Commentary:
Two seniors and their last shot at getting everything right
Pelluer
and Minshew, deserving recipients of their Alamo Bowl MVP trophies, took
advantage of their final season of eligibility
By Dale
Grummert, Lewiston Trib
Dec 31,
2018
SAN
ANTONIO - Peyton Pelluer, flanked by his Defensive MVP trophy on one side and
by an empty seat on the other, sat at the head table of Washington State's
postgame news conference, waiting for the first question and suppressing what
appeared to be an urge to start dancing like John Travolta in "Saturday
Night Fever."
That would
have been interesting, because Cougars coach Mike Leach was sitting nearby and
we can all imagine how he feels about that film.
But, no,
the senior linebacker ended his little finger dance, donned a serious
expression and gave a serious answer.
In the
ensuing pause, someone gently but audibly knocked on the door. Since Pelluer,
as these Cougars are wont to do, had sent me reeling to the mid- to late-1970s,
I expected the bowl publicist to break into "Let 'Em In" by Paul
McCartney. But maybe the flack hadn't spent enough time with this team.
"Come
in," he said.
Thus
appeared Gardner Minshew, clutching a water bottle and his counterpart to
Pelluer's MVP trophy, this one for offense. Even when late, this guy has
perfect timing. And no doubt his lateness was justified. He'd been signing
autographs, or doing the Heimlich maneuver on a stricken Iowa State fan.
The
quarterback, who had beguiled teammates and fans with his inspired play and
uncanny leadership as a one-and-done grad transfer this year, wasn't wearing
the gaudy oversize Cougar disco suit that an anonymous fan had bequeathed to
him, and that he'd gladly worn for the flight to San Antonio. Nor was he
sporting his aviator shades.
With all
the celebrating that took place after the Cougs' 28-26 win over the Cyclones on
Friday night, maybe there wasn't time for Superman to change. Or maybe he just
wanted to be the real Gardner Minshew this time.
Of course,
his teammates had to acknowledge his tardiness.
"Who
do you think you are?" Jalen Thompson said.
Pelluer
just pshawed. Twice.
Minshew
took a seat, flashed his electric smile, placed his trophy on the table and
patted Pelluer on the back. Then the whole group spent the next 14 minutes
answering questions as sincerely as possible.
These 2018
Cougars were, above all, masters of tone. They knew when to laugh, when to
grind, when to talk, when to listen. They could fire a barb like Oscar Wilde,
but they knew the importance of being earnest.
And this
sureness of instinct no doubt started with Minshew and Pelluer, two seniors
from contrasting back stories who could have snowbirded at Alabama this season
but decided to weather whatever storms they'd find in Pullman.
Now, after
a week of snowbirding in San Antonio, the Cougars have stamped an 11-2 record
into the annals, which is fitting not because the win total is a school record
but because these guys deserved to finish on a high note.
For
Pelluer in particular, it would have been easy to accept the Crimson Tide's
11th-hour offer to join their gravy train last summer as a grad transfer. A
fourth-generation Cougar player for whom football is synonymous with life, he
instead chose to finish what he'd started at Wazzu, and he's shown a
lightheartedness this year that he'd rarely displayed in public before.
As for
Minshew, he didn't manufacture his happy-go-lucky demeanor for the sake of this
season, to console a team still mourning a teammate, quarterback Tyler
Hilinski, who had inexplicably committed suicide in January. Nor did he grow
his now-famous '70s-evoking mustache last summer explicitly to symbolize his
and the Cougars' fresh start. These things are a part of who he is.
But
Minshew's two years at East Carolina, prior to his transfer to WSU last spring,
had been difficult, if only because the diligence and seriousness he'd always
applied to football didn't, at that moment, seem to be paying off. He too
wanted to lighten up. He too wanted a final chance to get everything right.
Those two
seniors fielded most of the questions in that postgame session. But one of the
final ones was directed to Max Borghi, a true-freshman running back who
displays some of the same qualities that Minshew and Pelluer represent.
