Stanford eases pressure

The pressure grew, every day someone new asking Stanford’s players if they could avoid becoming a historical footnote as the first Pacific 10 Conference team to finish the season 0-12.

Behind a freshman receiver, a stingy defense and big plays lacking all season, the nation’s second-longest losing streak ended Saturday.

Bo McNally returned an interception 49 yards for one score and freshman Richard Sherman took a screen pass 74 yards early in the fourth quarter for Stanford’s first offensive touchdown in more than a month, capping Stanford’s shocking 20-3 win over Washington.

Stanford, 1-9 overall and 1-6 in the conference, won for the first time in 364 days -- since the Nov. 12, 2005, 20-17 win at Oregon State. Stanford’s 11-game skid matched the longest in school history -- the Cardinal lost its final game in 1959 and all 10 in 1960, the school’s last winless season.

“I didn’t think there was a whole lot of pressure about a winless season before the game, but the way I feel now it’s awesome to have that ‘1’ on the board,” Stanford quarterback T.C. Ostrander said.

Stanford’s players cheered on the sidelines the final 20 minutes of play, after McNally’s interception return gave the Cardinal a 10-3 lead midway through the third quarter. It was Stanford’s first lead since blowing a 20-point advantage in a 35-34 loss to San Jose State on Sept. 9.

Washington fell to 4-6 overall and 2-5.

Arizona State 47, Washington State 14 -- Rudy Carpenter threw for a season-best 339 yards and three touchdown passes and the Sun Devils (6-4, 3-4) rolled to a surprisingly one-sided victory over the Cougars (6-5, 4-4) at Tempe, Ariz.

Carpenter completed 15 of 24 with one interception before leaving the game with nine minutes to play.

His scoring passes went 50 yards to Matt Jones, 34 yards to Chris McGaha and 62 yards to Brandon Smith.

In by far their best half of the season, the Sun Devils scored on all six possessions -- three touchdowns and three field goals -- to go up 30-7 at halftime.

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BEST OF THE REST

No. 9 Notre Dame 39, Air Force 17: The Irish (9-1) secured consecutive nine-win seasons for the first time in 13 years as they easily handled the Falcons (4-5) at Air Force Academy, Colo. Notre Dame has won eight consecutive road games. Quarterback Brady Quinn passed for 207 yards and four touchdowns, and Darius Walker had 153 yards rushing in 15 carries.

at East Carolina 33, Marshall 20: James Pinkney passed for more than 200 yards for the 22nd time in his career and the defense gave up only 35 rushing yards as the Pirates (6-4, 5-2) defeated the Thundering Herd (4-6, 3-3) at Greenville, S.C., to stay atop Conference USA’s East Division.

Houston 37, at Southern Methodist 27: Anthony Alridge ran for 225 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead the Cougars (8-3, 6-1) over the Mustangs (5-5, 3-3) at Dallas and clinch a spot in the Conference USA title game.

Southern Mississippi 31, at Tulane 3: Damion Fletcher rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Golden Eagles (6-4, 4-2) over the Green Wave (3-7, 1-5) in a C-USA game at New Orleans.

Rice 41, at Tulsa 38: Chase Clement threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jarett Dillard -- his third touchdown reception of the game -- to lift the Owls (5-5, 4-2) over the Golden Hurricane (7-3, 4-2) in double overtime in a C-USA game at Tulsa, Okla.

Central Florida 26, at Memphis 24: Steven Moffett threw for a 319 yards and two touchdowns and Michael Torres kicked three second-half field goals to lift the Golden Knights (3-7, 2-4) over the Tigers (1-9, 0-6) in a C-USA game at Memphis, Tenn.

Middle Tennessee State 38, at Arkansas State 10: Bradley Robinson returned an interception 88 yards for a score the Blue Raiders (7-3, 6-0) remained in the hunt for the Sun Belt Conference title with a victory over the Indians (5-5, 3-2) at Jonesboro.

Troy 24, at Florida Atlantic 17: Omar Haugabook threw three touchdown passes -- all over 50 yards -- and the Trojans (5-4, 4-0) defeated the Owls (3-7, 2-3) at Fort Lauderdale to keep their Sun Belt title hopes alive.

