STANFORD, Calif. — Andrew Luck threw for 190 yards and three touchdowns to help No. 12 Stanford beat Washington State 38-28 Saturday to post its best record after seven games in 40 years.
Stepfan Taylor ran for 142 yards and two touchdowns for the Cardinal (6-1, 3-1 Pacific-10), who hadn’t won six of seven to open a season since Heisman Trophy winner Jim Plunkett helped them do it in 1970 on the way to the Rose Bowl.
Luck went 20 for 28 with touchdown passes to Ryan Whalen, Doug Baldwin and Coby Fleener - the fourth time this season he’s thrown for at least three touchdowns.
The Cougars (1-7, 0-5) lost for the third consecutive week to a ranked opponent, following losses to Oregon and Arizona. Washington State has lost 16 consecutive games against Football Bowl Subdivision teams and 14 in a row in the Pac-10.
Jeff Tuel went 21 for 28 for 298 yards and 4 touchdown passes, including a 74-yarder to Marquess Wilson in the final minute for Washington State. Tuel also threw interceptions on the first possessions of both halves, leadingto Stanford touchdowns.
The third-quarter turnover came after the Cougars forced Stanford into its first punt of the game to open the second half and then drove into Cardinal territory with a chance to make the game competitive.
But on third-and-12 from the Cardinal 34, Tuel’s pass over the middle was tipped by linebacker Shayne Skov and landed right in safety Taylor Skaufel’s hands for his first career interception.
In another Pac-10 game, Kevin Riley passed for 225 yards and two touchdowns, Shane Vereen continued his march up California’s career scoring charts and the Golden Bears bounced back from their most lopsided loss of the season to beat visiting Arizona State 50-17. Vereen rushed for 106 yards andscored his 13th and 14th touchdowns this season while Chris Conte scored on a 6-yard blocked punt return for Cal (4-3, 2-2). Arizona State (3-4, 1-3) scored its only touchdowns on a blocked punt return by Oliver Aaron and a 25-yard fumble return by Clint Floyd.
MOUNTAIN WEST
TCU grounds Air Force
FORT WORTH, Texas - Ed Wesley had a career-high 209 yards and two touchdowns, and the TCU defense stiffened after giving up its first October touchdown, leading the No. 5 Horned Frogs to a 38-7 victory over Air Force on Saturday night.
Wesley had more yardsby himself than the nation’s No. 1 rushing offense as the Frogs piled up 377 yards on the ground, 30 more than the Falcons averaged coming in.
Air Force (5-3, 3-2) answered a TCU touchdown on the opening possession by driving 89 yards against a TCU defense that had allowed just three points in the previous three games.
The Falcons didn’t do much more, though, while the Frogs (8-0, 4-0) just kept rolling. Both of Wesley’s scores came in the second half, and TCU finished with 562 total yards.
In other games involving Mountain West Conference teams, Jordan Wynn threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns as No. 9 Utah (7-0, 4-0) thrashed visiting Colorado State (2-6, 1-3) 59-6 to stay unbeaten. ... Freshman linebacker Kyle Van Noy batted down a fourth-down pass with 16 seconds left to cap one last stand by a dominant Brigham Young (3-5, 2-2) defense and preserve a 25-20 victory over visiting Wyoming (2-6, 0-4).
WESTERN ATHLETIC
Hawaii mauls Utah State
LOGAN, Utah - Alex Green ran for 172 yards and four touchdowns, both career highs, as Hawaii ran past Utah State 45-7 Saturday.
Green had scoring runs of 2, 17, 36 and 60 yards for the Warriors (6-2, 4-0 Western Athletic Conference). Bryant Moniz added 389 yards passing and a touchdown, completing 25 of 41 passes.
Diondre Borel had the lone score for Utah State (2-5, 0-3) on a 35-yard run in the second quarter.
Utah State committed two turnovers in the third quarter, both of which led to Hawaii touchdowns.
Aggies punter Peter Caldwell bobbled a snap that ended up the hands of Hawaii’s David Graves, who ran it in from 6 yards out. On Utah State’s next possession, Corey Paredes intercepted a pass that led to Green’s 36-yard touchdown run on the next play.
Hawaii had 606 yards of offense in the game, much of which was played in a heavy rain. The Aggies were held to 181 yards of offense, their lowest output of the year.
In other games involving WAC teams, Nate Enderle passed for 291 yards and three touchdowns as Idaho defeated New Mexico State 37-14. The Vandals (4-3, 1-1) raced to a 31-0 lead in the first half and finished with 392 yards of offense, 304 passing. New Mexico State (1-6, 0-3) scored with seven seconds left in the half on Matt Christian’s 17-yard pass to Kyle Nelson. ... Robbie Rouse rushed for 116 yards and scored two touchdowns and receiver Isaiah Burse threw for a touchdown as Fresno State defeated host San Jose State 33-18. Kevin Goessling kicked a career-high four field goals as the Bulldogs (5-2, 3-1) beat San Jose State for the 16th time in their last 17 meetings. Jordan La Secla threw for 292 yards and touchdown passes of 46 and 63 yards for the Spartans (1-7, 0-3), who lost their fifth in a row.
Sports, Pages 39 on 10/24/2010