PLAYERS TO WATCH
–LB Peyton Pelluer played his 51st career game when the Cougars played at Colorado last week, tying former WR Gabe Marks and DL Daniel Ekuale for most in school history. Pelluer recovered one fumble but did not record a tackle for the first time since his freshman season in 2014 (at Utah and at Nevada).
–QB Gardner Minshew II, a graduate transfer from East Carolina who has developed into a Heisman Trophy candidate, threw for 335 yards against Colorado, increasing his season total to 3,852, sixth-most in school history. Minshew recorded his 10th career 300-yard game, tying Luke Falk’s season record set in 2015. He threw two touchdown passes, giving him 29, seventh-most in school history.
–RB James Williams had a 3-yard rushing touchdown against the Buffaloes, his 12th touchdown of the season, tied for ninth-most in school history. It was his 23rd career touchdown, tying him for seventh-most in school history. He caught five passes, increasing his career reception total to 182, tying Brandon Gibson for seventh-most in Washington State history.
–LB Logan Tago recorded three tackles for loss against Colorado, increasing his team-leading total to 10. He also recorded a sack.
SERIES HISTORY: Washington State is 16-27 against Arizona, but the Cougars have won two of the last three games, including a 69-7 win at Pullman, Wash., two years ago. The Cougars lost four straight games to the Wildcats in Pullman before that game.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “It’s a huge win. Any win on the road in this conference is hard. It is hard going down the path of really quality opponents. In this conference, we really don’t have any below-average opponents. There is none of that. … So it is tough to win and this is a huge win for us, but we have to dismiss this and just focus on Arizona.” — Washington State coach Mike Leach after his team’s 31-7 win at Colorado last week.