After
answering the question, he turned toward the seniors and added this:
"Shout-out
to Gardner and Peyton. I love them both and I'm going to miss them. They
definitely deserve both those trophies right there."
And for a
fleeting moment, he choked up as he said it.
---
:::::::::::::::
Pullman
Radio’s Top 10 Stories of 2018
December
31, 2018 Pullman Radio News, Evan Ellis, news director
This is
the list of our Pullman Radio top 10 news stories on the Palouse from 2018.
#10 September 28th: Colfax Area Homicide
#9 July 4th:
Nisqually John Canyon Fire
#8 October 22nd:
PHS Grad and University of Utah Student Athlete Lauren McCluskey
Murdered in Salt Lake City
#7 February 13th: Pullman Voters Approve Bonds for New City
Hall and Parks
#6 November 6th:
Busy General Election
#5 January and May: Suspects in Killing of PHS Sr. Tim Reeves
Plead Guilty
#4 October 30th:
PPD Sgt. Dan Hargraves Arrested for Alleged Sexual Assault
#3 Difficult Times for WSU Athletics in 2018,
Hilinski Suicide, Budget Woes, Ticket Audit, Gesser Resignation Over Sexual
Misconduct Allegations
#2 May 25th, August 16th: No New Contract for UI President Chuck
Staben, Idaho State Board of Education Fires UI AD Rob Spear
#1 WSU Athletics Highlights, New AD Pat Chun,
Historic Football Season, ESPN College Gameday, NCAA Tournaments for Rowing,
Soccer and Volleyball
:::::::::::::
Minshew, Cougars
finish off historic season with bowl victory
WSU stops
late two-point conversion attempt by Iowa State to secure program record 11th
win
By RYAN
MOSHER, Evergreen, Dec 29, 2018
No. 13 WSU
football defeated No. 24 Iowa State 28-26 in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Saturday
night to earn its first bowl victory since 2015 and reach a program record 11
wins this season.
“I
couldn’t be more proud of this team,” Head Coach Mike Leach said. “I may be
more proud of this team than any team I’ve ever coached and I want to thank
every one of these guys.”
Both teams
had turnovers early in the game, but junior cornerback Marcus Strong’s 71-yard
interception return for a touchdown was the game’s first big play. However, the
touchdown was called back for taunting.
NFL Hall
of fame cornerback Deion Sanders voiced his opinion on the penalty on Twitter
and said Strong did “nothing wrong” and deserved to celebrate a big play.
Despite
the touchdown being called back the Air Raid offense was able to capitalize
with a 22-yard touchdown connection between quarterback Gardner Minshew II and
redshirt sophomore wide receiver Renard Bell. The score put WSU (11-2) up 7-0
and was the only points scored in the first quarter of the game.
The second
quarter saw Iowa State’s redshirt senior linebacker Willie Harvey and redshirt
sophomore defensive end Eyioma Uwazurike both be ejected for targeting
penalties.
Later in
the quarter, Minshew dove into the end zone from 7 yards out to put the Cougs
ahead 14-0. Iowa State (8-5) freshman quarterback Brock Purdy answered with a
touchdown run of his own to cut the lead to one score.
WSU again
capitalized on Cyclone mistakes when Minshew found junior wide receiver Dezmon
Patmon from 9 yards out with just over a minute remaining in the first half.
The score put the Cougars up 21-7.
Iowa State
redshirt sophomore kicker Connor Assalley hit a 50-yard field goal as time
expired to make the score 21-10 at halftime.
The
Cyclones would score 10 unanswered points in the third quarter to cut the
Cougars lead to one. WSU had been shaky in the third quarter all season but
dominate in the fourth quarter, outscoring opponents 144-40 in the final 15
minutes coming into the game.
In the
fourth quarter, sixth-year linebacker Peyton Pelluer forced a key turnover,
striping the ball from ISU junior running back David Montgomery.
“They had
a blocker up on me and I had to get through him, and Montgomery was right there
on the other side,” Pelluer said while describing the play. “I just got my
hands on the ball and it was pretty loose so I yanked at it and ended up with
it.”
