Stanford Starts Fast, Stuns Arizona State

Trent Edwards passed for career highs of 303 yards and three touchdowns to help Stanford to a 45-35 victory over Arizona State on Saturday at Palo Alto.

Mark Bradford caught nine passes for 185 yards, including two long scoring passes in the second quarter and the Cardinal, 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference, pulled away from Arizona State for its third consecutive victory. Stanford led, 45-7, midway through the third quarter before coasting to the finish.

Edwards directed Stanford’s offense to 38 points in the first 36 minutes against the Sun Devils (3-4, 1-3), who have lost three in a row.

“I was really keyed in to where their defense was,” Edwards said. “Coach [Walt] Harris has done an incredible job, but it took a while for all of us to get together. I’m taking the signals from the sideline now, and I’m amazed by how much we’re on the same page.”

Stanford blocked two punts to win three conference games in a row for the first time since 1999.

Arizona State hasn’t won at Stanford since 1997.

“The last two games, we haven’t shown up to play,” Coach Dirk Koetter said.

No. 15 Oregon 28, Arizona 21 -- Linebacker Brent Haberly returned a fumble 34 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter and the Ducks held off the Wildcats at Tucson.

Blair Phillips had a sack and recovered another fumble late in the game to stop Arizona’s final scoring threat, and Oregon (7-1, 4-1) won for the fourth consecutive time since losing to No. 1 USC. The Ducks also won their seventh in a row over the Wildcats (1-6, 0-4).

Oregon quarterback Kellen Clemens and backup Dennis Dixon were knocked out of the game on consecutive possessions in the third quarter.

No. 25 California 42, Washington State 38 -- Joe Ayoob completed a nine-yard touchdown pass to Lavelle Hawkins with 1:50 left at Berkeley and the Golden Bears (6-2, 3-2) avoided their first three-game losing streak in Coach Jeff Tedford’s four-year tenure.

Washington State’s Alex Brink completed 18 of 39 passes for 423 yards and five touchdowns. But the Cougars (3-4, 0-4), who also got 240 receiving yards from Jason Hill and 159 rushing yards from Jerome Harrison, lost their fourth in a row.