Photo credit: @18dMedia

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, November 4, 2017

Washington State effectively bottled up the injured Bryce Love, then pushed across a go-ahead touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, as the No. 25 Cougars stunned the visiting No. 18 Cardinal 24-21 Saturday in Pac-12 football at snowy Martin Stadium in Pullman, Wash.

With the victory, the Cougars (8-2 overall, 5-2 Pac-12) stayed in the Pac-12 North race. The Cardinal (6-3, 5-2) had not played in the snow since 1936, in a game against Columbia in New York.

The snow started falling heavily at the end of the first quarter.

The Cougars’ 94-yard winning drive was capped by an 11-yard touchdown pass from Luke Falk to Jamire Calvin with 6:56 remaining in the game.

Falk needed 132 passing yards to break the Pac-12 career record of 13,600 established by Sean Mannion of Oregon State. Falk was 34 of 48 passing for 337 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He needs three more touchdown passes to become the conference’s all-time leader in that category.

Cardinal quarterback K.J. Costello took advantage of a fortuitous bounce when he fumbled a snap. The ball bounced back into his hands, and Costello ran for a 14-yard touchdown pulling Stanford to within 17-14 in the third quarter.

On the Cougars’ next possession, Falk’s pass on fourth-and-one from midfield was intercepted by Bobby Okereke, who returned the pick 52 yards for a Stanford touchdown, giving the Cardinal a 21-17 lead.

After WSU regained the lead and chewed up three minutes of clock near the end of the fourth quarter, Frankie Lubu’s interception of a Costello pass ended the Cardinal’s final threat.

Love was held to 69 rushing yards, his lowest total of the season. Slowed by an ankle injury, Love came into the game as the nation’s leading rusher, averaging 198 yards per game.

After scoring on a 52-yard touchdown run on Stanford’s first play of the second quarter, Love ran 15 more times for 17 yards.

WSU outgained the Cardinal 430 yards to 198 in total offense.

Up Next
The Cardinal returns to The Farm this Friday night to host No. 12 Washington.