Cardinal QB burns Beavers

Stanford plays over four turnovers to stun Oregon State.

STANFORD, CALIF. — 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 and stay in control of its Pac-12 title hopes.

Cody Vaz fumbled late in the fourth quarter to give the Cardinal (8-2, 61) 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 goahead 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.

Vaz fumbled while shifting the ball during a scramble and Josh Mauro recovered. After Ertz caught the go-ahead touchdown, Oregon State got the ball back and Alex Debniak sacked Vaz on third down.

The quarterback left with an injury, and Sean Mannion — the former starter — threw incomplete on fourth-and-16 from the Oregon State 37 with 1:52 left.

Hogan, who took over the starting role from inconsistent Josh Nunes, completed 22 of 29 passes with two interceptions. He also ran for 49 yards on 11 carries.

Van finished 23-of-38 passing for 226 yards and a touchdown and Storm Woods ran for 94 yards in a deflating loss for Oregon State, which rallied from a 14-0 deficit to score 23 straight points and controlled the pace for most of the game.

The Beavers had their BCS and Pac-12 title hopes severely damaged.