Cougars keep rolling toward Pac-12 title
Beating Colorado wasn’t easy, but the win keeps Washington State in playoff chase
BOULDER, Colo. — The 10th-ranked Washington State Cougars weren’t in any hurry to bury the Buffaloes.
Gardner Minshew II had all daytopickhistargetsandhe overcame a slow start and three fourth-down failures to lead the Cougars past Colorado31-7onSaturday.
TheCougars(9-1,6-1Pac12, No. 8 CFP) won their sixth in a row, but it wasn’t as easy as expected against the Buffaloes (5-5, 2-5), who lost their fifth straight despite the return of star receiver Laviska Shenault Jr.
Washington State led by three at the half and seven heading into the fourth quarter. They did dominate the clock, however, winning the time of possession by nearly 24 minutes and holding the Buffaloes to an average drive of just 1:38.
“We hogged the ball the whole game,” Cougars coach Mike Leach said. “But I thought we could have capitalized on more stuff.”
“Our defence was getting them off the field really fast, so hats off to them for getting us the ball,” Minshew said.
Washington State led just 10-7 at the break, but linebacker Jahad Woods forced and recovered Travon McMillian’s fumble at the Colorado 32 on the second play of the second half and Minshew threw a 1-yard dart to Renard Bell, sparking a 21-0 run that finally buried the Buffs.
Minshew, who was hardly pressured all afternoon as Colorado failed to register a single sack for the first time all season, finished 35-of-58 passing for 335 yards and two TDs.
“I was off a little bit but I feel like we figured it out in the second half,” said Minshew, who made it 24-7 on a 10-yard scramble in the fourth quarter on a drive was kept alive when Buffs safety Aaron Maddox was flagged for taunting Easop Winston on a key third down stop.
Instead of fourth-and-9, it was first-and-10. “That was all on me,” Maddox said.
In the first half, Minshew didn’t look anything like the nation’s leading passer that he is.
After having to burn a timeout before the first snap of the game and another one before the first quarter ended with Washington State still scoreless, the Cougars finally got on the board with a 39-yard field goal.
They caught a huge break when linebacker Nate Landman, the Buffs’ leading tackler, was ejected for targeting after stuffing Minshew for no gain on a second-and-1 keeper in the second quarter. Minshew ran around his left tackle and was ducking when Landman hit him.
“It was a good hit,” Minshew said. “But it was a penalty.”