FIRST QUARTER: Washington State won the toss and elected to receiver. The WSU offensive line showed right away they came to play by giving QB Anthony Gordon plenty of time in the pocket. Gordon completed 4 of his first 5 passes as WSU crossed midfield. The Cougs converted their first three third down opportunities. On 3rd and 7 from the STA 45, Arconado caught a 12-yard pass to the STA 33. On 3rd and 6, Gordon found Winston on the left side and he tirned the short pass into a 29-yard touchdown, diving into the end zone. The officials initially ruled him out of bounds at the 1, but changed the ruling after video review. The PAT was blocked. Gordon was 7-10 passing for 69 yards on the drive. He now has 35 TD passes. SCORE: WSU 6, Stanford 0. Drive: 11 plays, 72 yards. Backup QB Davis Mills started for Stanford in place of the injured KJ Costello. Connor Wedington made a nice 1-handed catch on third down to keep Stanford’s first drive alive. However, the drive stalled at the WSU 34 and the Cardinal punted. Borghi bounced to the outside and carried for 12 yards on WSU’s first play of its second possession. He then ran for 10 yards. After a holding call, Gordon scrambled for 12 yards. Pass complete to Patmon for 18 yards. On 3rd and 6, Stanford was flagged for holding, a 10-yard penalty that gave WSU a 1st down at the STA 39. On 3rd and 10, Arconado made a fantastic catch as he fell out of bounds. He managed to get one foot down for the 19-yard completion. The officials ruled incomplete, but changed the call upon review. Two plays later, Gordon found Martin around the 10-yard line and he scampered into the end zone from there for his 4th TD reception of the season. PAT good. SCORE: WSU 13, STA 0. Drive: 11 plays, 96 yards, 5:17. Stanford drove as far as the WSU 45 before punting on its next possession. WSU started from its 7-yard line and possessed the ball when the first quarter ended.
END OF FIRST QUARTER: Washington State 13, Stanford 0.
SECOND QUARTER: On WSU’s second play of the 2Q, Borghi hurdled a defender after catching a swing pass and sailed to the WSU 25. Several plays later, Gordon found Renard Bell all alone on the right side and the 28-yard completion on 3rd and 10 moved the ball to the 23. Soon, WSU penetrated the red zone and faced a 3rd and 2 at the 15. Gordon threaded the needle between 3 Stanford defenders and connected with Winston for a 15-yard TD with 12:07 left 2Q. PAT no good. Gorodn went over the 4,000-yard passing mark on the throw. SCORE: WSU 19, STA 0. Drive: 10 plays, 97 yards, 3:06. WSU is 5-for-5 on 3rd down. Stanford responded quickly with a 2-play, 75-yard drive, scoring on a 28-yard TD strike. SCORE: WSU 19, STA 7. Drive: 2 plays, 75 yards. Arconado continued to be Gordon’s favorite target, catching a pair of passes for 29 yards early on WSU’s next possession. Borghi’s 8-yard run moved the ball to the STA 36. Two more 3rd down conversions made WSU 7-for-7 on 3rd down. Swing pass to Borghi gains 9 to STA 21 + personal foul penalty (late hit). 1st down at STA 11. On 2nd and 10, Gordon’s pass was intercepted at the 1. He tried to throw in a tight window down the right hash and it didn’t work. On 3rd and 9 from the 2, Wedington caught a 43-yard pass to the 45. Then a 17-yard pass moved the ball to the WSU 38. But a sack and loss on a screen pass set up a 3rd and 18 from the WSU 46. Stanford QB scrambled right and threw pass to an open receiver for 23 yards and a first down at the 23-yard line. After a timeout, Stanford narrowed the gap to 5 points with a 23-yard TD pass from Mills to Wilson. SCORE WSU 19, STA 14. Drive: 9 plays, 99 yards. WSU took over with 1:41 left 2Q and quickly drove down the field into the red zone. Completions to Harris for 21 yards + Martin for 22 yards fueled the drive. Gordon sacked on 2nd down. Incomplete pass on 3rd down. Almost intercepted by Stanford LB. Mazza comes on for 35-yard FG attempt. Mazza is now 16-for-16 on FG attempts. GOOD! But another missed opportunity in the red zone for WSU. SCORE: WSU 22, STA 14. Drive: 7 plays, 49 yards, 1:16. Stanford ran 3 plays before the 2Q ended.
