HOUSTON (AP) -- Nevada quarterback Jeff Rowe put a bowl loss behind him with two second-quarter scoring drives.
Rowe threw two touchdown passes Saturday night -- one of them a 79-yarder -- to help the West beat the East 21-3 in the 82nd East-West Shrine Game.
"I was just really relaxed," said Rowe, the game's offensive MVP. "It being an All-Star game, I was just here to have fun and the offense was simple."
Rowe, who completed nearly 65 percent of his passes to become one of the top quarterbacks in the Western Athletic Conference, wrapped up his career at Nevada three weeks ago with a loss to Miami in the MPC Computers Bowl.
"This is a good way to cap off my senior year after losing that bowl," said Rowe, who completed four of nine passes for 115 yards and played only the second quarter.
With the West ahead 14-3 late in the first half, Rowe found Fresno State's Paul Williams running down the right sideline as defensive back Kenny Scott of Georgia Tech fell about midfield. Williams hauled in the pass at about the East 40 and sprinted into the end zone. It was the second-longest TD pass in Shrine history, eclipsed only by an 80-yarder 80 years ago.
Dan Reeves, who played or coached in an NFL-record nine Super Bowls and coached the West, called the play.
"Coach said just go for it," Rowe said. "We figured we'd see if we could get away with it, and Paul ran right by him."
On the previous West possession, Rowe, who had 16 TD passes and just seven interceptions in the regular season, connected with Texas Tech's Joel Filani on a 6-yard scoring pass, capping a 61-yard drive.
"I thought he did a great job," Reeves said of Rowe. "He was taking all of his keys and he read the defense real well."
"We dug ourselves in a hole," said Hall of Fame coach Don Shula, who directed the East. "I think the first half was pretty much the difference in the game."
BYU's John Beck, the Mountain West offensive player of the year, connected with Boise State's Brad Lau in the left flat and Lau strolled into the end zone to give the West a 7-0 lead on the opening drive of the game.
There was little offense for either team until the West erupted with Rowe's two scoring passes, and little offense after that.
Virginia Tech kicker Brandon Pace, who in the first period missed a 43-yard field goal attempt, made one from 40 yards with 10:44 to go in the first half to account for the East's lone score.
The East's Daniel Bazuin, a defensive lineman from Central Michigan and the school's career sacks leader, had 2 1/2 sacks and two tackles for yardage losses to take defensive player of the game honors.
"I just went out and did what I had to do and do what I thought was needed to help my team win," he said. "Unfortunately, we fell short."
Shula rotated quarterbacks Drew Tate of Iowa, Lester Ricard of Tulane and Matt Gutierrez of Idaho State on consecutive plays for much of the game.
Reeves elected to have each of his three quarterbacks play entire quarters, starting with Beck, then Rowe, who completed just four of nine passes for 115 yards. Zac Taylor of Nebraska played the entire second half when the West had only three possessions and both teams were scoreless. He was sacked three times.
The game moved last year to San Antonio from San Francisco after years of declining interest in the Bay Area of California, then to Houston's Reliant Stadium this year. Paid attendance was announced as 23,554, an improvement of about 5,000 from a year ago at the Alamodome, although the actual crowd Saturday night appeared considerably less.