With the
ball in the hands of the WSU offense, freshman running back Max Borghi found
the end zone with just over 10-minute remaining to put the Cougars up 28-20.
The
Cyclones would respond though as Purdy would sneak across the goal line with
4:02 remaining to pull Iowa State within two points.
Iowa State
would lineup for the two-point conversion in an attempt to tie the game but
before the Cyclones could snap the ball the team was a given false start
penalty.
Once the
ball was snapped, Purdy was under pressure immediately and dumped the ball off
to Montgomery, but he was immediately swallowed up by redshirt freshman rush
linebacker Willie Taylor III.
After
stopping the Cyclones on the two-point conversion attempt, the Cougars were
able to run out the clock and secure their 11th victory this season.
Minshew
set several passing records in the game, including becoming the Pac-12 single
season leader in passing yards and completions. He was rewarded for his efforts
in the game with the offensive MVP, finishing the night with 299 passing yards
and three total touchdowns.
Minshew
said he was grateful for the one season he got to play in Pullman and will never
forget this experience.
“I want to
say thank you to these coaches, this university and these fans for taking me
in,” Minshew said. “This place is really special. Being a part of it is an
honor and I can’t wait to see what they do in the future.”
:::::::::::::
Women’s
basketball
Cougars
pick up first conference win
WSU downs
rival Huskies in Seattle as Hristova scores career high 38 points
By KATIE
ARCHER, Evergreen Dec 30, 2018
WSU
women’s basketball opened up Pac-12 play defeating UW 79-76 Sunday afternoon in
Seattle.
The first
of two games between the rivals this season opened up with neither team scoring
for almost three minutes. The Huskies (7-6, 0-1) drew first blood with a
three-pointer by senior guard Jenna Moser.
A layup by
redshirt junior Borislava Hristova put the Cougars on the board. Soon, the
Cougars got rolling and stole the lead from the Huskies finishing the first
quarter leading 18-14.
The
Cougars kept increasing their lead and took control in the second quarter as
WSU (6-6, 1-0) gained a 16 point advantage over the Huskies. However, UW cut
the lead down to 10 points before halftime resulting in a 41-31 score.
Hristova
led the Cougars in the first half with 22 points, Head Coach Kamie Ethridge
said she was impressed with Hristova’s play and the rest of her team’s
performance in the first two quarters.
“[Hristova]
saved the day a few times,” Ethridge said. “Things came pretty easy for us
against them … but I really liked our performance, liked our energy, liked how
we came out and played the first 20 minutes.”
The
Huskies started the third quarter attacking the Cougar lead and got within four
in only three and a half minutes. Junior guard Chanelle Molina made back to
back baskets to extend the lead but the Huskies would keep attacking.
In the
final two minutes of the third, UW narrowed the gap to only two points. With a
three-pointer from senior guard Alexys Swedlund, the Cougars finished the third
quarter leading 52-49.
The fourth
quarter started out tight between the two teams until the Cougars went on an
8-0 run.
With time
winding down, UW junior guard Amber Melgoza made a layup and drew a foul to
give her the chance to make it a one point game. Melgoza missed the free throw
and WSU freshman forward Ula Motuga came up with the rebound for the Cougars to
help seal the victory.
Hristova
finished the game with a career high 38 points while Swedlund finished with 16
and Molina added 14. WSU’s road trip continues as the team travels down to
Oregon to face back-to-back ranked opponents.
The
Cougars will face No. 11 Oregon State 7 p.m. Friday in Corvallis and No. 5
Oregon at 3 p.m. Sunday in Eugene. Both games can be seen live on Pac-12
Networks.
::::::::::::::::
WSU
COUGARS FOOTBALL ALAMO BOWL
CougCenter
Player of the Week: Gardner Minshew II
2
It
couldn’t really be anyone else, could it?
By PJ
Kendall Coug Center Dec 31, 2018
Greetings.
