PULLMAN, Wash. – As the clock hit zero late Friday night, the Washington State Cougars ended the Colorado Buffaloes’ bowl game chances while keeping their own hopes alive.
However, the Cougars didn’t just put the Buffs’ chances to rest. They danced on, chanted at, mocked, and demolished any possibility of CU seeing a bowl game at the end of Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders’ first year in Boulder.
“I’m very saddened with how we played,” Coach Prime said after the 56-14 loss. “We practiced hard this past week, we prepared like no other. And to go display a performance like that is not indicative of who we are, what we are, how we are.”
After a sack by WSU edge rusher Ron Stone Jr. on the third play of the opening drive forced CU to punt, Washington State led a seven-play, 65-yard drive for six. On the drive, Cougars’ wide receiver Lincoln Victor caught two passes for 19 yards before running in a 15-yard handoff for the first score of the game.
Victor caught five passes for 49 yards in addition to his one rush for a touchdown in the huge win.
The black and gold looked to respond on the following possession but quickly found themselves in another third-and-long situation. This time, Stone one-upped himself. As Sanders looked deep, Stone came from the backside to knock the ball loose as he leveled the junior quarterback. In the blink of an eye, WSU’s Brennan Jackson picked up the fumble and was running 40 yards the other way. As Jackson broke the plane for the first of his two scoop-and-score touchdowns on the night, many sporting red and gray in Martin Stadium flashed their wrist to mock Sanders' iconic celebration as Sanders appeared shaken up.
Down 14-0 with their injured quarterback hurting even more than when he began the game, the Buffs needed to make something happen, which they did. After trading punts following the defensive touchdown, Sanders found two-way superstar Travis Hunter for a 45-yard touchdown.
Now, the defense needed a stop.
Before they had the chance to do so, Washington State’s Leyton Smithson returned Colorado’s kickoff 98 yards to the house. As the sophomore wideout ran away from the white jerseys chasing him, the crowd roared and the mockery continued.
“That’s not the recipe for a win,” Coach Prime said about the fumble and kick returns for WSU touchdowns.
With three quarters left to play, the Buffs certainly couldn’t quit– the game isn’t over until it’s over, right?
But when another third down hit finally sidelined Sanders for the rest of the game, the result of the matchup was inevitable and a Colorado bowl game was out the window. The tough quarterback who had yet to miss a snap despite numerous injuries and received multiple pain-relieving injections to keep playing hobbled off the field with just under 11 minutes to play in the second quarter. As Sanders headed to the locker room, the image of the Buffs’ leader’s hanging head epitomized Washington State’s dominating win.
“They rolled up his ankle and, uh, that was it,” Coach Prime said about his son’s injury. “He couldn’t grip the ball and then his ankle, so that took him out of the game. The rest was history.”
As Colorado tried to fight back, the Cougars proved to be too much. Across the last 40 minutes of the game, junior quarterback Cam Ward helped Washington State pour on 35 more points to CU’s seven. With “overrated” chants raining down from the stands, the Buffs’ bowl game chances were officially buried as WSU went on to win 56-14.
“I’ve been boasting since the beginning of the season, I have not seen us quit,” Coach Prime said. “...There was some plays in the first half that I didn’t see the passion I wanted to see.”
When Sanders left the game, he had completed six passes on 10 tries for 86 yards and a touchdown. His replacements, freshman Ryan Staub and junior Gavin Kuld, combined for six total completions on 17 attempts for 78 yards and an interception.
WSU's Ward finished 18-of-30 for 288 yards and two passing touchdowns along with 10 rushes for 27 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
“Great win by our opponents,” Coach Prime said. “They played a heck of a game, coached a heck of a game, they came to play, um, candidly from the start to the finish.”
The Buffaloes head to Utah to face off against the No. 16 Utah Utes on Saturday, Nov. 25.
"I'm still trying to figure out our identity," Coach Prime said.
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