SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Luke Powell wasn't affected by the elements.

Stanford running back Brian Allen steps into the end zone on a 3-yard run.(AP)

Powell caught a touchdown pass, set up another with a 54-yard reception and returned a punt 58 yards as No. 12 Stanford ended three years of frustration with a 41-14 victory over San Jose State on Saturday on a muddy field.

Brian Allen scored twice for the Cardinal (9-2), which hadn't beaten the Spartans (3-9) since 1997.

"Luke Powell made me look good," said Stanford quarterback Randy Fasani, who threw for one score and ran for another.

"I really felt bad for their defensive backs. He's a shifty route runner and once he makes his cuts, the DBs were slipping. It made it easy to throw him the ball."

Edell Shepard caught seven passes for 107 yards for San Jose State, including one for a touchdown. That gave him 83 catches this season, breaking Guy Liggins' school record of 77 in 1987. Clint Carlson threw two touchdown passes as the Spartans dropped their third game in a row.

Powell finished with six catches for 158 yards.

"The footing was bad, but I had some good breaks," Powell said. "The DBs lost their footing a little bit and I was able to take advantage. Randy dropped it in a perfect place."

Fasani, in his second start since returning from a knee injury, completed 12 of 22 passes for 256 yards as the Cardinal extended its winning streak to four games.

Stanford, which has already accepted a bid to play in the Seattle Bowl on Dec. 27, won nine games during the regular season for just the second time in 50 years and the first since the Bill Walsh-coached team of 1992 went 9-3.

"They made it difficult for us to get anything going in our running game," said San Jose State coach Fitz Hill. "They also didn't allow us to make any big plays."

The Cardinal opened the scoring late in the first quarter. On the first play from scrimmage, the 5-foot-8 Powell managed to catch a 54-yard pass from Fasani despite double coverage. That put the ball on San Jose State's 17. Six plays later, Allen scored the first of his touchdowns from 3 yards out.

Stanford defensive end Louis Hobson intercepted Marcus Arroyo's pass at the Spartans 19. After a sack, Fasani found Powell wide open in the end zone for a 27-yard scoring play on the second play of the second quarter.

"Luke has a natural ability to make plays," Stanford coach Tyrone Willingham said. "How he comes away with the ball in double coverage, you just marvel at it."

Fasani raced 34 yards for another touchdown late in the quarter.

"I faked to the halfback and turned the corner very slow so I wouldn't slip," Fasani said. "It felt like I was running in slow motion, but for some reason their defensive backs were looking across the field."

With the exception of the opening drive, which resulted in a missed field goal, the Spartans' offense was largely ineffective.

"We had opportunities to get into the end zone," Hill said. "Not getting points on that first drive took away our momentum."

Carlson, who started three games earlier in the season before suffering a broken thumb, replaced Arroyo and directed two scoring drives in the second half.

On the Spartans' first drive of the second half, Carlson drove the team 73 yards in 17 plays, throwing a 9-yard scoring pass to George Campos after scrambling away from trouble.

Stanford answered at the start of the fourth quarter when Allen scored on an 8-yard run, set up by a 27-yard reception by Powell.

San Jose State pulled to 27-14 with 10:38 remaining on Carlson's 7-yard pass to Shepard, but the Cardinal put the game out of reach when Casey Moore raced 13 yards for a score with 5:30 left.

Justin Faust went 2 yards for a touchdown in the final minute.

Spartans linebacker Brian Foreman left the game with a concussion near the end of the first half.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jeff Garcia, a San Jose State grad, was inducted in the school's Ring of Honor at halftime.