Trojan defense slows Aggies in upset bid
• PAC-12
Cody Kessler passed for 164 yards and a touchdown, and the Southern California defense stifled explosive Utah State on Saturday as the Trojans topped the Aggies 17-14 in a nonconference game on Saturday in Los Angeles.
Andre Heidari’s 25-yard field goal with 13:35 remaining provided the winning points for USC (3-1). Utah State (2-2) averaged 49.3 points, 29 first downs and 550.3 yards and coverted 30 of 46 third-down opportunities in its first three games. USC held the Aggies to just 285 yards, 13 first downs and 5 of 17 third-down conversions.
Shredded for 62 points by Oregon, 39 by Arizona and 38 by UCLA in 2012, the Trojans have allowed only 44 points in their first four games this season under first-year defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast.
“The defense played lights out just as they have been doing for the last four games,” Trojans coach Lane Kiffin said. “Clancy had a great plan going in and we played physical defense. We used great schemes and we were able to control a great quarterback and rusher.”
Utah State quarterback Chuckie Keaton completed 21 of 39 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns. Utah State has lost just five of its last 23 games, with the five losses coming by a total of 13 points.
“We strung them (the Trojans) out, we packed them in, we shifted out, we motioned, we gave them every look that we could give them to try get (Keeton) uncorked a little bit,” first-year Utah State coach Matt Wells said. “But they made plays.”
No. 17 Washington 56, Idaho State 0: At Seattle, Keith Price threw for 213 yards and three touchdowns in less than a half, Deontae Cooper scored his first career touchdown after three major knee surgeries and Washington (3-0) routed FCS Idaho State (2-1) in the Huskies’ final tuneup before the start of Pac-12 Conference play.
Price played a little more than 1 1/2 quarters, throwing touchdown passes of 1, 6 and 5 yards and adding a 1-yard touchdown run as the Huskies led 42-0 at halftime. Former Gonzaga Prep standout Bishop Sankey, the national leader in yards rushing per game, saw action on the Huskies’ first three series and scored on a 3-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and finishing with 77 yards on four carries.
No. 5 Stanford 42, No. 23 Arizona State 28: At Stanford, Calif., Tyler Gaffney ran for 95 yards and two touchdowns, Anthony Wilkerson added 68 yards and another score as Stanford started strong in beating visiting Arizona State in the Pac-12 Conference opener for both schools.
The Cardinal (3-0) scored in the air and on the ground, forced two turnovers, blocked two punts, tallied 10 tackles for loss and recorded three sacks.
Former Eagle High quarterback Taylor Kelly threw for 367 yards, including three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter for Arizona State (2-1).
Oregon State 34, San Diego State 30: At San Diego, Sean Mannion threw three touchdowns and visiting Oregon State scored three times in the fourth quarter to come from behind and defeat San Diego State.
After Mannion hit Terron Ward for a 10-yard score to pull Oregon State (3-1) within a 30-28, then cornerback Steven Nelson intercepted Quinn Kaehler’s pass and returned it 16 yards to give the Beavers the lead with 2:38 remaining.
Beavers head coach Mike Riley made his return to Qualcomm Stadium after having coached the San Diego Chargers from 1999-2001.
San Diego State falls to 0-3.
Utah 20, BYU 13: At Provo, Utah, Travis Wilson threw for 273 yards and two touchdown passes and Dres Anderson had 141 yards on eight receptions, leading Utah at BYU for the Utes’ fourth straight win against the Cougars and ninth in the last 12 games in the series overall.
Taysom Hill threw for 260 yards and an interception for BYU (1-2).
James Poole added 96 yards on 18 carries for Utah (3-1).
No. 13 UCLA 59, New Mexico State 13: At Pasadena, Calif., Brett Hundley passed for 280 yards and three touchdowns and UCLA honored late receiver Nick Pasquale during its win against visiting New Mexico State at the Rose Bowl.
Jordon James rushed for a career-best 164 yards and two scores as UCLA (3-0) routed the undermanned Aggies (0-4) in its first home game since Pasquale was hit by a car and killed two weeks ago.
The Bruins ran their first offensive play with 10 men on the field in the walk-on sophomore’s honor, and the Rose Bowl crowd waved blue towels and wore T-shirts emblazoned with his No. 36.
• NORTHWEST
La Verne 25, Whitworth 20: Bryan Peterson’s pass to Dustin Martin as time expired fell incomplete and visiting La Verne held on for the win over Whitworth in a nonconference game at the Pine Bowl in Spokane.
It was the Leopards’ (1-0) first win in eight all-time meetings.
Peterson completed 20 of 38 passes for a career-high 374 yards with two interceptions and two touchdown runs and Drew Clausen caught eight passes for 172 yards for Whitworth (2-1).
Montana 47, Oklahoma Panhandle State 14: At Missoula, backup quarterback Shay Smithwick-Hann threw two touchdown passes and Montana’s reserves saw plenty of playing time as the Grizzlies (3-0) beat Division II Oklahoma Pandhandle State (1-3).
Montana starting quarterback Jordan Johnson gave way to Smithwick-Hann late in the first quarter after staking the Grizzlies to a 17-0 lead before making the switch to Smithwick-Hann, who threw touchdown passes of 16 yards to Jordan Harper and 9 yards to Taylor Walcott to go up 31-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Carroll 24, Rocky Mountain 17: At Billings, Mont., Dustin Rinker scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 2:38 remaining in the third quarter to lift the fourth-ranked NAIA Saints (4-0, 3-0) past the 19th-ranked Bears (3-1, 2-1) in a Frontier Conference game. Dakota Stonehouse opened the scoring on a 59-yard run late in the first quarter for Carroll and threw for a 30-yard score in the second quarter.