San Jose State quarterback Jeff Garcia threw three fourth-quarter touchdown passes and ran for the decisive two-point conversion, rallying the West to a 29-28 victory Saturday in the East-West Shrine Game.
Garcia, who ran for the conversion with 47 seconds left, was chosen co-offensive player - along with East quarterback Jay Fielder of Dartmouth - of the 69th annual game.West coach LaVell Edwards of Brigham Young said, "Garcia was incredible at the end. I knew he would. He's one of those guys that just gets the job done. He could play for us, and he can play in the NFL."
The East led 28-7 at the end of three quarters, but the West narrowed the gap with the first two fourth-quarter touchdown passes by Garcia, who finished with 22 completions in 32 attempts for 266 yards.
The West began its climactic march at its own 20 with 2:52 remaining, and scored in seven plays. Garcia threw 8 yards to Jamal Anderson of Utah for a touchdown and then ran up the middle for the winning points.
Syracuse's Pat O'Neill missed a 46-yard field goal with 2 seconds left that would have won for the East.
Fielder threw a 13-yard pass to North Carolina's Corey Holliday to complete a 47-yard march with 2:46 left in the third quarter to give the East its 28-7 advantage.
But the West scored with 6:14 left in the game when Garcia threw 1 yard to Anderson to culminate a 61-yard drive. With 3:30 remaining, Garcia finished an 81-yard march with a 3-yard scoring pass to Colorado's Charles Johnson.
The East, which leads the series 36-28-5, dominated the first period and took a 14-0 lead.
The East's Keith Lyle of Virginia, who made 12 tackles and deflected a pass, was named the defensive player of the game.