STANFORD, Calif. — Andrew Luck threw for 190 yards and three touchdowns to help No. 12 Stanford beat Washington State 38-28 Saturday to post its best record after seven games in 40 years.
Stepfan Taylor ran for 142 yards and two touchdowns for the Cardinal (6-1, 3-1 Pac-10), who hadn’t won six of seven to open a season since Heisman Trophy winner Jim Plunkett helped them do it in 1970 on the way to the Rose Bowl.
Luck went 20 for 28 with touchdown passes to Ryan Whalen, Doug Baldwin and Coby Fleener — the fourth time this season he’s thrown for at least three TDs.
The Cougars (1-7, 0-5 Pac-10) lost for the third straight week to a ranked opponent, following losses to Oregon and Arizona. Washington State has lost 16 straight games against Football Bowl Subdivision teams and 14 straight in the Pac-10.
Jeff Tuel went 21 for 28 for 298 yards and four touchdown passes, including a 74-yarder to Marquess Wilson in the final minute for Washington State. Tuel also threw interceptions on the first possessions of both halves, leading to Stanford touchdowns.
The third-quarter turnover came after the Cougars forced Stanford into its first punt of the game to open the second half and then drove into Cardinal territory with a chance to make the game competitive.
But on third-and-12 from the Cardinal 34, Tuel’s pass over the middle was tipped by linebacker Shayne Skov and landed right in safety Taylor Skaufel’s hands for his first career interception.
With Taylor carrying the ball six times for 28 yards and two-way star Owen Marecic converting a fourth-and-1, Stanford drove deep into Cougars territory. Luck then found a leaping Baldwin, who made an acrobatic catch over cornerback Daniel Simmons in the back of the end zone to make it 31-7 late in the third quarter.
The Cardinal relied heavily on Taylor, who carried 27 times and joined Darrin Nelson, Tommy Vardell and Toby Gerhart as the only Stanford players to post four straight 100-yard rushing games.
Tuel threw touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to Marcus Richmond, Jared Karstetter and Wilson as the Cougars once again showed signs of being much more competitive this year. After being outscored by 36 points per game against Pac-10 teams the past two years, Washington State has lost only one conference game by more than 20 points this year.
Stanford was not sharp early in its first game back from a bye week in front of a half-filled stadium on a rainy homecoming afternoon. The Cardinal settled for a field goal on their first drive despite taking over at the Washington State 7 following an interception by Marecic.
Luck threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Whalen on the second drive, but was intercepted by defensive lineman Kevin Kooyman on a screen pass early in the second quarter.
That set up Teul’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Karstetter to cut Stanford’s lead to 10-7. The Cardinal closed the half strong with two touchdowns from Taylor to make it 24-7 at the break and were never threatened after that.
Washington State committed back-to-back pass interference penalties on the final scoring drive of the half. But Stanford ended up declining the second call after a replay review showed Whalen got one foot in on a 28-yard catch at the 5. But the Cougars had already argued the penalty, and were called for unsportsmanlike conduct. That gave Stanford the ball at the 2 and Taylor scored two plays later for his first career two-touchdown game.
