Pacific 10 Roundup : Stanford Beats Texas on Three Touchdown Passes by Paye, 31-20

John Paye passed for 241 yards, including touchdown strikes of 56, 45 and 18 yards to Jeff James, to lead Stanford to a 31-20 victory over Texas Saturday night at Austin, Tex.

It was the Longhorns’ first loss in a home opener since USC beat them, 10-6, in 1966. Texas had not lost a road opener since 1976, when they were beaten by Boston College, 14-13. The Longhorns’ overall record in season openers is 84-10-3.

Stanford posted two quick first-half touchdowns, both on Paye passes to James.

The 10-point underdog Cardinal never trailed and built a 31-9 lead in the third quarter. James had 9 receptions for 162 yards in the first half.

Stanford’s aerial show clicked for its first score with eight seconds to play in the first quarter. James grabbed Paye’s 18-yard bullet in the end zone despite tight coverage by cornerback Tony Tillmon.

Paye and James victimized Tillmon for another score on the second play of the next Cardinal possession. James grabbed the pass at the Texas 32 and scampered into the end zone after Tillmon fell to the turf on a missed tackle.

The 56-yard touchdown pass came with 12:41 to play in the first half.

Arizona St. 20, Michigan St. 17--At Tempe, Ariz., Darren Willis blocked a Chris Caudell field goal with 12 seconds left to preserve the Sun Devils’ upset of the 20th-ranked Spartans before a crowd of 70,689, the second-largest in ASU history.

A Michigan State drive that began at the Spartan 16 with 4:05 remaining reached the Sun Devil 12. But quarterback Dave Yarema was sacked at the 17 on a pass attempt, and Caudell then had his field goal blocked by Willis.

Kent Bostrom kicked two second-half field goals as the Sun Devils overcame a 17-14 halftime deficit. What turned out to be the game-winning kick came four plays after defensive end Jim Reynosa recovered a fumble by Michigan State tailback Lorenzo White at the Spartans’ 17 with 11:05 left.

White, the nation’s leading rusher last season with 1,908 yards, including 174 in the last game against Arizona State, was held to 61 yards in 24 carries.

Fresno St. 27, Oregon St. 0--Kevin Sweeney completed 26 of 40 for 328 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs of the Pacific Athletic Assn. over the Pac-10 Beavers before a record crowd of 34,567 at Fresno.

Sweeney moved into the No. 8 spot on the all-time NCAA passing list with 8,920 yards, moving ahead of Joe Adams of Tennessee State, who had 8,649 from 1977 through 1980. Sweeney is 1,659 yards away from Doug Flutie’s NCAA record of 10,579 yards.

For the Bulldogs (2-0), it was their fifth straight win over a Pac-10 team. They have beaten Oregon State twice, Arizona twice and Oregon once.

Fresno State, which has outscored its two 1986 opponents, 82-2, has won 10 straight, the longest winning streak in the nation. It is unbeaten in its last 14 games, with a record of 13-0-1.

Oregon 32, Colorado 30--The Ducks rallied to score 9 points in the final 44 seconds to pull out a nonconference victory at Eugene, Ore., with Matt MacLeod kicking a 35-yard field goal on the final play of the game.

Colorado (0-2) had taken a 30-23 lead on a 55-yard scoring run by quarterback Mark Hatcher with 3:22 left.

But Oregon (2-0) rallied behind quarterback Chris Miller, who completed 28 of 42 passes for 262 yards.

Arizona 37, Colorado St. 10--Tailback David Adams rushed for 155 yards and 1 touchdown, and defensive back Chuck Cecil ignited the Wildcats with a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown at Tucson.

Adams, who had 27 carries, ran for more than 100 yards for the second straight week as the Wildcats of the Pacific 10 improved to 2-0. The Rams of the Western Athletic Conference dropped to 1-1.

The Wildcats held fullback Steve Bartalo to 55 yards in 24 yards. Bartalo came into the game as the nation’s leading active collegiate rusher.

Boston College 21, California 15--The lead changed hands four times before Jim Turner’s one-yard run with 6:56 to play at Chestnut Hill, Mass., put the Eagles ahead for good, 19-15, in the first meeting between the schools.

Turner’s run completed a 52-yard drive. The Eagles later added a safety to boost their record to 1-1. California is 0-1.

San Jose St. 20, Washington St. 13--Mike Perez passed for 356 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown pass to James Saxon for the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter, to rally the Spartans to victory at Pullman, Wash.