Kevin Hogan threw for 254 yards and three touchdowns in his first collegiate start, and No. 16 Stanford overcame four turnovers to rally past No. 13 Oregon State, 27-23, on Saturday in Stanford, Calif., and stay in control of its Pac-12 title hopes.
Cody Vaz fumbled late in the fourth quarter to give the Cardinal (8-2, 6-1) the ball at the Beavers 29. The only Oregon State (7-2, 5-2) turnover turned out to be the difference.
Hogan hit tight end Zach Ertz for a 13-yard touchdown for the go-ahead score, and Stanford stopped the Beavers twice more. The Cardinal will head to second-ranked Oregon next week with a chance to take over sole control of the North Division and move closer to a spot in the conference championship game.
Oregon State won the turnover margin 4-1 but only converted three points out of them – and the one mistake cost the Beavers badly.
At Arizona 56, Colorado 31: Ka’Deem Carey ran for a conference-record 366 yards and scored five touchdowns, powering the Wildcats past the Buffaloes
Carey, who carried 25 times, broke the record of 357 rushing yards set by Washington State’s Rueben Mayes at Oregon on Oct. 27, 1984. The sophomore’s five rushing TDs – of 10, 13, 30, 8 and 3 yards – tied a conference record. Carey, whose longest gain of the day was 71 yards, smashed the school record of 288 yards set by Trung Canidate against Arizona State in 1998.
With Pac-12 leading passer Matt Scott out with a concussion, junior college transfer B.J. Denker completed 12 of 14 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns in his first start for Arizona (6-4, 3-4). He also ran for 44 yards and a touchdown as the Wildcats became bowl eligible with their sixth win.
In his first start for Colorado (1-9, 1-6), Nick Hirschman was 12 of 13 for 123 yards and one interception. Connor Wood relieved Hirschman and went 4-for-7 for 90 yards and a touchdown.
No. 2 Oregon 59, at California 17: Marcus Mariota overcame a brief injury to throw for a career-high 377 yards and tie a school record with six touchdown passes as No. 2 Oregon made a case for the top ranking in the country.
The Ducks (10-0, 7-0 Pac-12) withstood injuries to its entire starting defensive line and brief absences by Mariota and star running back Kenjon Barner to extend the longest active winning streak in major college football to 13 games.
The win over California (3-8, 2-6) could be enough to move Oregon up to No. 1 after top-ranked Alabama lost earlier in the day, 29-23 to No. 15 Texas A&M. Even more importantly, the Crimson Tide loss cleared one potential rival for a spot in the BCS title game, leaving Notre Dame and Kansas State as the only other major undefeated teams eligible for a bowl.
Cal held Barner to 65 yards on 20 carries and even knocked him out briefly with a hard hit that sent him to the locker room in the first half.
At No. 21 USC 38, Arizona State 17: Marqise Lee caught 10 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown, Curtis McNeal rushed for 163 yards and two more scores, and the Trojans bounced back at home from consecutive losses to beat the skidding Sun Devils.
Matt Barkley threw for 222 yards and three TDs while becoming the leading passer in conference history for the Trojans (7-3, 5-3), who overcame a slow start and five turnovers to snap their two-game skid. USC hasn’t lost three straight since 2001, former coach Pete Carroll’s first season.
Taylor Kelly passed for 174 yards and Alden Darby returned an interception 70 yards for a touchdown for the Sun Devils (5-5, 3-4), who lost their fourth straight. Arizona State managed just 250 total yards and scored all of their points off USC’s turnovers, getting shut out in the final 27 minutes.
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