Washington State drops stubborn Colorado 31-7
Gardner Minshew II overcame a slow start and three fourth-down failures to lead No. 8 Washington State past Colorado 31-7 on Saturday at Boulder, Colo.
The Cougars (9-1 overall, 6-1 in Pac-12 Conference) won their sixth game in a row but it wasn’t easy, as the Buffaloes (5-5, 2-5) trailed by only three points after the first half and by seven points heading into the fourth quarter.
Washington State controlled the clock, winning the time of possession by nearly 24 minutes and holding the Buffaloes, who have lost five consecutive games, to an average drive of only 1 minute 38 seconds.
“We hogged the ball the whole game,” coach Mike Leach said. “But I thought we could have capitalized on more stuff.”
Washington State 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 one-yard pass to Renard Bell, sparking a 21-0 run that finally put away the Buffaloes.
Minshew, who was hardly pressured as Colorado failed to register a sack for the first time this season, completed 35 of 58 passes for 335 yards and two touchdowns.
Colorado’s Steven Montez threw for only 67 yards in the first half and finished with 199 yards passing and no touchdowns.
at Utah 32, Oregon 25: Freshman quarterback Jason Shelley ran for two touchdowns and Armand Shyne had 174 yards rushing to power the Utes.
Shelley utilized quick passes, a strong running game and some misdirection in the offense to complete 18 of 31 passes for 262 yards with no interceptions.
On a drive keyed by a 36yard pass to Jaylen Dixon, Shelley ran in the go-ahead touchdown from two yards with 6:48 to play.
The Utes (7-3, 5-3), whose defense dominated in the first quarter, were on their heels when Justin Herbert starting finding receivers.
Herbert was 20 of 33 for 288 yards for the Ducks (6-4, 3-4) but was sacked four times.
at Stanford 48, Oregon State 17: Colby Parkinson caught all four of K.J. Costello’s touchdown passes and the Cardinal (6-4, 4-3) rolled.
Costello has thrown four touchdowns in three games this season, the most since Andrew Luck did in 2011.
Parkinson finished with six catches and 166 yards.
Jake Luton passed for 205 yards and touchdowns of 63 yards to Trevon Bradford, who had five catches for 120 yards, and seven yards to Noah Togiai. Jermar Jefferson rushed for 109 yards for the Beavers (2-8, 1-6).