Huard’s Heroics Lift Huskies

Brock Huard connected with Reggie Davis on a 63-yard touchdown play on fourth-and-17 with 28 seconds to play Saturday night as No. 18 Washington stunned No. 8 Arizona State, 42-38, at Tempe, Ariz.

The Sun Devils had gone ahead, 38-35, when Ryan Kealy threw a fourth-down, eight-yard touchdown pass to Tariq McDonald with two minutes remaining.

Davis, the tight end, outran defensive back Phillip Brown, caught the ball and raced downfield, avoiding Mitchell Friedman’s tackle for the game-winning score.

Huard, who made his college debut almost two years ago to the day in a 45-42 loss in Sun Devil Stadium, completed 27 of 47 passes for 321 yards and four touchdowns.

Dane Looker, a transfer from Western Washington, tied a Washington record with 11 receptions for 108 yards and two touchdowns in his first game for the Huskies.

Kealy completed 20 of 35 passes for a career-high 302 yards and three touchdowns.

The Huskies, in a supposed rebuilding year after having 10 players drafted by the NFL last season, lost wide receiver Ja’Warren Hooker, the Pacific 10 Conference’s 100- and 200-meter champion, because of a shoulder separation early in the game.

Washington trailed, 28-14, with 5 1/2 minutes left in the first half but scored 21 unanswered points.

San Jose State 35, Stanford 23--Brian Vye passed for 196 yards and two touchdowns and Carlos Meeks rushed for 129 yards and a touchdown for the Spartans, who upset the Cardinal at Palo Alto.

San Jose State’s Omarr Smith partially blocked a field goal try by Stanford’s Kevin Miller and turned it into the go-ahead touchdown that came when Donte Scarbrough and Vye hooked up for a 51-yard touchdown pass.

It was the first time San Jose State had led the Cardinal since the fourth quarter of the 1993 contest, which Stanford won, 31-28. The Spartans hadn’t beaten Stanford since a 29-23 victory in 1990, and hadn’t won a nonconference game since beating Utah State, 32-20, on Sept. 30, 1995.

The Spartans trailed at halftime, but tied the score, 14-14, four minutes into the third quarter, marching 68 yards in eight plays. Meeks raced 11 yards for the touchdown.

Oregon 48, No. 23 Michigan State 14--Akili Smith threw four first-half touchdown passes and Reuben Droughns rushed for 202 yards and scored three TDs in his debut as a replacement for Saladin McCullough, leading the Ducks to a victory over the Spartans (0-2) at Eugene, Ore.

Coach Mike Bellotti celebrated a new four-year contract extension by watching Oregon run up 590 yards of offense, much of it by Droughns, a junior transfer from Merced (Calif.) College who scored on runs of two and 75 yards in the third quarter.

Smith, who had competed for the starting job with fellow senior Jason Maas, completed 15 of 25 passes for 266 yards.

Oregon State 48, Nevada 6--Terrance Bryant’s first pass went for a 68-yard touchdown and defensive end Toalei Talataina scored two touchdowns for the Beavers, who won at Corvallis, Ore.

Talataina scored on a blocked punt and a fumble return and helped a defense that virtually shut down the passing game of Big West favorite Nevada, which led the nation in passing offense last year.

California 14, Houston 10--Dameane Douglas caught a 34-yard touchdown pass from Justin Vedder with 2:07 to play for the Bears, who rallied to win at Berkeley.

Houston held Cal’s runners to five yards, but Vedder passed for 267 yards and two scores, completing 23 of 44 throws.

Trailing, 10-7, Cal got the ball at the Houston 49 after a 21-yard punt return by Deltha O’Neal. The Bears overcame a sack to move the ball to the Houston 41, and on a fourth-and-two play, Vedder completed a seven-yard pass to Douglas for the first down.

Vedder and Douglas teamed up for the touchdown on the next play, Douglas outfighting defender Mike James for the pass on the 20 and breaking away from his tackle to score.

Washington State 20, Illinois 13--Steve Birnbaum threw for 201 yards and a touchdown for the Cougars, who won at Pullman, Wash., and handed the Illini an 18th consecutive loss.

Washington State secured the 100th victory of Coach Mike Price’s career. He is 100-93 at Pullman and Weber State.