Washington State Football: 3 reasons to watch Alamo Bowl vs Iowa State

2. Quarterback battle

The Alamo Bowl pits together one of the more interesting quarterback battles in the 2018-2019 bowl season between Iowa State’s Brock Purdy and Washington State’s Gardner Minshew. In 2018, the two have combined to throw 6,412 yards, 52 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, and that’s without Brock Purdy playing in the Cyclones first four games as he was behind Kyle Kempt and Zeb Noland to start the season.

Minshew arrived to Pullman as a grad transfer from East Carolina, where he battled for the starting quarterback job for the better part of two seasons. He arrived in Pullman and won the starting job and for a while, was considered a darkhorse for the Heisman Trophy. Minshew threw for 4,477 yards, 36 touchdowns and nine interceptions while leading the Cougars to 10-2 record and a runner-up finish in the Pac-12 North.

Purdy, as stated earlier, was buried behind incumbent starter Kyle Kempt and Zeb Noland on the depth chart to start the year. But injuries and inconsistent play thrust the true freshman into the game at Oklahoma State, and from there on out, would set the Big 12 ablaze. Purdy has thrown for 1,935 yards, 16 touchdowns, five interceptions, 262 rushing yards and three touchdowns as well.