Pacific 10 Roundup : Jenkins Carries the Load, Washington Beats Purdue, 20-6

Aaron Jenkins has spent three seasons mainly as a blocker in the Washington backfield, and he doesn’t expect a 162-yard rushing performance on Saturday to change that in his senior year.

“It’s the first time and the last time that I’ll have that many carries,” Jenkins said after carrying 24 times as the 20th-ranked Huskies beat Purdue, 20-6, Saturday at West Lafayette, Ind.

Jenkins, whose best previous performance was 107 yards against Pacific last season, usually does the blocking for tailback Vince Weathersby, who picked up 63 yards in 19 carries. Jenkins had more than that on one carry, a 67-yard run that set up one of two John McCallum field goals.

Jenkins’ long run ended when he was caught from behind by Marc Foster at the Purdue 23. McCallum’s 39-yard field goal with 9:07 left in the half gave Washington a 3-0 lead.

“My legs were heavy. I was trying to weave, get away, but I couldn’t,” Jenkins said. “I’m a fullback. . . . That’s my speciality, playing fullback, not halfback and running all over the field.”

Said Washington Coach Don James: “Aaron was our most improved player last year. He keeps getting better.”

The loss deprived Purdue Coach Fred Akers of his 100th victory. He dropped to 99-52-3 for 14 seasons.

The Huskies held Purdue to 107 yards rushing and 172 passing and were helped by a fumble recovery and three interceptions. McCarthy completed 18 of 40 passes.

Both teams had trouble generating an offense in the first half, when Purdue had its four turnovers. Washington, which failed to convert on six consecutive third-down plays before the touchdown, had two passes intercepted in the first half and another picked off in the second half.

Purdue didn’t get into Washington territory until the start of the second quarter when it moved from its own 44 to the Washington 29. A delay penalty as Purdue prepared for a fourth-and-two play forced the Boilermakers to punt instead.

Arizona State 21, Illinois 16--Daniel Ford threw for 180 yards and a touchdown and tailback Victor Cahoon scored on a 4-yard run and guard Scott Claypoole added another score on a fumble recovery in the end zone as the Sun Devils won at Tempe, Ariz., to give new Coach Larry Marmie a successful debut.

Illinois is 0-2 under its first-year coach, John Mackovic.

California 30, Pacific 7--Troy Taylor passed for 2 touchdowns and Natu Tuatagaloa made 3 big defensive plays for the Golden Bears in a 21-point first quarter at Berkeley.

Taylor completed his first 11 passes of the season opener and finished 17 of 22 for 165 yards in the three quarters he played.

Tuatagaloa, a 265-pound tackle, recovered a fumble at Pacific’s 7-yard line to set up Cal’s second touchdown, a 2-yard run by Chris Richards. Tuatagaloa sacked Pacific quarterback Jason Frost twice in the first period and got his third sack early in the second half.

Oregon State 41, San Jose State 27--Erik Wilhelm threw for 3 touchdowns and Oregon State’s secondary picked off 4 passes at San Jose as the Beavers snapped a 7-game losing streak.

Wilhelm completed 24 of 39 passes for 240 yards to lead Oregon State (1-1). It was the first time the Beavers have won a game on the road since a 10-7 upset of Brigham Young on Nov. 15, 1986.

San Jose State fell to 1-1, even though quarterback Kevin Lutz completed 35 of 43 passes for 421 yards and 2 touchdowns, and wide receiver Kevin Evans caught 11 passes for 163 yards.

Washington State 41, Minnesota 9--The Cougars recorded their second straight rout over a Big Ten team as Timm Rosenbach passed for a career-high 353 yards and 3 touchdowns at Minneapolis, giving the Gophers their first season-opening loss since 1975.

Steve Broussard rushed for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns for Washington State, which beat Illinois, 44-7, last week and is off to its second straight 2-0 start. Broussard has 323 yards this season.

Arizona 35, Texas Tech 19--David Eldridge scored on runs of 17 and 4 yards and the Wildcat ground game got 306 yards in the come-from-behind win at Tucson.

Arizona (2-0) trailed, 13-0, after the first quarter before coming back.