Washington State (7-5) took control of the 113th Apple Cup in the first quarter and never looked back as the Cougs rolled to a 40 – 13 victory over Washington (4-8) for their first win in the series since 2012 and the first win at Husky Stadium since 2007.
The Husky offense started the second half with a four yard gain on first down then a two yard gain on second. On third down the pass was broken up by brilliant man defense for a three and out.
Washington State picked up two first downs on back-to-back pass plays. Then they handed the ball off to Max Borghi on the next to plays and the senior picked up a combined 16 yards. On the next play a quick hook route led to a three yard pick up; then De’Shaun Stribbling was hit for a seven yard gain to get the first down. Calvin Jackson Jr. got involved in the drive with a three used catch in the red zone to make it third and five.
With an empty back field Jayden de Laura recognized a run lane and picked up the first down. The next play was handed off to Borghi as he got outside the tackle to punch it into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game to make it 20-7 WSU after the PAT.
After Borghi’s touchdown the Huskies dropped two straight passes to make it third and 10. The Huskies took a timeout on third down and it led to Huard’s second pick of the game.
De Laura’s second incompletion of the game came on the first play after the pick. The Cougars picked up five yard on second down then seven on third to pick up the first down. But the next downs ended ups falling after a first down sack made it too much yardage for the offense to pick up the first down. Janikowski hit a 41-yard field goal to push the Cougar lead to 16.
After a couple of inconsequential plays, Huard hit Odzune Rome for a 55 yard gain as Marsh. But the next pass was picked off as Justus Rogers jumped in front of the pass and then rumbled for a 60 yard return that ended when he was tripped.
McIntosh got the ball on second down and picked up eight yards, then he picked up the first down. Jackson caught a five yard pass on first down then McIntosh picked up the first down. The third quarter ended with an eight yard run to the Washington one by McIntosh.
The fourth quarter started with a false start on the entire left side of the line. On second down, de Laura hit Travell Harris to get it to the two yard line. Deon McIntosh punched it in from the two yard line to put the game out of reach at 30-7.
Washington’s first two pass plays were inconsequential and they picked up eight on third down. At that point Huard hit his stride and completed more passes than he had all game. Odunze made an acrobatic one handed catch to score UW’s second touchdown of the game to make it 30-13 before they tried the two point conversion…which was picked off.
The onside kick went out of bounds to get WSU the ball in plus territory. A play action pass was dropped when the wideout was hit. On the next play de Laura kept it on a read option to pick up the first down; an epic pose cost him 15 yards but was absolutely worth it. Borghi picked up ten yards as he bounced out side of the tackle to pick up the first down.
Unfortunately the Cougs only picked two yards on first and second downs. On third down WSU picked up six but it wasn’t enough for the first down and the kicking unit came out. Janikowski nailed the 39 yard field goal to make it 33-13 WSU.
Marsh picked off his second pass on a tipped pass and then took it back to the house. After the point after it was 40-13 WSU to put the game away.
On the next drive, Washington quickly marched into plus territory. Huard was sacked for the first time this of the game and a Cougar defensive end was hurt when his ankle was rolled up by Brennan Jackson. The next play was an incomplete pass to force third and 23; which resulted in an incomplete pass and a UW punt.
WSU got the ball inside the five to start its next drive. The Cougs rode Borghi and McIntosh to melt the clock to seal out the win.
On the kick off after Washington’s first touchdown a near brawl broke out away from the tackle that led to offsetting penalties. The Cougs picked up eight yards on the first play and then de Laura hit Stribbling for the first down. WSU’s offense then tried to run it with expiring time for a three yard gain as Borghi wasn’t able to get out bounds. The Cougars used their second time out of the half after Borghi was hit on a out route with 14 seconds left in the half.
A shovel pass up the middle results in a small gain and six wasted seconds. On the next play Stribbling picked up 13 yards before he stepped out of bounds. The Janikowski missed the 48 yarder as time expired; WSU went into the half time locker room up 13-7.
WSU won the toss and elected to receive. On the first play from scrimmage Borghi lost a yard and then picked up only a yard. But on third down de Laura stepped up into the pocket and hit Jackson Jr. to pick up the first down. It was a pair of nine yard gains, on the back of Borghi and the other through a completion to move into Washington territory.
The first touchdown of the game came two plays later when Borghi got outside of the tackles and then ran through the UW defense for a 32 yard touchdown to make it 7-0 WSU.
Huard’s first drive started at the 12 yard line after the kick return was stuffed. On first down a wide out screen resulted in a three yard loss. It was followed up by a an incomplete pass on second and another one on third down to force a fourth down.
After the punt, McIntosh ran for eight yards and the offense kept picking up chunk plays as marched down field. This included a nice 27-yard pass on a corner of route. Unfortunately that was followed up by a delay of game penalty. The drive was stuffed when McIntosh was stopped for a loss of three. Janikowski hit a 31 yard field goal to make 10-0 Washington State.
Stone Jr. blew up the next play for a loss of three. It was them followed up by a fumbled exchange which Huard recovered. On third down, Huard broke out of the pocket and connected with McMillan for an 18 yard gain that was still short of the line of gain. That was followed up by 71 yard punt that squeaked into the end zone for a net punt of 51 yards.
Smith came out on the next drive and dialed up a pass into flat. After review, the call on the field stood as a catch. Borghi was stuffed on the next play for a loss of four. The next play was a broken RPO that saw de Laura fake out the Husky linebacker before he cut back to pick up seven yards to make it third and seven.
After the quarter break, de Laura came out and hit Jackson for a 12-yard gain. Then a 54 yard Borghi touchdown negated by a holding call at the line of scrimmage. The next two plays got them back to third and ten. On the third down play de Laura hit Stribbling for a eight yard gain. Washington State was forced to punt it for the first time in the game.
Washington’s next drive stared with a two yard pass into the flat and then an incomplete pass that hit the wideout as he dove for the ball. On third and nine, Huard overthrew his wideout and Marsh chased it down for the interception.
After the interception, the Cougars hit an eight yard slant to Harris. On the next play Washington was flagged for a face mask to get the Cougars into the red zone. Borghi picked up nine yards but was stuffed on the next play. The third down play was a option run on which de Laura pitched it to the running back but he was stuffed short of the line of gain; after a false start negated a made field goal, Janikowski hit the next one to make it 13-0 Washington State.
After a crazy ass kick, that has me still confused, Washington took over at the 40. The Huskies picked up nine yards on a second down run after the first down play led to no gain. But the third and one run was stuffed short. Washington State called a timeout on fourth and one; a run up the gut led to the first first down for Washington.
Washington’s offense benefited from a beautiful catch on a Ja’Lynn Polk on the side line for a 29 yard gain. The next two plays gained 15 yards and punched it into the end zone to make it 13-7 Washington State with 1:31 left in the half.
Post game thoughts
- HELL YEAH RUSH THE FUCKING FIELD
- A 27 point win is the largest margin for WSU in the rivalry history enjoy it Cougs
- The streak is fucking dead and it’s glorious
- Jayden de Laura is going to be a beast in two years
- Dubs. Fucking. Down
- That was the first win in Seattle, Wash. since 2007 and it felt glorious
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Categories: NCAA, NCAA Football
