UW Defense Shuts Down Heisman Hopeful, WSU QB Gardner Minshew II

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Published Nov 23, 2018

UW Defense Shuts Down Heisman Hopeful, WSU QB Gardner Minshew II

Lars Hanson • TheDawgReport

Publisher

@LarsHanson

PULLMAN – Mike Leach has never had a Heisman finalist quarterback in his 17-year head coaching career combined between Texas Tech and Washington State.

So far this season The Pirate has worn a fake mustache to do his part to help Gardner Minshew II, the No. 8 Cougars senior graduate transfer, campaign for an invite to New York.

For the Mississippi Mustache to earn a spot as one of three finalists it would require WSU to win its first Pac-12 North title under Leach. Minshew II is competing against West Virginia senior Will Grier for the final invite with the first likely gone to Tua Tagovailoa and Kyler Murray.

Bovada gave the No. 1 passer in the country the fourth-best odds to win the 2018 Heisman Trophy entering rivalry weekend with +3300 odds. Tagovailoa is the current favorite with the Alabama sophomore at -400 odds.

Minshew II has averaged 393.2 yards per game this season in 11 games for WSU. He’s also No. 5 in completion percentage (70.4) and tied for No. 1 in touchdowns (36) while throwing only seven interceptions.

By comparison Grier more than holds his own statistically compared to Minshew II. The Big 12 signal-caller is third in average pass yards per game (332.5), No. 5 in touchdowns (33) and No. 7 in passing yards (3,325).

Depending on which QB is playing next weekend. For WSU that would mean facing No. 17 Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game in Santa Clara. If the Mustache season ends at home with a loss to UW in the Apple Cup it would likely end his Heisman campaign.

Gardner Minshew ended his final game as a Pac-12 quarterback without throwing a touchdown pass. Sparked by a pair of interceptions Washington continued to roll over its cross-state rival with a 28-15 victory in the 111th Apple Cup.

His first pick came seconds before halftime with UW leading 14-7. Redshirt sophomore cornerback Byron Murphy out-leaped WSU junior receiver Easop Winston Jr. in the back of the end zone to maintain the Huskies lead before the half.

Senior linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven recorded the second pick with 2:38 remaining in the third quarter after Levi Onwuzurike pressured Minshew. The Cougars only managed two more drives the entire game to leave the senior QB without one of his signature throws for six.

It marks the only game this season that Minshew failed to throw at least one TD. His 152 yards passing are the fewest of his career dating back to last October vs BYU. In that game Minshew threw for 121 yards and two touchdowns on 6 of 9 attempts.

Minshew completed 26 of 35 passes against UW, another season-low for both attempts and completions. Prior to the Apple Cup the fewest attempts he made were the 40 he threw against Oregon when College GameDay came to Pullman.

The Huskies defense entered the game ranked No. 10 in the country allowing 16.6 points per game, tied with Auburn who UW opened the season against.

UW is one of eight teams to allow less than 10 passing touchdowns entering Friday, another strong season for first-year defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake.