COLLEGE FOOTBALL / WEEK 2 : PACIFIC 10 : Erickson Wins Oregon State Debut

Ken Simonton ran for 199 yards and three touchdowns and Martin Maurer scored on a 74-yard pass play in the fourth quarter as Oregon State defeated Nevada, 28-13, on Saturday at Reno, Nev., in Dennis Erickson’s first game as the Beavers’ coach.

Erickson, who led Miami to national championships in 1987 and 1989, was hired by Oregon State after getting fired by the Seattle Seahawks in January.

Oregon State went ahead for the first time with 14 minutes remaining in the game after Maurer caught a short pass from Jonathan Smith and ran down the sideline for the touchdown.

Simonton, a 5-foot-7 sophomore, then added a 19-yard touchdown run and a one-yard scoring plunge to put the game away for Oregon State, which hasn’t had a winning season since 1970. Nevada (0-1) hasn’t defeated a Pacific 10 opponent since 1947.

Smith was 21 of 43 for 257 yards. Nevada sophomore quarterback David Neill was 22 for 46 for 287 yards with two interceptions and was sacked four times.

California 21, Rutgers 7--Marcus Fields rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown at Berkeley as the Bears won their fourth consecutive season opener.

Fields ran 49 yards for the touchdown on the first play from scrimmage, racing 49 yards after taking a handoff from quarterback Samuel Clemons.

Fields also had a 47-yard run that preceded a 17-yard touchdown pass play from freshman Kyle Boller to Michael Ainsworth early in the third quarter.

Boller, from Newhall Hart High, took over at quarterback late in the second quarter after Clemons had a bad sequence of plays after Cal had reached the Rutgers’ one. The Bears got two delay-of-game penalties and Clemons was sacked for a seven-yard loss before Jeremy Hersey missed a 35-yard field goal.

Boller lost a fumble in his first series, but five plays later Deltha O’Neal returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown to give Cal a 14-7 lead. O’Neal also had an interception in the end zone in the second half.

Utah 27, Washington State 7--The Cougars, who led Division I with 40 turnovers last season, lost four fumbles--three of which led to Ute scores--at Pullman, Wash., in losing their ninth consecutive game dating to last season.

Washington State avoided being shut out for the first time since 1984 on Deon Burnett’s two-yard touchdown run with 9:02 left in the game. It was the Cougars’ first defeat in a home opener since 1991.

Senior Steve Birnbaum, who won the Washington State starting quarterback job in fall practice, was replaced by freshman Jason Gesser midway through the third quarter.

Birnbaum was 12-for-21 passing for 150 yards, Gesser was 10 for 18 for 75.

Mike Anderson ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns for Utah.