San Jose State Stuns Stanford; California Falls

Steven Pulley tied a San Jose State record with 15 receptions, including touchdowns of 54 and 15 yards, as the Spartans overcame the loss of tailback Deonce Whitaker to defeat Stanford, 44-39, Saturday at Palo Alto.

It was the second consecutive victory for San Jose State (3-2) over Stanford (3-2), which leads the Pacific 10 with a 3-0 record but is winless in two nonconference games.

Pulley, who had 255 yards in receptions, tied the Spartan record of 15 receptions by Guy Liggins in 1986 against Fresno State.

Pulley played most of the second half with the stitches, the result of a hit by Stanford safety Tim Smith.

“I was bleeding profusely,” Pulley said, “but I was going to stay in.”

Troy Walters, who had scoring catches of 25 and seven yards for Stanford, broke the Pac-10 career record with 3,331 yards receiving. Walters, who had 10 catches for 186 yards, surpassed the mark of 3,201 yards by USC’s Johnnie Morton in 1990-93 on a 35-yard reception in the second quarter.

San Jose State turned to the air to overcome the loss of Whitaker, who had rushed for more than 100 yards in each of the Spartans’ first four games this season. He missed the game with a sprained ankle.

Chris Kasteler was 24 for 43 for 368 yards for San Jose State. Joe Borchard, filling in for the second consecutive game for injured Todd Husak, was 19 for 37 for 313 yards for Stanford.

Washington State 31, California 7--Steve Birnbaum threw for two touchdowns and ran for one as the Cougars won at Pullman, Wash., to end a school-record 12-game losing streak.

Washington State, 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the Pac-10, scored 17 consecutive points in the second quarter and won for the first time since beating Idaho in September 1998. Washington State’s last Pac-10 victory was over Washington in 1997.

Cal (2-2, 1-1) hasn’t won at Pullman since 1979.