Gordon leads Washington State over Oregon State 54-53
PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — Max Borghi predicted that Washington State would beat Oregon State to become bowl eligible. On Saturday night, Borghi made his prediction come true with a 2-yard touchdown run with 2 seconds left to lift Washington State to a wild 54-53 victory.
The final drive of the game came after the Washington State defense stopped Oregon State on a fourth-and-6 with 1:10 left in the game. Anthony Gordon then led Washington State on a 10-play, 58-yard drive, capped by Borghi’s touchdown.
The win makes Washington State (6-5, 3-5 Pac-12) bowl eligible for the fifth consecutive year.
“It was a really wild game. I was proud of our guys for being tough enough to stick in there. We created a bunch of adversity for ourselves in the fourth quarter and then clawed our way out of it,” said Washington State coach Mike Leach. “The biggest thing in games like this is to have the resiliency to fight through them. You don’t know how it is going to unfold. The only way you are going to have a chance is if you fight through it and you are willing to do it from start to finish.”
Gordon went 50 of 70 for 606 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions. He broke the Pac-12 single season passing touchdown record formerly held by Jake Browning and Jared Goff when he hit Renard Bell in the end zone with 1:44 left in the third quarter. Gordon has 45 passing touchdowns for the season.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Gordon said. “I really haven’t had the time to reflect on it. The individual awards aren’t really all that important to me to be honest though. It just goes to show if you keep your head down and work hard anything is possible. I’m just real proud of the way our team battled. The defense did an unbelievable job of getting that stop on fourth down and giving us a chance and I’m so happy the way we pulled through on that last drive.”
Renard Bell had 108 receiving yards and two touchdowns and Dezmon Patmon added 75 yards and two touchdowns for the Cougars. Both Deon McIntosh and Calvin Jackson also caught touchdown passes and had 93 and 76 yards receiving for the Cougars. Borghi rushed for 44 yards and two touchdowns.