PULLMAN, Wash. - Buddy Teevens has had few wins on the road, so when the Cardinal traveled to Washington State, he tried to tell his players to think of it as an adventure.
It turned out to be more of a ride than Teevens wanted, but he'll take the 23-17 win after the Cardinal turned back a Cougars comeback attempt late in the game Saturday night.
"Late in the third quarter, they had some momentum and our guys stepped up: offense, defense and special teams," Teevens said. "It wasn't the cleanest contest we've had. We did some foolish things, but when we had to, guys stepped up. I think it's a big point in our program."
Trent Edwards threw a 67-yard touchdown pass to Evan Moore to help Stanford beat Washington State.
The Cardinal (4-2, 2-1 Pac-10) intercepted three of Josh Swogger's passes and the Cougars (3-3, 1-2) blew two third-quarter scoring chances inside the Stanford 5.
Michael Sgroi kicked field goals of 39, 20 and 47 yards.
Edwards finished with 15-of-31 for 202 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
The victory snapped the Cardinal's three-game losing streak to the Cougars, all at Stanford Stadium. The Cardinal's last win in the series was at Pullman in 2000. It was only the second win in 13 road games since Teevens became head coach three years ago.
With Stanford leading 13-3, Edwards wasted little time after the second half kickoff, lobbing the 67-yard scoring pass to Moore with just 16 seconds gone.
J.R. Lemon scored from 2 yards out to put Stanford up 10-3 after Leigh Torrence intercepted Swogger's pass and returned it to the Washington State 44. Justin McCullum took a lateral from Edwards and tossed it 42 yards to Mark Bradford at the Washington State 2, setting up Lemon's TD.
Torrence picked off his second pass in the third quarter, and Oshiomogho Anogwe added another interception for the Cardinal.
Teevens liked the way Anogwe played.
"You can see it in his eyes; he just loves to compete," Teevens said of Anogwe. "The number of big hits he had, the way he rallies the troops, that big turnover. He's a special guy."
Jerome Harrison scurried around the right side for a 10-yard TD run to pull Washington State to 20-10 to open the fourth quarter. After Stanford was forced to punt, the Cougars drove 56 yards, capped by a 30-yard scoring strike to Jason Hill from Swogger, making it 20-17 Stanford.
Swogger completed 18 of 36 passes for 257 yards, three interceptions and a touchdown. The Cougars amassed 437 yards of offense, while Stanford had 383.
The Cougars scored first when Loren Langley hit a 27-yard field goal after Michael Bumpus returned a punt 48 yards to the Stanford 18. Langley later missed from 39 yards after a 72-yard drive stalled at the Stanford 22 in the second quarter.
The Cougars let several scoring opportunities slip away in the third quarter, turning the ball over on downs on the Stanford 2 after an 89-yard drive and fumbling twice on the Stanford 1 after Hamza Abdullah picked off Edwards on the Stanford 3. Brandon Harrison recovered the second bobble for the Cardinal.
Washington State coach Bill Doba said failing to score so close to the Stanford goal line was a disappointment.
"When you're first and goal at the 3, you've got to get that thing in there," he said. "That was the game right there."
It was the first time the Cougars have suffered two consecutive losses since the 2000 season.
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