After a multi-week absence we’re back. And if we’re talking bowls, it’s been a
multi-year absence. So it goes when the home team falls on its face in two
straight late December games. But back we are, to recognize the best Washington
State Cougars performances in the Alamo Bowl. It’s been so long since WSU’s
last bowl win that I had to look up the last winner.
The honoree
that day was then-Sophomore Jamal Morrow, who had 121 all-purpose yards and a
touchdown. As good as he was, that wasn’t the part of the article that caught
my eye. Before we got to Jamal’s accomplishments, there was this blurb:
As an
aside, it’s funny how we Coug fans always seem to hope for snow during a game,
what with the 1992 Apple Cup being etched into our memories. But after what we
saw out of the offense in the snow Saturday, I’m cool with a clean surface and
clear skies for every game in the future.
If only.
On to the
matter at hand. There were a few very good individual performances Friday
night, but there weren’t any that jumped out of the TV screen or the stat
sheet. While picking the top players wasn’t the most difficult thing in the
world, discerning between them was a bit of a challenge. Ok, the winner was
pretty obvious, but the runners-up all have an argument for second place.
One more
time in 2018...
Honorable
Mention: Marcus Strong
Strong
made two of the game’s biggest plays, and has an argument for the game’s top
play, when he picked off a Brock Purdy pass and took it the distance, kind of.
Later on, Strong made another big play when he hit Brock Purdy from the blind
side, knocking Iowa State out of field goal range.
Strong
tied for the team lead with seven solo tackles as well. And while he had his
share of difficulty covering Iowa State’s Hakeem Butler, I don’t think he was
the first person to go through that this season.
2nd
Runner-Up: Peyton Pelluer
Pelluer
had another typical game. That is to say Pelluer played a critical role in
WSU’s victory. The Honorable Mention all-conference performer, who was part of
a fifth WSU bowl team, led the team one more time in tackles, racking up 11 in
all and seven solo stops. Among those was 1.5 TFLs, including a sack.
Pelluer
saved his best for last, however, making one of the game’s biggest plays. Iowa
State had scored 10 straight points, and had the ball again following a WSU
punt. At that point, the defense was reeling quite a bit. After David
Montgomery pounded his way to what would be another first down, Pelluer met him
head-on. Advantage: Cougs. When the smoke cleared, the ball was in Pelluer’s
arms, WSU was in business and the subsequent Max Borghi touchdown provided the
deciding points. Thank you for everything, Peyton.
1st
Runner-Up: Dezmon Patmon
The 2018
evolution of Dezmon Patmon was on full display again Friday night. Dez showed
us once again just how far he has come since last season ended, when he was
pretty much an afterthought in the receiver rotation. That was definitely not
the case in 2018, and Patmon put his best foot (and hands) forward one more
time in the Alamo Bowl.
Five of
Patmon’s six catches resulted in a first down or a touchdown. Oh, and that
touchdown? Thing. Of. Beauty. Patmon went up higher than everyone else, by a
lot, and brought down a pass most humans wouldn’t get near. Not only that, he
got two feet and an elbow down.
Patmon
also made an incredible catch on the game’s final possession. With WSU facing
second-and-nine, and needing one more first down to put the game away, Gardner
Minshew dropped back and threw what could only be deemed a low-percentage pass
to Patmon’s back shoulder. Despite tight coverage, Patmon used nearly every
part of his body to reel it in. It was a fittingly outstanding catch to cap
what was a great season for Mr. Patmon.
Winner:
Gardner Minshew II
Couldn’t
be anyone else, could it? Truth be told, Minshew was half way to the award
before he boarded the plane.
Once the
whistle blew, he did nothing to dispel the notion that he would be ready to go
in his final WSU game. Minshew had the Cougs on the move out of the gate, but a
promising drive was undone by a James Williams fumble. Minshew got rolling
after Marcus Strong’s interception, tossing a perfect strike to Renard Bell on
3rd-and-12 to give WSU an early lead.
