WSU Cougars snap 6-game losing streak, make it look easy vs. Colorado – The Seattle Times

PULLMAN — Kyle Williams tuned out the rest of Martin Stadium, the happiest place on the Palouse on Friday night, and stared directly at Travis Hunter. Washington State’s star wide receiver and Colorado’s two-way star had been going at it all night. Talking trash all game.
So Williams could only punctuate his touchdown reception, which he caught over Hunter to balloon WSU’s lead in its 56-14 win, one way: By holding up his wrist.
Williams was mocking Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders and his signature celebration, but the good news for the Cougars was they had several chances to do so in this win, which snapped their six-game losing streak and gave them an opportunity of a lifetime: Win next week’s Apple Cup and become bowl eligible.
WSU (5-6, 2-6 Pac-12) had ample opportunities to soak in this win, and the Cougs capitalized on each one. Edge rusher Brennan Jackson, who recorded two scoops-and-scores, hit the celebration. So did receiver Lincoln Victor, who took a handoff and raced into the end zone, and so did edge RJ Stone Jr., who recorded two of his team’s five sacks.
“A lot of people (are saying), where it’s been? It’s always been here,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said.
Washington State, which won its first game since Sept. 23, could hardly do any wrong. Quarterback Cam Ward, who exited in the third quarter, completed 18 of 30 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns — plus 27 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground. Running back Nakia Watson looked rejuvenated and healthy, and he showed it by logging 47 rushing yards, his most all season.
Shedeur Sanders left the game in the second quarter after taking a big hit on a botched snap. He was slow to get up but walked off the field on his own before being taken to the locker room. The junior was 6 of 10 for 86 yards,
“He had some numbness in his hand and couldn’t really grip the ball,” Colorado coach Deion Sanders said of his soon. “But then that second hit he just got rolled up on, we decided not to send him back out.”
The Cougs’ offense, a shaky outfit for almost all season, looked ironclad. Ward didn’t just avoid turning it over. He looked like the Ward who emerged as a darkhorse Heisman Trophy candidate for the first four weeks of the season. He unfurled perfect deep balls to receiver Josh Kelly, who reeled in six catches for 130 yards, and he checked into perfect play calls, like the quick-strike pass to Watson, who bolted into the end zone for a score in the second frame, pushing WSU’s lead to 28-7.
Even Washington State’s special-teams unit, which had played 10 uneventful games to this point, erupted. In the first stanza, sophomore wideout Leyton Smithson fielded a kickoff at the 2, saw a crease, burst through it and surged upfield, waltzing into the end zone for the Cougs’ first kickoff return for a touchdown since 2018.
Whatever happened to the Washington State team that opened up with four straight wins, capturing the attention of the country and prying open the doors to a power conference, it returned to action on Friday night.
Perhaps most encouraging for the Cougs: That version of their defense resurfaced, too. Washington State recorded three takeaways: Jackson’s two fumble recoveries — the first forced by Stone’s strip-sack — and in the third quarter, linebacker Taariq Al-Uqdah picked off a pass.
Except he didn’t just pick off a pass. Here’s how it went: Colorado’s third-string, walk-on QB Gavin Kuld, replacing the injured Sanders, unloaded a throw. WSU edge Raam Stevenson jumped and tipped it. Kuld caught it. He looked to pass again, so he did, which is when Al-Uqdah leaped in front of the ball and snared it.
Good luck finding much fault in the Cougs’ effort on defense. That interception capped WSU’s string of eight-straight stops. That span included five three-and-outs. Colorado did rattle off one highlight, a touchdown bomb from Sanders to Hunter in the first quarter — but otherwise, the Buffaloes won’t have much fun reviewing the film from this one.
“They came to play from start to finish. They executed early, they executed often, they came to play,” Sanders said. “And with Shedeur out on top of that, it was tough.”
If there was ever a player who made sure of that, it was Jackson, who registered his third scoop-and-score this season. The second, which covered 74 yards, went like this: Kuld ran the option and tried to pitch it to running back Dylan Edwards, but the ball fell to the turf, where Jackson grabbed it. He took off in the opposite direction, and no Buffalo dared track him down.
There may have been no better swan song at Martin Stadium than the one Jackson authored. He has already entered the top-10 all-time leaderboard in WSU’s sacks department. He has cemented himself as not only a fan favorite — but one of the program’s best players ever. To go out this way was poetic.
For Washington State to play its final Pac-12 game at this venue was, too. The Cougs still don’t know which conference they’ll be playing in next year and beyond. That much is out of the coaches’ and players’ hands. Bowl eligibility still is and for the next week, that is all that matters in Pullman.
But not in Boulder. The loss means the Buffaloes won’t be going to a bowl game.
Colorado (4-7, 1-7) and “Coach Prime” were the darlings of college football after a 3-0 start, but the team has lost seven of eight since.
Despite a massive improvement upon last year’s win total, Sanders said the program measures itself against its own expectations.
“We’re falling short of what we’re capable of, that’s the part of this that’s tough to digest. We’ve got high expectations here, so this is tremendously disappointing,” said Sanders.
The Spokesman-Review and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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