Cougar halfback Nakia Watson ran for 166 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown as the Cougs travel to The Farm in Palo Alto and take it to the Cardinal 52-14 on Saturday. With the victory, the Cougs snap a 3-game losing streak and move to 5-4, one win away from becoming bowl eligible.
WSU’s offense got going early and often in the first half starting with a Watson run of 65 yards down to the Cardinal 12 and punched in the end zone from 3 yards out for a touchdown by Leyton Smithson. Cameron Ward, the following Cougar possession connected with Anderson Grover for a 7-yard touchdown pass to give the Cougs an early 14-0 lead. The Cougs again scored on their third straight possession on a Ward 15-yard touchdown run and the Cougs had a 3 score lead in the first quarter.
The Cougs defense was working on all cylinders with 4 takeaways and only allowing 70 yards rushing which has been Stanford’s main weapon under David Shaw. Jaden Hicks returned a fumble 17-yards for the Cougar score midway through the second to help out their already potent offense. After a fumble recovery by Benjamin Yurosek with a minute to go in the half, Watson ran for a 41-yard touchdown to give the Cougs a commanding 42-14 lead at the break.
With a 49-14 lead in the 4th, Freshman QB John Mateer came in to relieve Ward and connected with Orion Peters on a 27-yard TD pass to polish off the Cardinal.
The Cougar defense held Stanford to 337 yards of total offense and no points in the second half, something the Leach teams in the past weren’t able to do. WSU had been in every game this season and are a few plays away from winning each game the lost. The Cougs take on the Arizona State Sun Devils on Saturday at 12:30. They look to punch their ticket to a bowl game for the 7th straight season.
