Washington opened up a seven-point lead in the first quarter.
Brock Huard combined with Jerome Pathon on a 15-yard scoring strike
with five minutes remaining.
SEATTLE -- Ryan Leaf threw for 358 yards, including two
long touchdowns, as the 11th-ranked Washington State Cougars earned
their first trip to the Rose Bowl in 67 years with a 41-35 win over
number-17 Washington. The Cougars snapped a two-game losing skid to
Washington and completed their magical season at 10-1 overall, 7-1 in
the Pac-10.Washington State will face the top-ranked Michigan Wolverines in the Rose Bowl. Michigan defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes, 20-14, earlier today. The Cougars' last appearance in Pasadena was New Year's Day 1931, when Alabama whipped them 24-0.
Washington opened up a seven-point lead in the first quarter.
Brock Huard combined with Jerome Pathon on a 15-yard scoring strike
with five minutes remaining.
The Cougars took command of the game with 17 unanswered points in the second quarter. Michael Black's eight-yard run tied the game just two minutes into the quarter. Leaf connected with Chris Jackson on a 56-yard scoring strike to give Washington State a 14-7 advantage. Rian Lindell nailed a 19-yard field goal with only 12 seconds remaining in the half to complete the score. All 17 first-half points for WSU were set up by Huskie turnovers.
The teams combined for 35 points in the third quarter. Washington
State's Rob Rainvile recovered a fumble in the end zone to give the
Cougars a 24-7 advantage with 9:47 left in the quarter. The Huskies
came back with 14 straight points. Huard found Fred Coleman for a 38-
yard TD strike, and three minutes later Tony Parrish picked off a Leaf
pass and sprinted 32 yards to pull Washington to within 24-21 with six
minutes remaining in the quarter.
Leaf tossed another bomb to give the Cougars a 10-point lead when he and Chris Jackson teamed up on a 51-yard scoring strike with 3:45 remaining in the quarter. Huard's third touchdown pass of the day, a 13-yarder to Mike Reid, put Washington within 31-28 with 15 seconds left in the quarter.
The Cougars responded immediately as Leaf recovered his own fumble in the end zone with 13:14 remaining in the game. He was trying to score from the one-yard line when he lost control of the ball.
Lindell booted his second field goal of the day, a 29-yarder, to
give Washington State a 41-28 lead with four minutes left in the
contest. Huard and Pathon combined for a meaningless score to account
for the final margin.
Leaf completed 23-of-38 passes, and he set three Pac-10 records. His two touchdown passes gave him 33 for the year, and he has 3,583 yards of total offense this year, surpassing California's Pat Barnes. He also bested Stanford's Steve Stenstrom on the single-season passing list with 3,637 yards.
GAME NOTES: Huard completed 18-of-36 passes for 283 yards and four scores, but was intercepted five times...Black rushed for 170 yards on 37 carries and one TD...Maurice Shaw paced the Huskies with 82 yards on the ground...Jackson had eight receptions for 185 yards for the Cougars...Coleman caught six balls for 124 for Washington...The Huskies have lost three straight and finished the year at 7-4.