PACIFIC 10 : Ducks Beat Sun Devils; Washington State Rolls

Brian Brown returned a punt 86 yards for the go-ahead touchdown and the Oregon defense gave freshman quarterback Bret Powers a rude welcome in his first start as the Ducks beat Arizona State, 27-7, Saturday night in a Pacific 10 Conference game at Eugene, Ore.

Steve Kemp returned an interception 81 yards for a score with 1:23 to play to clinch the victory.

Oregon, 5-2 overall but only 1-2 in the Pac-10, trailed 7-3 at halftime against the Sun Devils, who lost their fourth in a row to fall to 2-4 and 0-3.

Bill Musgrave, playing despite a painful strained abdominal muscle, completed 16 of 28 passes for 189 yards, and was eight of nine for 97 yards and a touchdown in Oregon’s 18-point third quarter. The touchdown came on a 25-yard pass play to Joe Reitzug, who earlier caught a pass for a two-point conversion after Brown’s touchdown.

Arizona State’s Powers was sacked six times and was pressured into hurried throws on several other occasions. He was intercepted three times. The final pickoff came on fourth and four deep in Oregon territory, when Kemp stepped in front of the receiver, grabbed the ball and raced down the sidelines for the score. It was the fifth-longest interception return ever for the Ducks.

Washington State 55, Oregon State 24--Freshman quarterback Drew Bledsoe passed for 188 yards and three touchdowns in his first collegiate start and Anthony Prior scored on a 99-yard kickoff return as the Cougars (3-5, 2-2) dominated the Beavers (1-6, 1-2) in a Pac-10 game at Corvallis, Ore.

After punting on their first possession, the Cougars scored six consecutive touchdowns.

Prior’s first-quarter kickoff return was the second-longest kickoff return in Washington State history. Bernard Jackson returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown for the Cougars against UCLA in 1971.

Despite coming off an upset of then-No. 21 Arizona, Oregon State could get little to go right against the Cougars. In a five-minute stretch in the second quarter, the Beavers lined up offsides to receive a kickoff, had a punt blocked and fumbled away the ball on a kickoff return.

Beaver quarterback Fred Schweer had a pass for a two-point conversion picked off and returned 100 yards by linebacker Curt Newton. Under a rule adopted last year, Newton’s return counted for two points.

Bledsoe threw touchdown passes of 39, nine and 34 yards and ran 11 yards for another touchdown. He completed 10 of 20 passes before leaving in the fourth quarter. He was not intercepted or sacked.

The Cougars’ Phillip Bobo caught two touchdown passes on plays covering 39 and 34 yards.