Washington State, featuring the nations’ No. 1 passing offense, played without injured star QB Luke Falk, a front-runner for Pac-12 player of the year honors.
Advertisement
For more on this game, see Saturday’s Tribune. Bender did step in for Falk last week.
Washington State quarterback Peyton Bender will make his first career start today when the Cougars face the Huskies in the 108th Apple Cup, according to Stefanie Loh of the Seattle Times.
Be Civil – It’s OK to have a difference in opinion but there’s no need to be a jerk.
But with Falk sidelined by a head injury, the Washington Huskies held their cross-state rivals without a touchdown for almost three quarters in a surprisingly dominant 45-10 victory before a crowd of 70,348 at Husky Stadium. For the season, Bender is 17-of-33 for 210 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Washington State enters play with an 8-3 record and is an incredible 9-2 against the spread this season. Even with a bowl game remaining Gaskin posted just the 18th 1,000-yard season in school history and most ever by a freshman with 1,111.
Meanwhile, the Cougars couldn’t stop making mistakes on a day they needed to be close to ideal with Bender running the show. Dom Williams dropped a third-down pass on a tunnel screen that might have gone for a touchdown on WSU’s first possession, forcing the Cougars to settle for a field goal.
Advertisement
Erik Powell missed wide left from 42 yards on Washington State’s next series and two fumbles inside Washington territory cost the Cougars chances at points later in the half.
