Washington St. Cougars Related Links: Team Page City Page Schedule Stats

Arizona Wildcats Related Links: Team Page City Page Schedule Stats

TUCSON, Arizona (Ticker) -- Jason Gesser continues to impress. Jermaine Green made a name for himself.

Gesser threw for 275 yards to become Washington State's all-time leader in total offense and Green ran for 119 yards and a key touchdown in his first start as No. 11 Washington State kept pace with Arizona State atop the Pac-10 Conference with a 21-13 victory at Arizona.

Gesser's 16-yard TD pass to Devard Darling with 2:04 to play in the third quarter gave the Cougars a 14-13 advantage. Washington State's two-point conversion attempt failed, however, when Jerome Riley stepped out of bounds just outside the end zone after taking a dump pass from Gesser along the left sideline.

But defensive end Fred Shavies sacked Arizona quarterback Jason Johnson with 9 1/2 minutes remaining in the fourth, causing a fumble that the Cougars' Isaac Brown recovered at the Wildcats 32. That set up Green's 18-yard TD run and Drew Dunning made the extra point to give Washington State a 21-13 advantage with 7:37 to play.

On the Wildcats' next pass attempt, linebacker Pat Bennett intercepted Johnson at the Washington State 47, and Arizona did not threaten thereafter.

Gesser completed 20-of-35 passes with one touchdown and no interceptions for Washington State (7-1, 4-0 Pac-10), which polished off the Wildcats minutes after Arizona State beat Washington to also improve to 4-0 in the conference.

Sole possession of first place will be on the line next week when Washington State hosts the Sun Devils in Pullman.

Gesser finished with 281 yards of total offense, moving 141 yards past Jack Thompson's previous school record (7,698). He surpassed Drew Bledsoe and Ryan Leaf into second place on the school's career passing list. He needs 228 yards to overtake Thompson's mark.

Johnson was 22-of-46 for 224 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for Arizona (3-5, 0-4), but was sacked seven times.

Paced by Green, the Cougars outgained the Wildcats on the ground, 149 to minus-17.

Washington State, which was coming off a bye week following a 36-11 thrashing of Stanford on the road on October 12, limited Arizona to just 14 yards on 15 plays in the first quarter but led just 2-0 after Johnson fumbled into the end zone and Shavies and Virgil Williams accidentally knocked it past the back line with 3:57 left.

Arizona's Bobby Gill nailed a 47-yard field goal to give the Wildcats a 3-2 lead with 6:21 to play in the second quarter. After Dunning made a 22-yarder to put the Cougars back on top with 2:45 to go, Johnson connected on a 27-yard TD toss to Bobby Wade with 51 seconds to play to put the Wildcats back on top, 10-5, heading into the break.

After Dunning kicked a 36-yard field goal to get the Cougars within 10-8 3:32 into the second half, Gill was true on a 42-yarder with 4:59 to play in the period to make it 13-8. But the Wildcats did not score again, and they could not prevent Gesser from leading the Cougars on two more touchdown drives.