Leaf Carries Cougars Throws 4 Touchdowns And Runs For Another In 55-44 Win

Ryan Leaf passed for four touchdowns and ran for another and Michael Black rushed for 161 yards and a score as Washington State beat No. 25 Oregon 55-44 on Saturday.

Leaf completed 16 of 25 passes for 225 yards and an interception before sitting out the fourth quarter. The Cougars defense held the Ducks scoreless for more than 18 minutes in the second and third quarters.

But Oregon (3-1, 0-1 Pacific-10 Conference) capitalized on Washington State mistakes on kickoff returns to stage a fourth-quarter rally.

Washington State (2-1, 1-0 Pac-10) used a balanced offense - 234 yards rushing and 225 passing - to overshadow Oregon’s Ryan Perry-Smith. He was 21-for-46 for 291 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception.

Black, a junior college transfer, rushed 22 times, gaining 98 yards in the first half and scoring on a 3-yard run in the second quarter. Leaf also plunged across for a 1-yard score.

After trailing by as much as 52-14 in the third quarter, the Ducks made a 27-point fourth-period run after recovering three Cougars fumbles.

Leaf threw third-quarter touchdown passes of 11 yards to Chad Carpenter, 30 yards to Bryant Thomas, and 26 yards to David Knuff. Chris Jackson caught a 3-yard scoring pass from Leaf in the first quarter.

Tony Truant made field goals of 31 and 37 yards for the Cougars.

Derien Latimer had a pair of 8-yard touchdown runs and Jed Weaver and Pat Johnson each caught 4-yard scoring passes for the Ducks in the fourth quarter. Earlier, Perry-Smith hit Dameron Ricketts on a 35-yard touchdown pass and Damon Griffin scored on a 45-yard pass play.

The Cougars scored 24 points in the second quarter, capped by defensive end Dorian Boose’s 15-yard fumble return for 31-14 lead as time expired.

The Ducks netted 471 offensive yards to the Cougars’ 459.

The 99-point scoring total set a record for points in the Oregon-Washington State series.