Stanford Takes Lead, Then Holds On to Win : Pacific 10: Stenstrom passes for two touchdowns and 297 yards in beating Northwestern, 35-24.

Northwestern had its best offensive showing of the season Saturday, but so did 18th-ranked Stanford.

Steve Stenstrom passed for two touchdowns and 297 yards as Stanford got 513 yards in total offense in a 35-24 victory over the Wildcats.

“We’re improving and cutting down the number of mistakes we make each week, especially down there in the red zone--in scoring territory,” Stenstrom said. “We got much better at that today.”

Stanford (2-1) had not scored more than 21 points in two games. The Cardinal also got two rushing touchdowns from Glyn Milburn and one from Ellery Roberts for its second consecutive victory.

Milburn finished with 111 yards in 19 carries, and Northwestern’s Dennis Lundy gained 102 yards in 18 carries.

The Wildcats (0-3), beaten 42-7 by Notre Dame and 49-0 by Boston College, scored against a Stanford defense that had given up only 17 points in two games.

“We were up and down as a defensive team, and I think they really capitalized on the times we were down,” Stanford linebacker Dave Garnett said. “What it really comes down to is they were executing when we weren’t. They could have easily won this game, but our offense did the job for us. They outscored them.”

Lee Gissendaner’s 72-yard punt return for a touchdown with 13:21 to play, and Patrick Wright’s two-yard run for the conversion pulled Northwestern to within 35-24. The Wildcats were driving toward another score, but Len Williams came up inches short on a quarterback keeper on fourth down.

Stanford was leading, 14-10, when it ran off 21 consecutive points, starting with Stenstrom’s nine-yard touchdown pass to Justin Armour with eight seconds to play in the second quarter, to take a 21-10 halftime lead.

The Cardinal scored on its first first two third-quarter possessions--a 45-yard drive that ended in Roberts’ two-yard touchdown run and an 84-yard drive that ended with a 10-yard touchdown run by Milburn--for a 35-10 Stanford lead with 5:17 to play in the third quarter.