Nov. 26—PULLMAN — A sneaky play, a what-could-have-been thing happened with under a minute to go in Saturday’s Apple Cup.
Washington was at the WSU 16, facing a second-and-long with 20 seconds to play. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. dropped back, which is when WSU edge Brennan Jackson bull-rushed through for a sack. He looked fired up.
Afterward, though, Jackson revealed something that might not have been obvious at first blush: He had a chance to jar the ball loose.
“On the last one, like I said, it’s a good sack,” Jackson said. “But the ball was out there, wanted to make a play, and that’s one that’s gonna haunt me for a long time.”
Turns out, Jackson was right. Check out a replay and it looks like Penix didn’t exactly tuck the ball in his chest when he went down. The ball was out there. It wouldn’t have been Jackson’s first time making a play like that this season — not even in the last two weeks.
Instead, we all know what happened next. UW kicker Grady Gross came out for a game-winning field goal and the Huskies celebrated with their fans on the field, ending the Cougars’ season without a bowl game.
“There’s just a couple moments that we gave them something,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said. “I thought we slowed down a really good offense. Defense was flying around, offense made some timely plays, and it just didn’t go our way.”
Thing is, though, the Cougs’ offense will lament a lot more about this one than their defense. That unit missed several opportunities, too many to expect to beat the No. 4 team (now No. 3 after the new rankings came out) on the road.
On so many occasions, this game was Washington State’s for the taking. For example: On UW’s first drive of the second half, WSU safety Jaden Hicks leaped and made an incredible interception, a one-handed snag on a jump ball. The Cougars’ sideline erupted. Their…
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