Washington Beats Oregon State, 33-30

Freshman Rich Alexis and quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo scored on short runs in the final quarter as No. 13 Washington held off No. 23 Oregon State, 33-30, Saturday night at Seattle.

Oregon State’s Ryan Cesca missed a 46-yard field-goal attempt with 14 seconds left.

The crowd of 73,145 at Husky Stadium watched anxiously when Jonathan Smith drove Oregon State, 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the Pacific 10, from its 26 to the Washington 28 in the final 4:55 before Cesca’s miss.

Oregon State lost its 13th in a row to Washington.

Alexis gave Washington (4-1, 1-1) a 26-21 lead with a one-yard touchdown run in the first minute of the fourth quarter. But the Beavers’ Keith Heyward-Johnson scored a rare two-point conversion when he picked up Tuiasosopo’s fumble and raced the length of the field.

The Huskies made it 33-23 with 8:23 to go when Tuiasosopo scored on a four-yard run, but the Beavers responded with Smith’s 80-yard touchdown pass to Chad Johnson with 7:22 to go.

In the third quarter, Smith had an 11-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Houshmandzadeh on a third-down play, as Oregon State took a 21-20 lead.

Washington led, 20-14, at halftime after dominating the second quarter. Alexis scored on one-yard run to tie the score early in the period before John Anderson kicked field goals of 27 and 23 yards. Anderson’s 23-yarder came as time expired in the first half.

When Cesca kicked Oregon State’s first two extra points, he broke his school’s record for consecutive conversions at 55.

The Huskies lost their starting fullback, Pat Conniff, in the first quarter with a sprained knee.

Washington State 42, Boise State 35--Jason Gesser threw two touchdown passes and ran for a third score as the Cougars (3-2) won at home for the first time in a years and rose above .500 for the first time since they were 3-2 in the 1998 season. The game had nearly 900 total yards.

Boise State (3-2) lost despite 335 passing yards and four touchdowns by Bart Hendricks.

Washington State had lost four home games since beating Louisiana Lafayette on Oct. 9, 1999.

With the score tied at 35-35, Washington State took possession on the Boise State 38 after an end-zone punt and drove to the one. Runs were stopped twice before Adam Hawkins bulled over for a touchdown that lifted the Cougars to their 42-35 lead with 1:15 left.