THIRD QUARTER: Stanford got the ball at the outset of the second half and would have gone 3-and-out but Langford was flagged for pass interference to give the Cardinal a first down. Stanford took advantage with a 21-yard completion to Parkinson, a 6-7 TE, to the WSU 33. Consecutive false start penalties by the Cardinal moved the ball back 10 yards. PI on Rogers bailed out Stanford, though. Nice PBU by Langford on 3rd down set up a 39-yard FG attempt by Stanford. No Good! Cougs still ahead by 8 points as they get the ball for the 1st time. Gordon completed his first 4 passes of the possession, including a 30-yarder to Martin to move the ball to the STA 27. But a short run and sack set up 3rd and long. 11 yards to Harris on 3rd down. Probably could have gained the first down but fell down. Mazza comes on for 38-yard FGA. GOOD! Cougs take a two-score lead with 6:35 left 3Q. SCORE: WSU 25, STA 14. Drive: 8 plays, 58 yards, 3:59. Stanford burned the WSU secondary again with a 54-yard completion to Fehoko. Two plays later, Fehoko again for the TD. Stanford goes for 2. Run right. Good. SCORE: WSU 25, STA 22. Drive: 4 plays, 83 yards. Travell Harris broke loose for a long 83-yard kickoff return, flying through the Stanford coverage. Wasn’t tackled until the 10-yard line. Timely return by Harris. Pass to Arconado into left corner of end zone. All alone. TD!!! 3:29 left 3Q. PAT good. SCORE WSU 32, STA 22. Drive: 2 plays, 10 yards. Loss of 5 yards on a pass and third down sack by Woods forced Stanford to punt with less than a minute left 3Q. WSU had 3rd and 1 at its 39 when the 4Q started.
END THIRD QUARTER: Washington State 32, Stanford 22.
FOURTH QUARTER: Borghi doing Borghi things as the sophomore rambled for 37 yards to the STA 24 on the first play of the 4Q. However, the drive eventually stalled at the 18 and Blake Mazza booted a 35-yard FG with 13:02 left 4Q. SCORE: WSU 35, STA 22. Drive: 7 plays, 52 yards, 2:11. Stanford was close to midfield when Mills scrambled to the left and tried to throw to a receiver near the sideline. Skyler Thomas, though, stepped in front for the timely interception. WSU moved to the STA 26 but a holding penalty on Kingston pushed the ball back 10 yards. On 3rd down, Gordon threw a dime to Winston over the middle for 22 yards + 1st down at the 14. Pass to Winston + facemask penalty and the ball is at the 2. Swing pass to Borghi. Somersaults into the end zone at the pylon! TD! Gordon’s 39th TD pass of the season, new single season school record. SCORE: WSU 42, STA 22. Drive: 7 plays, 49 yards, 3:42. Stanford didn’t quit, though. Completions of 27 and 18 yards moved the Cardinal past midfield. On 4th and 3, Strong was called for PI, giving Stanford a 1st down at the 11 as the clock moved under 6 minutes. Next play, Woods made a leaping interception in the end zone to deny the Cardinal and give the ball back to the Cougs with 5:45 left. On the fourth plays, Gordon flipped a pass to Arconado out to the right and the senior WR raced all the way to the STA 4, setting the stage for Borghi’s 4-yard TD run moments later. Borghi went over 100 yards rushing on the drive. SCORE: WSU 49, STA 22. Drive: 5 plays, 80 yards. Stanford failed on 4th down and turned the ball over on down with 2:07 left. WSU goes into victory formation.
