Washington State University accomplished their 11th win at the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio Friday night.
The final score was 26 to 28, just shy of the Associated Press’s pick of Washington State over Iowa at 27 to 21.
The crowd was heavily pro-Iowa State, but we all know the Cougs aren’t worried about that. The game featured three turnovers in the first eight minutes.
Here’s the last one:
Marcus Strong intercepting Iowa State in the red zone. However, Strong was called for taunting as he celebrated while heading toward the end zone. The Cougs were still given the point.
Gardner Minshew started the team off by getting the first point. He threw to Renard Bell at 6:55 in the first quarter, bringing the game to seven and zero.
Strong took out Iowa State QB Brock Purdy at 12:44 in the first, with the score still in the Cougs’ favor. With 6:08 left in the second quarter, Minshew decides it’s time to use his feet and run to the end zone, bringing the Cougs to 14, Iowa State still had nothing.
Right before half-time, Minshew finds a leaping Dezmon Patmon. That left the Cougs with a 21 to nothing score going into half-time.
Minshew passed for 299 yards to help Washington State (11-2) set a school record for wins in a season. Minshew’s biggest play came out of desperation and it set up the winning score.
Iowa State (8-5) rallied from down 21-10 at halftime to 21-20 early in the fourth quarter before running back David Montgomery fumbled on the Cyclones 30. Minshew, who had been held in check in the third quarter, escaped a third-down pass rush to flip a shovel pass that went for 20 yards.
The play stunned the Cyclones, and Max Borghi ran in from 10 yards on the next play to put the Cougars ahead 28-20. Iowa State’s last chance came after Brock Purdy scored from a yard out with 4:02 left.
The Cyclones went for two, but a pass play was stopped well short of the goal line after a false-start penalty pushed the line of scrimmage back to the 7. Purdy passed for 315 yards and Cyclones receiver Hakeem Butler caught nine passes for 192 yards. Montgomery rushed for 124 yards.
THE TAKEAWAY
Washington State: Minshew dazzled again and did it while taking some big shots. Twice the quarterback was hit by tackles that resulted in Iowa State defenders getting tossed from the game. Minshew kept plugging away, checking through his reads, often dumping out passes to avoid trouble.
Iowa State: Iowa State’s defense did a solid job against one of the country’s top quarterbacks all night, but the Cyclones were bedeviled by key turnovers. Purdy threw two first-quarter interceptions, including one that set up Washington State’s first touchdown, and the ever-reliable Montgomery coughed up the ball just when he was starting to wear down the Cougars defense and breaking tackles. He lost the ball while moving the pile toward a first down.