PACIFIC 10 ROUNDUP : Stanford’s Milburn Gives Walsh a Win

Glyn Milburn brought Bill Walsh’s big-play offense back to life in a big way.

In the process, Milburn helped make Walsh a winner in his Stanford homecoming by catching a touchdown pass and running 68 yards for another score in the Cardinal’s 21-7 victory Saturday over Oregon.

It was the Pacific 10 Conference opener for both schools.

“Glyn Milburn is a marvel,” Walsh said. “He must stay healthy every week.”

Milburn had 215 yards from scrimmage and 85 yards in punt and kickoff returns for 300 all-purpose yards. He rushed 11 times for 121 yards and caught eight passes for 94 yards.

Steve Stenstrom overcame heavy pressure from the Oregon defense to pass for a career-high 353 yards, completing 26 of 39 attempts. He had one touchdown pass and two interceptions.

The victory was the first for Walsh since he returned to coaching in January after a three-year hiatus as an NBC analyst. Stanford lost its Aug. 26 opener, 10-7, to Texas A&M; in the Pigskin Classic at Anaheim Stadium.

Stanford, ranked No. 21, was struggling to hold a 13-7 lead when Seyon Albert stopped an Oregon threat with an interception in the end zone.

The Cardinal took over on its 20 and Stenstrom, sacked three times and intercepted twice, began finding the mark. He took the team to the 12 before finding Milburn over the middle for the score with 5:33 remaining in the third quarter. Stenstrom, four for four during the drive, completed a pass to Ryan Wetnight for the two-point conversion.

Washington State 23, Arizona 20--Aaron Price, the son of Washington State Coach Mike Price, kicked three field goals, including a 47-yarder with 31 seconds left, to give the Cougars a victory over the Wildcats at Tucson in both team’s Pac-10 opener.

The second of Drew Bledsoe’s two second-half touchdown passes, a 19-yarder to Phillip Bobo with 8:54 to go, pulled the Cougars into a 20-20 tie.

Late in the third quarter, Bledsoe passed 28 yards to Deron Pointer in the right corner of the end zone to cut Arizona’s lead to 17-13.

Oregon State 46, Fresno State 36--The Beavers, using Coach Jerry Pettibone’s “spread option” wishbone, gained 470 yards on the ground and beat the Bulldogs in a nonconference game at Corvallis, Ore.

It was the second time a Pettibone-coached team has rolled up big numbers against Fresno State. Pettibone’s Northern Illinois team gained 733 yards on the ground in a 73-18 victory two years go.

Pettibone is 2-11 in his rebuilding challenge at Oregon State. But he’s 1-1 this year.

“We’re starting to grow up,” he said. “That was a big-time victory for us. We almost had three players with 100 yards each. That doesn’t happen very often.”

Mark Olford, Oregon State’s 5-foot-8 quarterback, led the way with 144 yards in 11 carries, including touchdown runs of 32 and 68 yards.

Chad Paulson added 129 yards, 57 of them on a touchdown run on the first play of the second half.

Oregon State has won two of its last three after losing 15 in a row. Saturday’s victory ended a 10-game home losing streak.