Houston ? 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.”

Kansas University’s Jon Cornish led the West with 43 rushing yards on 13 carries.

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.

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.