<!JL>Sept. 20, 1997
Stanford Rallies Past Oregon State, 27-24
Corvallis, Ore. - Greg Comella's second touchdown of the game, a two-yard burst upthe middle with 27 seconds remaining, rallied 23rd-rankedStanford past upset-minded Oregon State, 27-24, in the Pac-10Conference opener for both schools.
The win was the seventh in the last eight games for the Cardinal(2-1, 1-0 Pac-10), who had their six-game winning streak snappedlast week at North Carolina.
Anthony Bookman opened the scoring for Stanford with a 60-yardtouchdown run and Chad Hutchinson added a 14-yard scoring tossto Damon Dunn. Bookman finished with 120 yards rushing and MikeMitchell added 102 on the ground.
Hutchinson completed 19-of-26 passes for 171 yards but wassacked seven times.
"I have to pay tribute to our opponent," said Stanford coachTyrone Willingham. "They really put the pressure on us. At thesame time, we created a great deal of adversity for ourselves.Overall, I have to give credit to our team for not giving upagainst huge odds and coming through with a win."
The Cardinal trailed 24-20 with less than five minutes to gowhen they took over on their own 22. They went on a 14-play,78-yard drive that was capped by Comella's go-ahead score. Twiceon the drive, Stanford coverted 4th-and-short opportunities.
"Stanford did a nice job on that last drive," said Oregon Statecoach Mike Riley. "They made all of the plays. That could havebeen their last drive."
DeShawn Williams returned a kickoff 96 yards for a score and JoeCortez added three field goals for Oregon State (1-1, 0-1). TimAlexander was 222-of-37 for 229 but was intercepted twice andsacked three times.
"Tim Alexander really brings another dimension to theiroffense," added Willingham. "He's an exceptional athlete and anytime you've got a halfback that can play quarterback, you've gotsomething."
The Cardinal took a quick 7-0 lead just over two minutes intothe contest when Bookman took a handoff and broke up the rightside, eventually cutting it back over the middle for a 60-yardscore.
Oregon State cut the deficit to 7-3 on a 33-yard field goal byCortez midway through the first quarter. A safety with 12seconds remaining in the period brought the Ducks within 7-5.
The Cardinal took the ensuing kickoff and moved 41 yards in fiveplays, capped by Comella plunging over from one yard out. Theextra point was blocked and Stanford led 13-5. Oregon State wasable to draw within 13-11 with 7:15 left in the half when RickyWalker broke loose for a nine-yard scoring run.
Stanford extended its lead to 20-11 on Hutchinson's 14-yard passto Dunn with 14 seconds left in the half. Dunn led the Cardinalwith seven receptions for 48 yards.
But Oregon State answered when DeShawn Williams, a Doak WalkerAward candidate, returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for ascore. The kick return was the first brought back for a scoreby OSU since Dwayne Owens did it against UCLA in 1990.
Cortez's field goal, a 45-yarder with 33 seconds left in thethird quarter, gave Oregon State a 21-20 lead. Cortez, who hita 34-yarder in the fourth quarter, missed a 45-yard attempt withnine minutes left in regulation.
The teams combined to convert just 5-of-26 third-downopportunities.