Washington State torches Colorado Buffaloes 41-10

The last few times the Colorado Buffaloes have headed to Martin Stadium have ended in agony. It wasn’t any different on Saturday night. On a blistery, rainy evening in Pullman Anthony Gordon, the FBS passing leader, threw for 369 yards, four touchdowns and a late interception in the Cougars 41-10 victory over Colorado.

Washington State (4-3, 1-3 Pac-12) took a 14-0 lead over Colorado (3-4, 1-3 Pac-12) before Gordon put 100 yards passing in the books at the 6:53 mark in the first quarter. The 22-yard touchdown pass from Gordon to Dezmon Patmon came off the heels of Steven Montez’s first interception in the game.

For Montez, it was a two-game road stand to forget. After a career-worst four interception performance in the loss to No. 13 Oregon, Montez completed 16-of-30 passes against the Cougars, along with two costly interceptions. It all adds up to a stunning six interceptions in the past 43 pass attempts for the Buffs senior quarterback. Montez was pulled midway through the fourth quarter in favor of backup Tyler Lytle, who was hurt on his first snap of the game. Buffaloes third-string quarterback Blake Stenstrom ended up finishing the rest of the contest.

Max Borghi accounted for two of WSU’s early touchdowns— a 4-yard pass from Gordon and a 47-yard run to give the cougars a 21-3 lead to end the first quarter. From that point on the Cougars went into cruise control, going into halftime with a 24-3 lead over the Buffs, who struggled to gain a total of 189 yards on 38 offensive plays.

Borghi, a Colorado native who originally committed to CU, made the best of the game against his hometown team. He finished with 156 total yards (105 rushing, 57 receiving) and the pair of scores.

The only touchdown put on the board by the Buffs came from a 6-yard wildcat run by Laviska Shenault Jr. at the 5:06 mark of the third quarter, the second rushing score on the season for the DeSoto receiver. Colorado hasn’t thrown a touchdown at Washington State since 2012.

On paper, Washington State dominated Colorado in nearly every category. They ended up with a total of 497 yards of total offense and averaged 6.7 yards per play. The Cougars did everything right when it mattered, forcing three turnovers and converting on 7-of-14 (50%) attempts on third down.

Up Next

It’s a short week for the Buffs with USC coming to Boulder on Friday night (7 p.m./ TV: ESPN). As for Washington State, they head on a tough back-to-back road swing with 12th-ranked Oregon and Cal.