right now, Kelly said. So, as we said before, from what we

STANFORD, Calif. -- After opening the season with losses to lower-division Eastern Washington and Boise State, Washington State has staged a dramatic turnaround and is now overwhelming the Pac-12s recent powerhouses.The Cougars followed a lopsided win over Oregon that was fueled by a dominant running attack with a thorough beating of No. 15 Stanford led by the play in the trenches.Luke Falk threw for 357 yards and four touchdowns and the defensive line shut down Christian McCaffrey and the Cardinal offense in a 42-16 victory on Saturday night.We had to realize theres no good finesse teams in football, receiver Gabe Marks said. Even the teams you guys like to call finesse teams, they really arent. ... We had to come back to basics and just grind it out.The Cougars (3-2, 2-0) held the Cardinal (3-2, 2-2) to 296 yards of offense and didnt allow an offensive score until the final play of the game. The offensive line managed to protect Falk well enough to allow him to find his receivers downfield.Falk connected with Tavares Martin Jr. twice in the first half and added second-half TD passes to Marks and River Cracraft to help the Cougars follow up last weeks 51-33 win over Oregon by ending an eight-game losing streak to Stanford. The Ducks and Cardinal have combined to win the past seven conference titles.That streak is in serious jeopardy this year as the Cardinal got blown out for the second straight game, losing in back-to-back weeks for the first time in six seasons under coach David Shaw. Stanford lost 44-6 at Washington last week. The Ducks are 0-3 in conference play.Stanford has been the class of the conference for a while now, Marks said. Since Ive been here, theyve been a powerhouse. For us, these past two weeks have really been important to finally see the work pay off and realize our potential and becoming what we thought we would be.Making matters worse for the Cardinal was the fact that last years Heisman runner-up McCaffrey went to the locker room in the second half with an injury and didnt return to the game. McCaffrey came back to the sideline and had his helmet on, but didnt re-enter the game.There was no reason to put him in late in the game, Shaw said. We just left him out. Well see how he is during the course of the week.THE TAKEAWAYWashington State: The Cougars got their first win against a team ranked in the top 15 since knocking off No. 5 Texas in the 2003 Holiday Bowl. Falk stepped up in key spots, connecting on a 29-yard score to Martin on fourth-and-7 to make it 14-3 in the second quarter. After letting Stanford back into the game with an interception that Frank Buncom returned for a TD, Falk hit Marks for a score on third-and-goal from the 17 to make it 28-10.Stanford: The Cardinal offense struggled to do anything as the offensive line was dominated in the trenches and Ryan Burns missed on chances for a few big plays. McCaffrey was held to 35 yards on eight carries and one catch for 5 yards. Stanford allowed four sacks after giving up eight last week and the only big play came on a 44-yard pass to Michael Rector on the final play of the first half. Shaw said the Cardinal missed four potential TD passes and the offense didnt reach the end zone until the final play. Even the usually reliable Conrad Ukropina missed two field goals.So weve got to hit those opportunities. Shaw said. You know, its not just one of those. Weve got to hit multiple. If those things are there, weve got to hit them.MUSIC MANCougars coach Mike Leach didnt want to blame a couple of false starts on the noise, even if he did say the public address speakers were especially loud.It was loud and it sounded good, he said. I thought they played good music, too. I mean, some of the music I could do without, but I thought Stanford has great taste in music. Who would have thunk it?POLL IMPLICATIONSStanford should plummet again after dropping eight spots last week in the AP Top 25 poll .UP NEXTWashington State: The Cougars return home to host UCLA.Stanford: The Cardinal take a break from conference play to travel to struggling Notre Dame (2-4). Cheap Astros Jerseys . First off, the fans ripped the Cubbies introduction of a fuzzy new kid-friendly mascot named "Clark". Roberto Osuna Jersey . -- Aaron Murray threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns, ran for another score, and led No. https://www.cheapastros.com/ . After taking two big hits this week -- losing at home and dropping back-to-back games for the first time all season -- Indiana struck back by playing its most complete game of the year. Stitched Astros Jerseys .C. -- When North Carolina freshman Ryan Switzer reported to training camp in August he was a little miffed to learn he was third on the depth chart at punt returner. Astros Jerseys China . On Mar. 16, coming off a "fight of the year" performance at UFC 154 the previous November, St-Pierre faced Nick Diaz at UFC 158 in what would be his eighth defence of the welterweight title. Using his superior athleticism, St-Pierre cruised to a five round, unanimous decision victory setting up a much-anticipated title defence against number one contender Johny Hendricks. SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- After being kept from throwing during team drills since Aug. 10 while nursing a sore shoulder, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick threw against the defense on Monday.Kaepernick is on track to make his preseason debut Friday against the Packers in San Franciscos third preseason game. His injury allowed Blaine Gabbert to start the first two exhibition games against the Texans and Broncos while he competes against Kaepernick for the starting job under first-year coach Chip Kelly.You know you got to get used to that cannon, man, 49ers receiver Bruce Ellington said. It was good. Kap, his arm was still strong. Hes still throwing it in the right places.Jimmie Ward, who covered Ellington in practice, said Kaepernick connected with Ellington on a route to the corner during seven-on-seven drills.It was a great throw, Ward said. Kap was making some good throws today.Kaepernick resumed throwing on the side during joint practices with the Broncos at their Englewood, Colorado, headquarters last week. He had an extensive throwing session with Ellington running routes on the field before the 49ers 31-24 victory Saturday.At the start of training camp, Kaepernick and Gabbert split first-team practice reps.Kaepernick spent the majority of the offseason program recovering from surgeries on his left shoulder, right hand and left knee and was not cleared to resume throwing until minicamp in early June. He participated in his first full-team sessions at the start of traiining camp July 31.ddddddddddddWe dont want to throw him back out there and then have a setback right now, Kelly said. So, as we said before, from what we understand its not a long-term thing.With Kaepernick sidelined, Gabbert completed 10 of 19 passes for 132 yards with a touchdown throw in two preseason games. He played three series against both Houston and Denver.In addition to Kaepernicks absence, the 49ers lost quarterback Thaddeus Lewis for the season when he tore an anterior cruciate ligament during the preseason opener. They signed former Vikings first-round pick Christian Ponder on Aug. 16 and he made his San Francisco debut four days later against the defending Super Bowl champions.Ponder led two late scoring drives, running for a 22-yard touchdown and finding receiver Dres Anderson on a 30-yard touchdown pass with 6:27 to go, which was the games decisive score. Ponder completed seven of eight throws for 86 yards.Game notes The 49ers said LB Nick Bellore suffered a knee sprain in Denver that will not require surgery. A time frame for his return is unknown. ... RB Shaun Draughn practiced in a blue non-contact jersey Monday after being held out of the game in Denver. ... Ellington returned to practice Monday after missing the Broncos game with an ankle sprain.---Online:AP NFL websites: http://pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '