Nanocrystalline $TiO_2$ spherical particle (NP) with a dimension of 5 ${ imes}$ 5.5 nm and several nanorods (NR) with different aspect ratios (diameter ${ imes}$ length: 5 ${ imes}$ 8.5, 4 ${ imes}$ 15, 4 ${ imes}$ 18 and 3.5 ${ imes}$ 22 nm) were selectively synthesized by a solvothermal process combined with non-hydrolytic sol-gel reaction. With varying the molar ratio of TTIP to oleic acid from 1:1 to 1:16, the NRs in the pure anatase phase were elongated to the c-axis direction. The prepared NP and NRs were applied for the formation of nanoporous $TiO_2$ layers in dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). Among them, NR2 ($TiO_2$ nanorod with 4 ${ imes}$ 15 nm) exhibited the highest cell performance: Its photovoltaic conversion efficiency (${eta}$) of 6.07%, with $J_{sc}$ of 13.473 mA/$cm^2$, $V_{oc}$ of 0.640 V, and FF of 70.32%, was 1.44 times that of NP with a size of 5 ${ imes}$ 5.5 nm. It was observed from the transient photoelectron spectroscopy and the incident photon to current conversion efficiency (IPCE) spectra that the $TiO_2$ films derived from NR2 demonstrate the longest electron diffusion length ($L_e$) and the highest external quantum efficiency (EQE).