Cougars thriving with big plays
No. 8 Washington State travels to Colorado this week knowing that in order to keep its College Football Playoffs hopes alive it must produce the same type of big plays that enabled the Cougars to survive against Cal last week.
The Cougars’ potent offense, led by emerging star quarterback Gardner Minshew II, is known for its big-play capability. Coach Mike Leach’s defense has also stepped up to make game-changing plays.
In the 19-13 escape against Cal, the Golden Bears drove to the Washington State 12-yard line with 7:34 left and the game tied at 13.
Sophomore safety Skyler Thompson intercepted a pass to stop the Cal threat.
“That was definitely a huge play we really needed,” said Minshew, who then joked, “(Thomas) is a guy who typically can’t catch a cold, but man, he sure came up when we needed him to. I was so proud of him and how our defense battled all night.”
The interception kept the game tied and allowed the offense to take chances without the added pressure of playing with a deficit.
Minshew then engineered a touchdown-scoring drive to help the Cougars (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) remain in the lead in the Pac-12 North race.
With only 32 seconds left, Minshew hit Easop Winston Jr. on a 10-yard scoring strike.
“I can’t say enough how good he is and how hard he works on that route,” Minshew said of Winston. “Once I saw it was one-on-one with him, I was going to take it.”
Leach said he is impressed with the development of Winston, who led the team with 92 receiving yards on seven catches.
“He’s getting better and better,” Leach said Monday. “He’s one of our most improved players without a question. And then the other thing is he has a lot of skill as far as running routes and setting routes up.”