No. Texas 16, at Louisiana Lafayette 7: Casey Fitzgerald scored on a 36-yard pass to break a tie and the Mean Green (3-7, 2-3) went on to defeat the Ragin’ Cajuns (4-5, 1-3) in a Sun Belt game.

Louisiana Monroe 35, Florida Int. 0: Calvin Dawson rushed for 129 yards and scored twice to lead the Warhawks (2-7, 1-4) over the Golden Panthers (0-9, 0-4) in a Sun Belt game at Miami.

Navy 49, at Eastern Michigan 21: Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada scored four touchdowns and threw for two more to lead the Midshipmen (7-3) over the Eagles (1-9) in a nonconference game at Detroit.

From the Associated Press

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WEST

No. 14 Boise State 23, at San Jose State 20: Jared Zabransky shook off three frustrating quarters to lead two scoring drives in the final minutes, and Anthony Montgomery kicked his third field goal -- from 37 yards -- as time expired as the Broncos (10-0, 6-0) kept alive their hopes to play in a Bowl Championship Series game with a victory over the Spartans (6-3, 3-2) in a Western Athletic Conference game. Ian Johnson ran for 149 yards and a touchdown for the Broncos. Zabransky, who completed 14 of 20 passes for 181 yards, won his 30th game as a starter.

at Nevada 42, Utah State 0: Reserve running back Luke Lippincott ran for 144 yards in 25 carries and scored two touchdowns to lead the Wolf Pack (7-3, 4-2) over the Aggies (1-9, 1-5) in a WAC game at Reno.

at Fresno State 23, New Mexico State 18: Dwayne Wright ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score midway through the fourth quarter, as the Bulldogs (2-7, 2-3) ended a seven-game losing streak by defeating the Aggies (2-8, 0-6) in a WAC game.

at Utah 35, Colorado State 22: Brett Ratliff passed for 296 yards and two touchdowns and the Utes (6-4, 4-2) became bowl-eligible after a win over the Rams (4-6, 1-5) in a Mountain West Conference game at Salt Lake City.

Texas Christian 27, at New Mexico 21: Defensive end Tommy Blake returned a fumble 20 yards for a touchdown and Brian Bonner intercepted a pass with 22 seconds left to lead the Horned Frogs (7-2, 3-2) over the Lobos (5-5, 3-3) in a Mountain West game at Albuquerque.

at San Diego State 21, Nevada Las Vegas 7: Kevin O’Connell completed all seven of his passes and rushed for a touchdown to lead the Aztecs (2-7, 2-3) over the Rebels (1-9, 0-6) in a Mountain West game. UNLV has lost 15 road games in a row.

at North Dakota State 51, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 14: Quarterback Steve Walker threw three touchdown passes to lead the Bison (9-1, 3-0), ranked No. 5 in Division I-AA, over the No. 9 Mustangs (6-4, 2-2) in a Great West Conference game at Fargo, N.D.

at San Diego 56, Dayton 14: Josh Johnson threw for four touchdowns, ran for two more and caught another and the Toreros (10-0, 7-0) extended their winning streak to 18 games with a win over the Flyers (4-6, 1-6) in a Pioneer League game.

at Redlands 24, Cal Lutheran 20: Brad Smith kicked three field goals, including a 23-yarder with 3:15 left to ice it as the Bulldogs (4-5, 4-2) edged the Kingsmen (6-3, 3-3) in a SCIAC game. Cal Lutheran quarterback Danny Jones had three short touchdown runs.

at Pomona-Pitzer 31, Claremont-Mudd 14: Cody Peterson completed 17 of 27 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Sagehens (3-6, 2-4) over the Stags (4-5, 2-4) in a SCIAC game. Pitzer scored 17 fourth-quarter points, sealing the win on an 82-yard interception return by Patrick Crawley.

at Chapman 35, La Verne 12: Luke Robinson threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes and the Panthers (4-5) scored 21 points in the final 15 minutes to defeat the Leopards (3-6).

at Southern Nazarene 17, Azusa Pacific 10: Jeremy Rogers caught a 16-yard touchdown pass in the second overtime to lead the Crimson Storm (6-4) over the Cougars (3-7) at Bethany, Okla.

From Times Staff and Wire Reports