As good as
that pass was, it was a walk in the park compared to what he did next. On
2nd-and-goal from the Iowa State seven yardline, Minshew pulled some no-kidding
Johnny Manziel magic (college version, obviously), escaping heavy pressure,
evading a tackler and diving into the endzone for a 14-0 lead.
Minshew
wasn’t done with the escape artistry. In the fourth quarter, while clinging to
a one-point lead and having been handed great field position, WSU faced
3rd-and-10 at the Iowa State 30. Failure meant a long field goal try, and what
would have only been a possible four point lead. That’s when, as he has done
nearly all season, Minshew put the team on his back and willed WSU to a scoring
chance.
Anyway,
one play later Max Borghi was trucking his way to another touchdown, and WSU
kept the lead for good.
Minshew
didn’t have one of his best games, stats-wise, as he failed to reach the 300
yard mark for just the second time all season. But he came through every time
it mattered, throwing two touchdown passes and piecing together a spectacular
run for a third score. He also didn’t turn the ball over, and avoided several
sacks.
All in
all, it was the last of several incredible performances Minshew gave WSU’s team
and fans this season. Minshew was a gift from the heavens. Or Mississippi. A
gift from the Mississippi heavens. Thank you for a dream season, Gardner. We
will never forget it.
::::::::::::::
How
Gardner Minshew and his mustache took over Washington State
By Joel
Anderson ESPN 12/28/2018
The
headlines and sports tickers must have seemed confusing that afternoon in
February. Gardner Minshew? To Alabama?
A two-year
starter at quarterback at East Carolina, Minshew had never been a sought-after
football recruit. He started his college career as a walk-on. He spent a year
in junior college. He briefly lost his starting job at East Carolina the
previous season.
But
Minshew, as a graduate transfer, was going to accept an offer to join the
national champions? It didn't seem to make much sense, and soon Minshew was
inundated with messages from people who couldn't believe the news.
"It
was nuts," Minshew said. "Most people were kind of like, 'What the
hell?'"
Within
days, more of the calls came from college coaches hoping to poach an
experienced quarterback coveted by Nick Saban and Alabama. In Tuscaloosa, the
recruiters reminded Minshew, he might never get a chance to play.
A few days
later, Washington State coach Mike Leach called Minshew with the most appealing
proposal of all. "Do you want to be a backup at Alabama or lead the nation
in passing?" Leach asked. "We're going to lead the nation in passing
one way or another."
For
Minshew, it was an offer he couldn't refuse.
Gardner
Minshew took Pullman by storm in his one season at Washington State. David
Madison/Getty Images
"I
read his book when I was in middle school. I've always been a fan,"
Minshew said of Leach's New York Times-best-selling memoir "Swing Your
Sword: Leading the Charge in Football and Life."
"To
have one of your coaching heroes call and ask you that? It was unreal."
Leach's
recruiting pitch was more than telemarketing: Minshew indeed finished the
regular season as the nation's leader in passing yards, lifting the Cougars to
their first 10-win season in 15 years and within a game of the Pac-12
championship game in what was expected to be a rebuilding year.
But
Minshew's impact on The Palouse extended far beyond his accurate right arm. His
signature mustache -- more Magnum P.I. than Ron Burgundy -- and irrepressible
swagger and self-confidence catapulted him to cult-hero status on campus.
"He
has this kind of gunslinger attitude and charisma, an attitude of 'You guys
come along with me, or I'll go alone,'" said Tom Hutyler, a Seattle-based
sports broadcaster and longtime Cougars fan who released a song about Minshew
called "Mississippi Moustache."
Minshew's
improbable closing act will reach its end Friday against Iowa State at the
Alamo Bowl (9 p.m. ET, ESPN). It'll be Minshew's final statement -- nay,
rebuttal -- to everyone -- almost literally everyone in major college football
-- who never envisioned him in this situation until Nick Saban showed up with a
scholarship offer.
"People
are going to think I'm full of it," Minshew said, "but I always knew
in the right situation I could be this kind of successful."
Since
before he could grow a mustache, Minshew had been training to play in Leach's
vaunted Air Raid offense.
