Pacific 10 Roundup : Oregon Gambles and Upsets Washington, 17-14

Bob Toledo called the play and Terry Obee ran it, but both were nervous about it.

Obee scored on a 5-yard reverse on 4th down with 1:40 left and Oregon went on to upset 17th-ranked Washington, 17-14, Saturday at Eugene, Ore.

“That touchdown play on the reverse is a feast or famine play,” said Toledo, the Ducks’ offensive coordinator. “I knew I was going to be either a hero or bum for calling it.”

Oregon (3-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference, 6-1 overall), drove 55 yards in 10 plays for the winning touchdown after Washington (4-3, 1-3) took its first lead at 14-10.

Toledo hadn’t called the play this season.

“I can tell you that I really had butterflies when the play was called,” Obee said. “For me, the whole season came down to this one play.”

Washington took advantage of a blocked field goal attempt by Dana Hall to drive 43 yards for the go-ahead score. Quarterback Cary Conklin, who struggled most of the afternoon, put the Huskies ahead with a 3-yard touchdown run with 7:04 left.

But a short kickoff gave the Ducks the ball on their 45-yard line to set up the winning drive. A 26-yard pass from Bill Musgrave to Obee, when Husky defender Art Malone fell down, moved the ball to the 14.

Musgrave had a 13-yard run to the 5-yard line to set up the winning score.

Big plays against the Huskies are nothing new to Obee, who scored on an 89-yard touchdown pass play in Oregon’s 29-22 victory over Washington last season.

The Ducks, who beat the Huskies for the second year in a row for the first time since 1969 and are off to their best start since 1964, scored on their opening possession when Derek Louville’s 1-yard run capped a 66-yard drive.

Oregon stretched the lead to 10-0 on Kirk Dennis’ 38-yard field goal with 9:37 left in the 3rd quarter.

The Huskies cut the lead to 10-7 moments later by going 80 yards in just 5 plays. Conklin’s 46-yard bomb to Brian Slater set up Vince Weathersby’s 10-yard touchdown run with 2:25 left in the 3rd quarter.

Stanford 20, Oregon State 20--Troy Bussanich kicked a 26-yard field goal with 9 seconds left to pull the Beavers even with the Cardinal at Palo Alto.

Stanford (3-3-1, 1-2-1) took the lead for the first time on a 75-yard pass play from quarterback Jason Palumbis to Jon Pinckney with 2:33 remaining.

The Cardinal trailed, 17-3, but got back into the game when Jon Volpe scored on a 2-yard run late in the 3rd quarter and John Hopkins kicked a 28-yard field goal with 7:34 to play.

Oregon State (3-3-1, 1-2-1) took a 14-3 halftime lead on Brian Taylor’s 4-yard scoring run and Erik Wilhelm’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Bryant Hill. Bussanich kicked a 35-yard field goal early in the 3rd quarter.

Arizona State 31, Washington State 28--Paul Justin passed for 321 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score as the Sun Devils held off the Cougars at Pullman, Wash.

Safety Nathan LaDuke of Arizona State (4-3, 1-2) intercepted a pass by Timm Rosenbach in the end zone to end the Cougars’ final threat with 1:51 left. Rosenbach completed 14 of 20 passes for 182 yards for the Cougars (4-3, 1-3).

Justin completed 22 of 34 passes for 321 yards and his 5-yard scoring pass to McReynolds with 8:01 left in the 3rd quarter broke a string of 10 quarters without a touchdown by the Sun Devils.

Alan Zendejas kicked field goals of 42, 23 and 35 yards for Arizona State.

California 31, Temple 14--Troy Taylor threw touchdown passes to Darryl Ingram and Michael Smith in the 3rd quarter, and the Bears rallied to beat the Owls at Berkeley.

Cal (4-3) jumped to a 10-0 lead, but Temple (1-5) took a 14-10 halftime lead on 2 touchdowns by Todd McNair, who ran 1 yard for a score and caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Matt Baker.