Passing Attack Shines As Usc Tips Houston
Pac-10
Delon Washington returned to the lineup for No. 15 Southern California, but tight end John Allred and quarterback Brad Otton made the difference as the Trojans beat Houston 26-9 in Houston.
Allred caught 10 passes, a school record for a tight end, for 103 yards and Otton completed touchdown passes of 35 and 32 yards to Billy Miller.
Washington, USC’s leading rusher last year, played in his first game of the season after sitting out the first three on NCAA suspension for a non-football ethical violation.
Allred, who caught six passes for 70 yards last season, broke the school record for tight ends of nine by Joe Cormier against UCLA in 1983.
Otton completed 24 of 37 for 290 yards and was effective keeping drives going on third down. Washington gained 29 yards on 14 carries in his 1996 debut.
LaVale Woods, who was replaced by Washington in the starting line-up, scored on a 2-yard in the second quarter and Adam Abrams kicked a 31-yard field goal that gave the Trojans a 17-9 halftime lead.
Houston cornerback Delmonico Montgomery almost brought the Cougars (2-2) back. He blocked a 40-yard field goal attempt by Abrams with 4:55 to go in the third quarter and he intercepted a pass by Otton with 14:48 to go in the game.
Abrams added a 35-yard field goal with 5:07 to play following a fumble recovery by Marvin Powell III at the Houston 18.
The Cougars couldn’t capitalize on Montgomery’s big plays and, with 10:16 left in the game, Otton hit Miller with a 32-yard pass into the end zone, giving the Trojans control of the game.
Southern Cal 26, Houston 9
Southern Cal 10 7 0 9 - 26 Houston 0 9 0 0 - 9
USC-FG Abrams 31
USC-B. Miller 35 pass from Otton (Abrams kick)
UH-FG Villarreal 45
UH-FG Villarreal 25
USC-Woods 2 run (Abrams kick)
UH-FG Villarreal 42
US-CB. Miller 32 pass from Otton (kick failed)
USC-FG Abrams 35
A-21,035.
USC UH First downs 20 14 Rushes-yards 35-92 24-131 Passing 290 150 Comp-Att-Int 24-37-1 22-36-2 Return Yards 24 53 Punts-Avg. 3-45 2-32 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1 Penalties-Yards 11-74 9-52 Time of Possession 33:55 26:05
Individual statistics
RUSHING-Southern California, Woods 9-54, Washington 14-29, Sermons 4-7, C. Miller 1-3. Houston, Sanford 13-77, Smith 8-66, Wheeler 1-5, Clements 2-(minus 17).
PASSING-Southern California, Otton 24-37-1-290. Houston, Clements 22-36-2-150.
RECEIVING-Southern California, Allred, 10-103, B. Miller 3-69, Sermons 3-15, C. Miller 2-30. Houston, West 4-57, Smith 4-9, Sanford 3-22, Johnson 3-17.
California 33, Nevada 15
Brandon Willis replaced injured Tarik Smith and ran for 107 yards and three TDs, including two in the fourth quarter, as the Golden Bears pulled away from the Wolf Pack at Berkeley, Calif.
Cal also forced three turnovers, disrupting a Nevada attack that came in averaging 30.5 points per game. The Golden Bears improved to 3-0 under first-year coach Steve Mariucci, only the third time in 18 years Cal has started a season with three straight wins.
After Damon Shea kicked his third field goal, a 33-yarder, to pull Nevada within 16-15, Pat Barnes ignited a Cal response with a 24-yard pass to Tony Gonzalez.
A roughing-the-passer call added 15 more yards, and three plays later, Willis shook loose off tackle for an 11-yard touchdown with 13:06 remaining.
Nevada (1-2) was driving when Matt Beck and Pete Destefano hit Ernie Wilson, forcing a fumble that Jerry DeLoach recovered at the Cal 28. The turnover led to Ryan Longwell’s 33-yard field goal with 6:58 remaining. Willis, who had 23 carries, added a 29-yard touchdown run on a draw play with 1:15 remaining.
Smith, fifth nationally in rushing with a 178.5-yard average, was injured on a run up the middle late in the first quarter. Tackled by DeShone Myles after a 1-yard gain, Smith went down in a heap and stayed on the ground for several minutes before hobbling off with a right knee sprain. He had rushed for 43 yards on six carries.
Nevada 3 3 9 0 - 15 California 7 7 2 17 - 33
Nev-FG Shea 19
Cal-Gonzalez 15 pass from Barnes (Longwell kick)
Nev-FG Shea 22 Cal-Willis 1 run (Longwell kick)
Nev-Simms 38 pass from Bennett (pass intercepted)
Cal-Devine 100 interception return of conversion pass
Nev-FG Shea 33
Cal-Willis 11 run (Longwell kick)
Cal-FG Longwell 33
Cal-Willis 29 run (Longwell kick)
A-38,000.
Nev Cal First downs 30 26 Rushes-yards 36-184 35-152 Passing 336 229 Comp-Att-Int 26-52-2 20-35-1 Return Yards 57 10 Punts-Avg. 3-37.7 5-39.2 Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0 Penalties-Yards 7-83 8-82 Time of Possession 28:49 31:11
Individual statistics
RUSHING-Nevada, Lemmon 14-105, Wilson 20-90, Bennett 2-(minus 11). Cal, Willis 23-107, T. Smith 6-43, O’Neal 3-15, Douglas 1-1, Barnes 2-(minus 14).
