Following last week’s bye, Washington State traveled to Tempe, Ariz. for a Week 7 matchup against Arizona State in the third Pac-12 contest for both teams. WSU is coming off losses to UCLA and Utah to start conference play. Here is a recap of what happened:
FIRST QUARTER: WSO won the toss and elected to receive. The Cougars soon faced a 4th-and-1 from their 43 and Leach elected to go for it. Borghi ran for 7 yards and the first down at midfield. ASU was also flagged for a facemask penalty, pushing the ball to the ASU 35. Next play, Gordon went over the top to Travell Harris, who made a leaping catch in the middle of the end zone for the 35-yard TD play. Harris has 18 receptions on the season, 5 for TDs. SCORE: WSU 7, ASU 0. Drive: 5 plays, 66 yards. The first impression of the new look Cougs defense was positive as ASU went 3-and-out with QB Daniels getting sacked on 3rd down. WSU took over at its 15 and drove as far as the ASU 16 before the drive stalled with three straight incomplete passes. Gordon had completed 7 of his first 8 passes on the drive. Blake Mazza booted a 33-yard field goal with 5:19 left to give the Cougs a 2-score lead. SCORE: WSU 10, ASU 0. Drive: 13 plays, 69 yards. The WSU defense continued to bring the energy on ASU’s 2nd possession, sacking Daniels and first and third downs after the Sun Devils reached the WSU 40. But WSU went 3-and-out on its third possession as they continued to focus on throwing the football. ASU held the ball in its own territory when the 1Q ended. WSU outgained ASU, 118-23, as the Cougs D enjoyed one if its best quarters of the season.
SECOND QUARTER: ASU converted a 3rd-and-7 on the first play of the 2Q. After driving to the WSU 40, the Sun Devils faced another 3rd down when WR Brandon Aiyuk got behind safety Skyler Thomas and caught a 40-yard TD pass from Daniels in stride around the 10-yard yards line and raced into the end zone to cut WSU’s lead to 3 points with 11:50 left 2Q. SCORE: WSU 10, ASU 7. Drive: 8 plays, 73 yards. On the first play of WSU’s ensuing possession, Harris caught a short pass, spun away from a defender and ran to the WSU 42 for a 29-yard gain. Moments later, Patmon outfought an ASU CB for a 29-yard completion to the ASU 29. On 3rd and 7, ASU was flagged for roughing the passer to give the Cougs a first down at the ASU 13. Gordon to Jackson for 12 yards, bringing up 2nd down inside the 1. However, WSU challenged the call, saying Jackson dove into the end zone before his knee hit the ground. The call was upheld. After Borghi was stuffed at the line of scrimmage, Patmon was left open in the middle back of the end zone by the ASU defense and he easily snagged a TD pass from Gordon with 8:15 left 2Q. 4th TD catch of the season for Patmon. SCORE: WSU 17, ASU 7. Drive: 7 plays, 87 yards ASU moved just past midfield on its next possession before Daniels sailed his third down pass well out of bounds as ASU punted for the third time. Three straight completions from Gordon to Winston moved the ball from the WSU 7 to the 31. On 3rd and 5 from the 36, Borghi was held to 2 yards on a run and the Cougs punted. The poor Cougs D we saw in the final 6 quarters against UCLA/UTAH reared its ugly head when Aiyuk caught a short slant pass, shook off a would-be tackler and raced 86 yards for the TD. SCORE: WSU 17, ASU 14. Drive: 2 plays, 87 yards. WSU went 3-and-out on its next possession to give the ball back to ASU with 1:29 left 2Q. More poor tackling on Benjamin’s 20-yard run up the middle. ASU moved past midfield and Daniels rolled left and hit freshman WR Ricky Pearsall for 25 yards to the WSU 19 with 16 seconds left 2Q. Daniels threw a pass beyond the end zone to set up a 31-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. SCORE: WSU 17, ASU 17. Drive: 8 plays, 62 yards.