Minshew
was the quarterback of a wide-open offense in the youth flag football league of
his hometown of Brandon, Mississippi, a suburb of Jackson. In seventh grade, he
and his father sought the counsel of a local private school coach who was
running an offense with Air Raid concepts. By ninth grade, that coach was the
offensive coordinator at Brandon High School, and Minshew's education began in
earnest.
Almost
every day at school, Minshew spent an hour with Wyatt Rogers in the school's
coaches office and watched video of Leach's record-setting Texas Tech offenses.
"I
really coached him his ninth- and 10th-grade year. He got a lot better before
he even got his driver's license," said Rogers, who is still the offensive
coordinator at Brandon. "By his senior year, it was more of a
collaboration. There was nothing else I could teach him by then."
As a
sophomore, Minshew led Brandon to its first state championship game. He went on
to accumulate all of the records and accolades befitting a big-time recruit,
earning MVP honors at a couple of regional recruiting events and setting school
records of 11,222 career passing yards and 105 touchdowns. He made the
all-state team every year as a starter.
Minshew,
ever the competitor, went to all the nearby camps and combines looking to prove
he was every bit the equal of the best quarterbacks. He remembered going to an
Alabama camp just so he could throw alongside David Cornwell and Ricky Town,
two of the top QB recruits in the 2014 and 2015 classes, respectively.
"I
always made sure I was throwing next to the dude they offered," Minshew
said. "I would even mix it up with them, talk a little crap and tell them
I was going to prove that I was better."
But none
of it was enough to drum up interest from the big in-state programs:
Mississippi, Mississippi State and Southern Mississippi. A scholarship offer
from Akron dried up after the assistant who recruited Minshew died in a car
accident. UAB showed some interest before shutting down its program.
The wait
for that elusive offer, the one that would stir up interest from other schools,
began to wear on Minshew and those close to him. Was he too short (listed at
6-foot-2)? Not fast enough (a shade quicker than 5.0 seconds in the 40)?
"Let
me tell you: A lot of these coaches are sheep," said Flint Minshew,
Gardner's father. "Because he never got that one [offer], coaches would
say, 'We'd like to offer him, but he doesn't have any offers.'"
Minshew
decided to go to Troy, where he had a full academic scholarship. He enrolled
for spring 2015, hoping to get a head start on the quarterback competition. But
several months into workouts there, Minshew realized that it wasn't a good fit
and followed up with some of the junior college coaches who'd recruited him
earlier.
Jack Wright
at Northwest Mississippi Community College, a two-hour drive north of Brandon,
came with a plan for Minshew: play in the fall, graduate in December and move
on to another FBS school by the spring.
"That
would allow him to leave with a chance to play three more years," said
Wright, who is now the head coach at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
"As smart as he was, it was about finding all the pieces of the
puzzle."
Minshew
was excited to go somewhere he was wanted -- and was certain he'd be wanted
even more when it was over.
"I
felt like, if I went there and won," Minshew said, "nobody could take
that away from me."
At
Northwest Mississippi, Minshew did virtually everything but turn himself into a
coveted college quarterback.
He led the
Rangers to an 11-1 record and their first national championship since 1992, an
immediate one-season turnaround for a program normally considered an
afterthought in the competitive conference of Mississippi community and junior
colleges. In the title game, Minshew threw for 421 yards and five touchdowns in
a 53-point victory.
December
came and went, and Minshew still had no scholarship offers. It wasn't until
May, after Wright had already left for another job and Minshew had resigned
himself to another year in junior college, that East Carolina came calling.
Minshew
opened the fall as the backup to a senior, someone who'd been waiting his turn
for two years and had a head start on picking up first-year coach Scottie
Montgomery's offense. After the starter struggled with injuries and
ineffectiveness, Minshew got his chance and took over for the final two games
of the 2016 season -- losses to Navy and Temple.
