Sept. 23, 2000
By TARA BURGHART
Associated Press Writer
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Ken Simonton ran for 91 yards and two touchdowns as Oregon State beat San Diego State 35-3 on Saturday.
Simonton, who averaged 192 yards in Oregon State's opening victories over Eastern Washington and New Mexico, sat out most of the second half.
Oregon State will open its Pacific-10 season next weekend at Reser Stadium against No. 9 Southern California.
Nick Barnett recovered a fumble in the end zone, and Oregon State intercepted four passes and recovered three fumbles.
Jonathan Smith threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Chad Johnson, and finished 14-of-27 for 172 yards.
San Diego State's Lon Sheriff was 15-of-30 for 156 yards. The Aztecs (0-4) had 71 yards rushing, compared to 153 for Oregon State.
San Diego State took a 3-0 lead on Nate Tandberg's 49-yard field goal, but the Beavers responded with Smith's touchdown pass to Johnson.
Two plays later, Richard Seigler sacked Sheriff on the 5. On the next play, Larry Ned fumbled and Barnett recovered it in the end zone to give Oregon State a 14-3 lead.
The Beavers' third touchdown in the first half came after a 48-yard punt return by T.J. Houshmandzadeh to the Aztecs' 20. Simonton had runs of 5 and 14 yards before scoring on a 1-yard run.
Seigler's interception on the Aztecs' 23 set up Simonton's second touchdown, a 1-yard run midway through the third quarter that made it 28-3. Simonton has seven TDs in three games.
Simonton's replacement, Patrick McCall, made it 35-3 on with a 10-yard TD run in the third quarter.