PULLMAN, Wash. — It was a day on the Palouse that won’t soon be forgotten.
After 15 years on the road following ESPN’s College GameDay around the country, Ol’ Crimson found its way back home, leading to one of the biggest celebrations the town has ever seen. For one October Saturday, tiny Pullman, sprouting up like an oasis in the middle of miles of wheat fields, was the center of the college football world.
And it did not disappoint.
As soon as it was announced that GameDay would be making its first-ever trip to Wazzu, it became clear the day would be a memorable one. Demand for tickets on StubHub jumped more than 123 percent overnight as fans and alumni from all over the country changed their plans in order to make the pilgrimage. Many did so knowing they wouldn’t get to see the game against then-No. 12 Oregon from inside Martin Stadium. If there was ever a day to be Pullman, this was it.
It was the type of opportunity that can lead to unfairly high expectations, but the town, the university and the Washington State football team each took their moment and owned it — up through and past when quarterback Gardner Minshew took a knee on a 34-20 win and fans came pouring out of the stands.
“It was incredible, man,” Minshew said. “There was so much energy in town this week, and we knew we just had to bottle that up and use it.”
For the WSU community, the entire week played out like a giant winning parlay. Each step led to more excitement to the next. It started with the announcement that the show was headed to Pullman. A giant first win. When fans mobbed the TV trucks’ arrival into town on Wednesday, buzz really started to pick up. By 5 a.m. Saturday morning, the crowd behind the set was already huge, and it provided one of the most electric atmospheres the show has ever had. When Lee Corso put on the Cougar mascot head, fans lost their minds, leaving one more hurdle — the biggest one — between the payoff.
If the Cougars did not beat Oregon, that time GameDay came to Pullman would have always been remembered in the context of a loss. Instead, the win made it one of the most celebrated games in school history. Maybe the most since beating Washington in the 1997 Apple Cup to advance to the program’s first Rose Bowl in 67 years.
Peace. Love. Wazzu. Thanks to our fans for creating the best game day atmosphere in America. #Cougstock #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/7fAHn8JkiH
— Mike Leach (@Coach_Leach) October 22, 2018
Following the win at “Cougstock,” WSU vaulted up from No. 25 to No. 14 in the AP poll and is the Pac-12’s highest-ranked team for the first time since it took a No. 3 ranking into the Apple Cup in 2002. The Cougars are the last remaining one-loss team in the Pac-12 and, theoretically, the conference’s last hope — as minimal as the chances might be — at qualifying for the College Football Playoff.
It feels significant, but these types of moments can be fleeting.
One only needs to look at what Saturday’s loss signified for the Ducks to understand how quickly things can change. The week before, it was Oregon that rushed the field following a win that saw the Ducks become the Pac-12’s top-ranked team. Now the Ducks sit alone in fourth place in the Pac-12 North. And it was only last season when Wazzu took a 6-0 record to the Bay Area and got blasted, 37-3, by a Cal team that had lost three straight.
It’s probably hard for WSU fans not to think about what this season has the potential to become, but it’s way too early to take those conversations seriously. Even as he was surrounded by a mob of people on the field after the game, coach Mike Leach was already putting the focus on Saturday’s trip to play No. 24 Stanford, which is tied with WSU in the division at 3-1. The Cardinal hasn’t looked up to its own standard in recent weeks, but it’s still a 3-point home favorite.
A win there would set up what appears to be a manageable three-game runway into the Apple Cup: Cal, at Colorado, Arizona.
However, Leach warned against generating any expectations based on who is on the schedule.
“I’ve said this for a long time: If you had a tournament with the bottom of conference with anybody else’s conference, we’d crush the bottom of theirs,” Leach said. “And what makes that difficult and what makes that imposing is there’s some games throughout the year in the other conferences where you’re not as threatened, you’re not in as great of jeopardy as we are in this conference. In this conference, they can all get you, you know?”
Even so, this WSU team certainly looks like the best version Leach has fielded since he was brought to Pullman by former athletic director Bill Moos before the 2012 season. The Cougars, with five games left, have almost already exceeded preseason expectations that saw them pegged as the fourth- or fifth-best team in the division.
Minshew, a graduate transfer from East Carolina, chose Washington State over Alabama, where he would’ve been a backup studying under Nick Saban for a future career in coaching. Instead, he decided to take one last chance at competing for a starting job, and has been a revelation.
At first, Leach wasn’t sure, exactly, what to make of the Mississippi native.
“Off the top, I thought he was tough. Off the top, I liked how the ball came out of his hand quick. Off the top, I liked how he was very competitive and he was accurate,” Leach said. “And then he didn’t take many tackles for loss, but he wasn’t a full-time starter, either, you know? Just looking at him, I was kind of curious why he wasn’t.”
Not only does he lead the nation in passing yards per game — hardly unusual for a Leach quarterback — Minshew’s efficiency ratings indicate he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the country. He makes quick, mostly smart decisions, throws an accurate ball and has been sacked just five times all year (in 383 drop backs).
And there’s the mustache. Don’t forget the mustache. As fans lifted him up on their shoulders Saturday night, he came to an important realization: “I started to think, ‘Man, I think I made the right choice coming here.'”
For the College GameDay crew, it was easy to relate.