Despite playing each other for decades in conference play, Washington State only managed to beat USC nine times over the years in a lopsided series. If the Cougars were to chalk up win No. 10, it wouldn’t be easy with a top five team coming to town and the Heisman Trophy favorite looking to do damage.
It wasn’t pretty at times, but Mike Leach‘s squad managed to get it done and set off a wild celebration on the Palouse late Friday night, pulling off the upset of No. 5 USC 30-27 and shaking up the Pac-12 and national title race in the process.
Though you would think it would be the Air Raid offense that propelled Wazzu into the win column, it was the Cougars’ defense that was the star of the show. Alex Grinch’s unit managed to contain USC quarterback Sam Darnold better than anybody has in two seasons, limiting the potential No. 1 pick to just 164 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. Oh, and he was forced into fumbling to seal the victory as well.
Of course, it didn’t help that USC lost three of their starting offensive linemen (and were down another coming in to the game) in the first half and were rather lackluster in the run game outside of a handful of plays -- such as a Ronald Jones 86-yard touchdown.
While perhaps not the sharpest outing for Cougars quarterback Luke Falk, it was a record-setting one as he moved into second place in Pac-12 history for career passing touchdowns (105) and took the top spot for career completions. All told, the signal-caller finished the night with 340 yards, two scores and an interception despite facing a ton of pressure on every drop back (five sacks). His backfield-mate Jamal Morrow stepped up with a quality performance as well, rushing for 91 yards and a touchdown while catching five passes for 47 yards and another score.
In doing so, the combo played a huge role in capturing one of the biggest victories for Washington State in years and possibly make them the team to beat in the Pac-12 title race ahead of the highly anticipated Apple Cup. Leach has done a terrific job transforming the Cougars into a budding powerhouse and the team finally has that signature victory to hang their hat on after a perfect 10 on Friday night.