week, its ranking improved to No. 20, and continued to move forward with wins over Stanford, UCLA, Washington State, California and Arizona. That led to a No. 8 ranking and Civil War meeting with No. 10 Oregon that attracted coverage by ABC and a standing room only crowd of 36,044 to Reser. The Beavers won 23-13 as Smith hit Robert Prescott with a pair of scoring passes in the first quarter, and the defense intercepted Oregon’s Joey Harrington five times.

The win deprived the Ducks of the conference title, and the Beavers, Ducks and Huskies all tied for the title with 7-1 conference records. Washington won the tiebreaker and played in the Rose Bowl, where they beat Purdue and finished No. 3 in the nation. Oregon beat Texas in the Holiday Bowl and finished ranked No. 7. Oregon State destroyed Notre Dame 41-9 in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day, 2001, and finished ranked No. 4.

Simonton finished with 1,559 yards rushing and ninth in the Heisman vote. He was honored as Pac-10 Player of the Year.
Erickson was voted conference Coach of the Year. Smith passed for 2,773 yards and 20 touchdowns, and Prescott, Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh each caught passes for more than 600 yards. Junior Patrick McCall topped 600 yards rushing. Junior Jake Cookus led the conference with five interceptions, and senior Keith Heyward-Johnson finished with four. Sophomore kicker Ryan Cesca missed just one of 47 extra points, hit 16-of-19 field-goal attempts and was the all-conference first-team kicker.

Simonton, Houshmandzadeh and junior lineman Chris Gibson were voted all-conference first or second team on offense, and senior end DeLawrence Grant, senior linebacker Darnell Robinson, senior defensive back Terrance Carroll and sophomore defensive back Dennis Weathersby were honored on defense. Heyward-Johnson, Prescott, Smith, Johnson, senior tight end Martin Maurer and senior defensive end LaDarius Jackson were all-conference honorable mention picks.
Weathersby also was named first-team All-Academic with a 3.32 GPA. Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, tackle Mitch White and defensive end DeLawrence Grant were all drafted in 2001. Simonton was selected the following year.

Head Coach Dennis Erickson
2000 Roster included: Jonathan Smith, Tyler Thomas, Ken Simonton, Patrick McCall, Antonio Battle, Chad Johnson, Robert Prescott, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Seth Trimmer, Aaron Hill, Shawn Kintner, Turner Byrd, Martin Maurer, Bennie Johnson, Jermaine Jackson, Jared Cornell, Chris Gibson, Vincent Sandoval, Robert Sykes, Mitch White, Ryan Cesca, Ryan Atkinson, DeLawrence Grant, LaDairis Jackson, Eric Manning, Dwan Edwards, James Allen, Darnell Robinson, Richard Seigler, Nick Barnett, Greg Brown-Davis, Calvin Carlyle, Terrence Carroll, Keith Hayward-Johnson, Dennis Weathersby, Jake Cookus, Keith Heyward-Johnson, Ricky Walker, Mike Fessler