Cal turns tables on Maryland

Jahvid Best and his California teammates were wide awake from the start of their rematch against Maryland.

Best ran 73 yards for one of his two first-quarter touchdowns and the 12th-ranked Golden Bears opened their season by avenging a September loss to the Terrapins last year with a 52-13 victory Saturday night at Berkeley.

Kevin Riley added a career-high four touchdown passes for the Bears, who jumped on top, 45-6, in a drastic turnabout from last year’s meeting won by Maryland 35-27.

That game was played in East Coast humidity with a noon start and the Cal players looked half asleep at the start, falling behind 21-3 early in the second quarter and never recovering.

No. 11 Louisiana State 31, Washington 23: Jordan Jefferson threw three touchdown passes to help the Tigers overcome a slow start and hand the Huskies their 15th consecutive loss in Coach Steve Sarkisian’s debut.

Jefferson’s third touchdown pass, six yards to a wide-open Brandon LaFell with 1:54 left, sealed it for the Tigers, though Jake Locker threw a touchdown pass to Kavario Middleton on the final play.

The Huskies are one loss from tying Oregon State’s Pac-10 record for consecutive losses.

Stanford 39, at Washington State 13: Freshman quarterback Andrew Luck made an impressive debut, passing for 193 yards, and Toby Gerhart and Chris Owusu each scored two touchdowns as the Cardinal opened with a conference win.

Stanford took control early in the second quarter and led, 22-3, at halftime.

at Arizona State 50, Idaho State 3: Mike Nixon returned one of his three interceptions for a touchdown and blocked a punt to lead the Sun Devils.

The senior linebacker became the first Sun Devil with three interceptions in a game in 20 years, and Thomas Weber tied an Arizona State record with five field goals, all inside of 30 yards.

at Arizona 19, Central Michigan 6: Nic Grigsby ran for 118 yards and a touchdown, Alex Zendejas Jr. matched a school record with four field goals and the Wildcats won a game that delayed 43 minutes by lightning.

at Oregon State 34, Portland State 7: Jacquizz Rodgers, last year’s Pac-10 offensive player of the year, ran for 103 yards and three touchdowns and his older brother James caught two passes for 95 yards and a touchdown for the Beavers. The brothers combined for 253 yards of offense.