Stanford Can’t Break Wishbone, but Wins

The 16th-ranked Stanford Cardinal almost choked on a wishbone Saturday.

Coach Bill Walsh’s team, favored by 23 points, had to hold on to beat Oregon State, 27-21.

“It was as tough a game as we’ve played all year,” said Walsh, whose team plays Washington next week. “I’m glad we don’t play the wishbone again this year.”

Glyn Milburn returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown and Ellery Roberts rushed for two scores for Stanford, 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference.

But the Cardinal’s defense, ranked third in Division I-A, had trouble with the Beavers’ ball-control wishbone attack, which gained 262 yards on the ground.

“We definitely would have liked the score to have been more decisive,” Milburn said. “We couldn’t relax.”

Oregon State (1-6-1, 0-4-1) had scoring drives that consumed more than seven minutes in the second quarter and 9 1/2 minutes midway through the second half to keep the ball away from the Cardinal offense.

Milburn’s second punt return for a touchdown this season came with 12:53 to play in the first quarter and gave Stanford a 7-0 lead.

Oregon State scored on a “fumblerooskie” play in the first quarter. The Beaver center purposely placed the ball on the ground instead of snapping it to the quarterback. The Cardinal defense was fooled as Fletcher Keister, a 279-pound guard, picked it up and ran untouched 72 yards to tie it 7-7.

After long touchdown drives by each team left the score tied, 14-14, Eric Abrams kicked a 49-yard field goal, the longest of his career, to put Stanford ahead for good 1:08 before halftime.

Abrams added a 44-yard field goal in the third quarter to make it 20-14, and Roberts scored on a four-yard run to make it 27-14 with 6:16 left in the quarter.