The
following spring, East Carolina brought in Duke graduate transfer Thomas Sirk
to compete with Minshew. The quarterback competition turned them into close
friends, as they did almost everything together that summer: leading workouts,
watching film, hosting cookouts -- and even growing mustaches.
The
mustaches, Sirk said, were Minshew's idea.
"He
was definitely more set on it than the rest of us," Sirk said. "My
wife absolutely hated it. But whether Gardner did or didn't have a girlfriend,
he doesn't really care what anybody thinks. He's just going to be him."
Minshew
got the start over Sirk in the 2017 season opener. It took only three quarters
for him to lose his spot following a 7-of-18, 82-yard, one-interception flop in
an upset loss to FCS school James Madison.
But what
probably would've been a humbling, if not deflating, moment for anyone else was
actually a revelation for Minshew.
"I
guess that's the worst thing that can happen," he said. "So I said
the next time I got my chance, I was gonna go out and enjoy it. It opened me
up."
Minshew
got that chance against Houston in November, coming off the bench to complete a
school-record 52 passes for 463 yards and three touchdowns. He finished the
season as the starter in the final three games, two of them losses. But Minshew
had finally tapped into the player he'd always believed he could be, completing
nearly 69 percent of his passes for 1,023 yards and seven touchdowns with four
interceptions.
In a
pleasant surprise, with a season of eligibility left, Minshew found out that
interest in him from other schools had never been higher.
Alabama
seemed like the perfect fit.
It was
only two and a half hours east on Interstate 20 from Brandon. Minshew looked
forward to finally soaking up the environment of big-time college football, and
he had been thinking about his post-graduation plans.
He had
always had a taste for coaching, even taking on the offensive coordinator
duties for a youth-league football team run by his father while in high school.
On his phone, Minshew has stored some video clips of his offense from those two
seasons as a coach -- "and two league championships," he added.
What
better place to learn more about coaching than under the famously demanding
Saban? As part of their recruiting pitch, the Crimson Tide promised Minshew a
two-year graduate assistant's position on the staff after the 2018 season.
Also, with
Alabama headed into the spring with a quarterback competition between incumbent
Jalen Hurts and national title hero Tua Tagovailoa, it seemed likely that the
loser would transfer away and Minshew would take over as the top backup.
"Worst
case," Minshew said, "you're one snap away from being quarterback on
a national champion team."
But the
phone call from Leach changed those plans.
Because he
wouldn't be able to participate in spring camp in Pullman, Minshew reached out
to an old friend of Leach's who was only a few minutes away: Hal Mumme, known
as one of the architects of the Air Raid offense and then an offensive
coordinator at FCS school Jackson State.
Minshew
started going to the school for a crash course in the offense from Mumme, who
had once employed Leach as his offensive coordinator at Kentucky.
"I
knew he's got all the stuff you look for [in a quarterback] because I wanted to
put him into my system," said Mumme, referring to the three years he
coached at NAIA school Belhaven College in Jackson. "And I trusted Mike
[Leach]. If anybody could get greatness out of him, I knew Mike could."
Minshew, a
fun-loving Mississippi gunslinger in the mold of Brett Favre, took quickly to
Leach's version of the Air Raid offense, throwing for 4,480 yards and 36
touchdowns while inspiring a legion of mustachioed followers.
"Being
a new face and playing the way he did, it brought a new level of
excitement," said Trey Tinsley, a junior quarterback. "When our
energy was down, Gardner instantly picked it up."
To Leach,
it was fairly clear by midway through preseason practices who the leader of the
team would be -- even though Minshew didn't officially start practicing with
the team until August.
"Gardner
had a presence and maturity about him that seemed to elevate the whole
unit," Leach said. "He's a guy who is extremely passionate and
committed, and [it] can't be ignored that it was his last go-round, and he was
determined to make it work."
Minshew's
easygoing manner also helped him create one of the season's most memorable
moments, just minutes after he finished throwing a school-record seven
touchdown passes and 473 yards against Arizona on Nov. 17.
With Leach
in the middle of a postgame interview on the field, Minshew snuck up behind him
and attempted to place one of the replica mustaches above the coach's mouth.
