Washington State Football: Cougs spurn Cal on last-minute touchdown

Washington State football had to fight for a full 60 minutes but finally pulled away from Cal on a last-minute touchdown pass from Gardner Minshew.

It wasn’t easy and it took every minute of the clock to achieve, but Washington State kept themselves alive in the College Football Playoff hunt with a 19-13 victory over the upset-minded Cal Golden Bears in a low-scoring edition of #Pac12AfterDark. Usual shootout winners Washington State had to turn to their defense, which held Cal to one touchdown and a couple of field goals.

The win puts Washington State at 8-1 with sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 North. The No. 8 Cougars have a chance to climb further in the Playoff rankings come Tuesday thanks to LSU’s goose egg against Alabama on Saturday night.

Washington State moves on to play Colorado, losers to Arizona in Week 10 while Cal hits the road to play USC. The Trojans are coming off a win against Oregon State. Before either team gets to the next weekend it’s time to put a bow on the hard-fought Washington State victory by taking a look at what we learned from each team in the late-night slugfest.