PASSING-Nevada, Bennett 16-33-2-249, Dutton 10-19-0-87. Cal, Barnes 20-35-1-229.
RECEIVING-Nevada, Wilkins 11-128, Insley 6-70, Noisy 5-67, Russell 2-21, Simms 1-38, Wilson 1-12. Cal, Benjamin 7-77, Bullard 4-46, Gonzalez 2-39, Shaw 2-34, Willis 2-15, T. Smith 2-7, Douglas 1-7.
Wisconsin 14, Stanford 0
In Madison, Wis., defensive end Tarek Saleh had three sacks and recovered a fumble in the Badgers’ sloppy win over the Cardinal.
Despite throwing three second-half interceptions, Badgers quarterback Mike Samuel sealed the victory with a 1-yard sneak with 1:50 remaining, giving Wisconsin its first 3-0 start since 1993.
Stanford (1-2), a Pac-10 team that plays more like a Big Ten outfit with its emphasis on the run, was limited to just 50 yards on 31 carries.
Stanford 0 0 0 0 - 0 Wisconsin 0 7 0 7 - 14
Wis-Hayes 22 pass from Samuel (Hall kick)
Wis-Samuel 1 run (Hall kick)
A-77,894
Stan Wis First downs 12 15 Rushes-yards 31-50 38-101 Passing 161 236 Comp-Att-Int 18-35-2 21-30-3 Return Yards 37 72 Punts-Avg. 8-37.8 5-32.2 Fumbles-Lost 3-2 4-1 Penalties-Yards 6-51 5-46 Time of Possession 25:11 34:49
Individual statistics
RUSHING-Stanford, Mitchell 9-44, Salina 4-27, Bookman 13-22, Hutchinson 5-(minus 43). Wisconsin, Dayne 12-75, McCullough 14-48, Stecker 4-(minus 1), Martin 1-(minus 4), Samuel 7-(minus 17).
PASSING-Stanford, Hutchinson 18-35-2-161, Wisconsin, Samuel 21-30-3-236.
RECEIVING-Stanford, Manning 4-45, Dunn 4-42, Kirwan 3-21, Mitchell 2-14, Clark 2-13, Walters 1-14, Hanson 1-9, Bookman 1-3. Wisconsin, Hayes 7-90, McCullough 6-36, Simmnos 4-80, Lyles 3-23, Dayne 1-7.
Baylor 42, Oregon State 10
At Waco, Texas, Kalief Muhammad raced 100 yards with a kickoff and ran 18 yards for another touchdown as the unbeaten Bears rolled to a win over the winless Beavers.
Jerod Douglas and Pearce Pegross also scored twice and linebacker Anthony Taylor had an interception for the Bears, who extended the Beavers’ losing streak to 13, longest in Division I-A.
Douglas ran 32 and 47 yards for touchdowns and Pegross caught two TD passes as the Bears (3-0) used the Beavers (0-3) as a tuneup for their Big 12 debut against Texas Tech on Oct. 5.
The Beavers scored their lone touchdown on a 53-yard pass from DeShawn Williams to Roddy Tompkins, but moments later Muhammad gathered in the ball in the end zone and streaked to the longest kickoff return in school history.
Oregon St. 0 0 3 7 - 10 Baylor 7 7 14 14 - 42
BAY-Muhammad 18 run (Atteberry kick)
BAY-Pegross 30 pass from Watson (Atteberry kick)
BAY-Douglas 32 run (Atteberry kick)
OSU-FG Lund 30
BAY-Douglas 47 run (Atteberry kick)
BAY-Pegross 48 pass from Alfred (Atteberry kick)
OSU-Tompkins 53 pass from Williams (Lund kick)
BAY-Muhammad 100 kickof return (Atteberry kick)
A-42,327.
Ore Bay First downs 18 15 Rushes-yards 56-272 33-185 Passing 111 163 Comp-Att-Int 06-21-1 11-20-0 Return Yards 25 49 Punts-Avg. 4-40.0 2-46.5 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-1 Penalties-Yards 7-67 4-44 Time of Possession 36:33 23:27
Individual statistics
RUSHING-Oregon St. King 19-91, Kirkman 12-52 Woodson 10-58, Williams 11-35, Alexander 4-36. Baylor, Douglas 11-105, Muhammad 2-29, Burkins 9-29, Watson 4-14, Rubin 2-11, Washington 1-1, Overstreet 1-4, Anderson 1-(-14), Alfred 2-(-10), Ford 1-4.
PASSING-Oregon St., Alexander 3-7-1 29, Woodson 2-12-0 29, Williams 1-2-0 53. Baylor, Watson 7-12-0 78, Alfred 4-8-0 85.
RECEIVING-Oregon St., Tompkins 2-67, Reynolds 2-32, Jenkins 1-6, King 1-6. Baylor, Pegross 4-95, Muhammad 3-31, Domel 1-14, Chmelar 1-13, Overstreet 1-12, Washington 1-(-2).