Pacific 10 Roundup : Arizona, Veal Use Late Push for Victory

Ronald Veal ran for 3 of his 4 touchdowns in the fourth quarter to lead Arizona from a 5-point deficit to a 45-28 victory over Washington State in a Pacific 10 Conference game Saturday night at Tucson.

Veal’s 5-yard run with 10:17 left and Reggie McGill’s 2-point conversion run put the Wildcats ahead, 31-28.

Washington State had taken a 28-23 lead at the start of the fourth quarter on quarterback Timm Rosenbach’s third touchdown pass, a 2-yarder to Rodd Olson.

Washington State gained 272 of its 388 yards in the second half, but Arizona gained 472 total yards to outdistance the Cougars, who led the country with a total-offense average of 567 yards.

Arizona, which led, 16-7, at halftime, improved to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-10. High-scoring Washington State fell to 4-2 and 1-2.

Stanford 24, Arizona State 3--Quarterback Jason Palumbis passed for a touchdown and ran for another, and the Cardinal defense intercepted 5 passes in the Pac-10 game at Palo Alto.

Stanford is 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the Pac-10. Arizona State dropped to 3-3 and 0-2.

Palumbis, who completed 23 of 32 passes for 193 yards, saw his team fall behind, 3-0, in the first quarter. But the Cardinal were in control the rest of the way.

Four of Arizona State’s interceptions were thrown by starter Daniel Ford, the other by reserve Paul Justin. Sophomore linebacker Jono Tunney had 2 of the interceptions, including 1 midway through the fourth quarter when the Sun Devils had drove deep into Stanford territory.

Alan Zendejas gave the Sun Devils a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter. But Stanford went ahead for good, 7-3, on an 80-yard, 12-play drive, the score coming when Jon (cq)Volpe went over from the 1-yard line on fourth and goal.

Stanford increased its lead to 14-3 early in the second quarter after a pass interception by linebacker Kevin Richardson on the Arizona State 25. The key plays in the drive were passes of 14 and 11 yards from Palumbis to junior tight end Jim Price, the latter for a touchdown.

A 34-yard field goal by sophomore John Hopkins gave Stanford a 17-3 lead in the final minute of the second quarter.

Stanford’s last touchdown came early in the fourth quarter after a missed field goal by Zendejas. The Cardinal drove 80 yards in 14 plays, with the big gain coming on an 18-yard pass from Palumbis to running back Scott Eschelman, which gave the Cardinal a first down on the Sun Devil 10.

Oregon 52, Idaho State 7--Derek Loville rushed for 215 yards and scored 4 touchdowns to lead the Ducks in a nonconference game at Eugene, Ore.

Oregon (5-1) trailed, 7-6, after the first quarter. But the Ducks scored 32 points in the second quarter.

Idaho State, a Division I-AA school, dropped to 0-6 as Oregon put together its highest-scoring game since 1973.

Loville, who was held to 26 yards in last week’s 42-14 loss to USC, scored on runs of 56, 20, 6 and 3 yards. He carried 26 times before sitting out the final quarter, and his 215 yards rank third on the Ducks’ all-time single-game rushing list.

Loville’s 4 touchdowns were the most by an Oregon player in a game since 1910.

The Ducks intercepted 5 passes, including 1 returned 68 yards by Rory Dairy for Oregon’s final touchdown.

Idaho State took its 7-0 lead on an 88-yard first-quarter drive, with Jason Whitmer completing passes of 18, 36 and 39 yards to Torey Sheets. Whitmer scored on a 1-yard run with 4:30 to play in the first quarter.

Idaho State had 6 turnovers.