Leach flinched, then allowed the giddy Minshew to smooth out the mustache.
"I
don't even think he had a mustache when I recruited him," Leach said to
the reporter.
Recalling
the viral moment a couple of weeks later, Leach reflected on Minshew's impact,
saying, "I've never been in a town where more women had more mustaches
than Pullman, Washington."
Now the
charismatic quarterback has brought that mustache magic to San Antonio, where
he arrived to much fanfare on Sunday in a '70s-style costume. The outfit's
highlights included flared red pants and a red jacket with silver Cougars logos
and a metallic shirt unbuttoned nearly to his navel, exposing a torso blanketed
in hair.
Minshew
enters off a fifth-place finish in Heisman Trophy voting, a development that
would've seemed unthinkable even six months ago.
"It's
incredible and feels almost full circle," Minshew said. "You always
want to leave a place better than you found it. I couldn't ask for anything
better than this."
::::::::::
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subscribe to The Athletic you can find the following story at its website and read it all. If you
are not a subscriber you can’t
Minshew
Mania: Appreciating the four-month party in Pullman and college football’s
lighthearted leader
By Chantel
Jennings Dec 31, 2018, The Athletic
On a
Friday in mid-November in Brandon, Miss., child after child showed up to the
Brandon Public School District donning fake mustaches, aviator sunglasses, a
thick white headband or, in some cases, all three. More than two weeks after
Halloween, the school was scattered with kids who looked like a mix of the cops
from “Super Troopers” and Uncle Rico from “Napoleon Dynamite.” It might have
been 1,700 miles from the golden hills of the Palouse, but it felt like Pullman
as second-graders got off their buses wearing Washington State sweatshirts
while seniors arrived in their cars decked out in white T-shirts that read:
Mississippi Mustache.
There, in
Washington State quarterback Gardner Minshew’s hometown, perhaps it was not
surprising to see the Minshew Mania. The hometown kid had become a cult hero in
college football.
But when
the grandmas at Martin Stadium began putting on mustaches for games and Wazzu
gear — with a curly mustache atop the cougar —...
:::::::::::::::
WSU Women’s
Basketball
Hristova
scores career-high 38 as WSU beats Huskies in Pac-12 opener
Sun., Dec.
30, 2018, 7:30 p.m. Spokane S-R
SEATTLE –
Borislava Hristova scored 12 of her career-high 38 points in the final quarter
and pulled down a game-saving rebound of a potential tying shot at the buzzer
and Washington State held off Washington 79-76 in a Pac-12 Conference opener
for both teams Sunday.
Alexys
Swedlund and Chanelle Molina scored 16 and 14 points, respectively, for the
Cougars (6-6). Molina added nine rebounds and six assists.
The
Huskies (7-6) made it a one-possession game 10 times in the fourth quarter, the
last when Amber Melgoza, who had 27 points, scored on a coast-to-coast layup
making it 78-76 with 11 seconds to go. She was fouled but missed converting the
three-point play and Ula Motuga grabbed the rebound for WSU.
Hristova
made a free throw and after a timeout, Melgoza took the final shot but her
3-point attempt bounced off the rim and into Hristova’s arms.
“I hope
they’re not all that crazy, but if we end up with a win I’m all for it,” WSU
coach Kamie Ethridge said.
“Bobi (Hristova) was unbelievable making huge
shot after huge shot. It’s nice to have someone that can do that.”
A Hristova
jumper put the Cougars ahead 9-8 midway through the opening quarter. She
followed with a 3-pointer and WSU, which led by as many as 16, never trailed
again.
Hristova
was 16-of-24 shooting, the 16 field goals setting a program record. She was 4
of 6 on 3-pointers.
Her 38
points marked the third-highest scoring game for a Cougar in program history.
The
Cougars’ win in Seattle was their first since since defeating the Huskies 83-72
on Feb. 20, 2015.
WSU is
.500 for the first time this season after winning its Pac-12 opener for the
first time since 2014-15.
