Falk’s 3 TDs lift Cougars at Oregon
Luke Falk threw for 282 yards and three touchdowns and No. 11 Washington State held Oregon scoreless after the first quarter for a 33-10 victory Saturday night.
The Cougars (6-0, 3-0) were on their first trip after quirky scheduling gave them their first five games at home. The team is off to its best start since winning seven to start the 2001 season.
Erik Powell contributed to the victory with field goals from 25, 52, 47 and 29 yards.
True freshman Braxton Burmeister made his first college start and threw for 145 yards and a touchdown for Oregon (4-2, 1-2). He also threw two interceptions.
Running back Royce Freeman, who left the game against Cal last weekend because of injury, started against the Cougars and ran 16 yards on his first carry. He finished with 62 yards rushing.
The Cougars were coming off a 30-27 victory over then No. 5 USC on Sept. 29. The victory pushed Washington State to its highest AP ranking since the end of the 2003 season.
After Falk’s 41-yard touchdown pass to Jamal Morrow on the Cougars’ opening play from scrimmage, the Ducks scored on Aidan Schneider’s 20-yard field goal. Oregon took the lead on Burmeister’s 30-yard pass to Jacob Breeland.
Falk threw a 10-yard TD pass to Renard Bell on Washington State’s first series of the second half for a 20-10 lead. Powell added a 47-yard field goal midway through the third quarter.
Falk’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Johnson-Mack opened the fourth quarter on the first play after the Cougars intercepted Burmeister’s pass. Powell added his final field goal with 1:41 left.
Washington State has won three straight against the Ducks after an eight-game winning streak for Oregon.
Arizona 45, Colorado 42: Backup quarterback Khalil Tate rushed for 327 yards, the second-most in school history, and accounted for five touchdowns to help the Wildcats hold off host Colorado. Tate entered the game after Brandon Dawkins took a late hit out of bounds on the opening drive. The elusive Tate had TD runs of 58, 28, 47 and 75 yards. He also threw for 142 yards, including a 13-yard TD pass to Shun Brown, as the Wildcats (3-2, 1-1) won at Folsom Field for a third straight time on a night when both offenses gained more than 500 yards. Phillip Lindsay sparked the offense for Colorado (3-3, 0-3) with a career-high 281 yards rushing on a school-record 41 carries and three touchdowns.
#14 USC 38, Oregon St. 10: Sam Darnold threw for 328 yards and three touchdowns and Ronald Jones II rushed for one touchdown as the host Trojans (5-1, 3-1) were workmanlike in bouncing back from last week’s 30-27 loss at No. 11 Washington State. The Beavers (1-5, 0-3) recovered a muffed punt at the USC 29-yard line and a Darnold fumble at the USC 23-yard line when the ball slipped from his hand while attempting a pass, but failed to score on either possession after Jordan Choukair’s 46-yard field-goal attempt was blocked by cornerback Jack Jones and a 37-yard try was wide left.