THIRD QUARTER: ASU came out in the second half trying to establish the run with Eno Benjamin. On the 4th play, the WSU defense knocked the ball loose and recovered a fumble at midfield. The play was reviewed. The officials ruled the ASU player fumbled the ball but it was touched by a player (RJ Stone) out of bounds. Thus, ASU regained possession. Benjamin continued to tote the rock (5 carries for 43 yards) as the Sun Devils moved inside the WSU 35. On 4th and 1 from the WSU 32, Benjamin burst through the middle for the 32-yard TD rumble to give the Cougars the lead for the first time. SCORE: ASU 24, WSU 17. Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards. ASU ran the ball 7 times on the drive, 6 by Benjamin for 65 yards. Gordon found Bell and Winston twice as WSU moved out to midfield. Winston’s third reception of the drive moved the ball to the 35. On the next play, WSU was flagged for illegal man downfield. But Gordon got the yardage back and more as Patmon was left alone on the right side for a 22-yard completion to move the ball inside the red zone. On 3rd down, Winston was hammered on a 9-yard reception on 3rd and 10. On 4th and 1, Borghi ran through the right side for the first down to the ASU 7. Swing pass to Borghi for 5 yards to the 2. Next play, Gordon fired a TD pass to Winston for his 9th TD reception of the season to even the score after the PAT with 5:35 left 3Q. SCORE: WSU 24, ASU 24. Drive: 14 plays, 91 yards. Winston had 5 receptions for 46 yards on the drive to give him 9 receptions for 79 yards with plenty of time left. Bryce Beekman and Lamonte McDougle stuffed the ASU ball carrier for a 1-yard loss on 3rd and 2 to force the punt. A 14-yard completion to Jackson and PI penalty on ASU moved the ball to the WSU 37. Borghi rumbled 22 yards through the middle for his longest run of the afternoon. On 2nd and 9 from the 40, Gordon hit Patmon for 18 yards to the ASU 22. Swing pass to Borghi and a 13-yard pass to Jackson gave WSU a 1st and goal from the 2. Borghi powered into the end zone after a timeout with 10 seconds left 3Q. It was Borghi’s 5th rushing TD of the season and wrapped up a 14-point quarter for the Cougs. SCORE: WSU 31, ASU 24. WSU had 173 yards of offense in the 3Q, scoring on 91 and 92 yard drives. ASU penalties were a factor too.
END THIRD QUARTER: Washington State 31, Arizona State 24.
FOURTH QUARTER: ASU opened the 4Q with a 9-play, 84-yard drive, scoring on a 33-yard TD pass to Aiyuk to even the score. Benjmain ran 3 times on the drive and increased his rushing total to 125 yards on 16 carries after the possession. ASU increased its total yards to 448 with more than 11 mins remaining. SCORE WSU 31, ASU 31. Delay of game and holding penalties put the Cougs behind the chains before its first possession of the 4Q could get started. Winston caught 4 straight passes for 27 yards, giving him 13 catches for 106 yards in the game. However, the drive stalled and Draguicevich’s booming 58-yard punt was downed at the 3-yd line with 7:53 left. A false start penalty put ASU into a 3rd-and-8 hole and Daniels was nearly tackled in the end zone for a safety but he escaped. The 29-yard punt gave WSU great field possession at the ASU 36 with 5-1/2 minutes left. Pass to Martin for 17 yards. Borghi leaped over a ASU defender to give WSU a first down at the 12. A 9-yard pass on 3rd and 14 gave WSU a reasonable FG opportunity. Mazza’s first attempt from 31 yards out sailed wide but Leach called timeout before the kick, giving Mazza another chance. This time, he drilled the kick to make him 8-for-8 on the season. SCORE: WSU 34, ASU 31. Drive: 5 plays, 22 yards. ASU started from the 25 with 2:30 left. ASU has 2 timeouts. ASU quickly moved to the 40, converting a 4th and 2 with a 5-yard carry by the workhorse Benjamin, when a 15-yard pass put the ball at the WSU 25 with 44 seconds left. 8-yard pass to Aiyuk. Daniels get loose and scrambles into the end zone for the 17 yard TD run with 34 seconds left. SCORE: ASU 38, WSU 34. Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards. Needing a TD to win, Gordon threw to Fisher for 29 yards on the first play of the final possession. A 12-yard pass to Winston (his 14th reception of the game) moved the ball to the 43, allowing for one or two Hail Mary passes. On the final play, Gordon was pressured, rolled left and his wobbly pass fell harmlessly to the ground as the clock hit zeroes.
FINAL SCORE: Arizona State 38, Washington State 34.
