NCAA Football Recap (Washington St-Illinois)
Posted: Sat September 20, 1997 at 7:03 p.m. EDT
DeJuan Gilmore had a 21-yard touchdown run and Ryan Leaf threw a
pair of 30-yard scoring passes in a huge fourth quarter that
propelled Washington State to a 35-22 victory over
Illinois.
Leaf, who was 21-of-36 for 302 yards and three first-half
interceptions, threw four scoring passes overall, increasing his
season total to 10. He threw an 80-yard scoring strike to Kevin
McKenzie on the first play from scrimmage and had a 15-yard TD
pass to Chris Jackson with 4:45 left in the first half.
"In that first play of the game, the free safety blew his
assignment," said Illinois coach Ron Turner. "He didn't take
care of his responsibility and they scored a touchdown."
After Gilmore's touchdown run on the first play of the fourth
quarter gave the Cougars (3-0) the lead for good, 21-14, Leaf
threw 30-yard touchdowns to Nian Taylor with 8:24 remaining and
Shawn McWashington with five minutes left.
"We are very happy to be 3-0," said Washington State coach Mike
Price. "I think that at the beginning of the game, Illinois got
us off balance on offense. They stunted and changed it up a
bit, and our quarterback was a bit off. Illinois' offense put
in short passes, especially to the tight end, to keep our
defense off-balance as well. We made the adjustments in the
second half to win the game. I chewed the team out a little bit
at halftime. I wanted to strangle those guys, but those things
happen."
Gilmore's scoring run followed a 44-yard scamper by Michael
Black that accounted for all of the other yards on the drive.
On the ensuing possession, defensive end Shane Doyle forced Mark
Hoekstra to fumble and defensive back Duane Stuart recovered at
the Washington State 42, setting up the six-play, 58-yard drive
that ended with Taylor's scoring catch.
Illinois (0-3) drove to midfield, but Hoekstra threw four
straight incompletions and Illinois lost the ball, even though
the Cougars were whistled for an offsides penalty on 4th-and-10.
Adam Hawkins carried for no gain, caught a 25-yard crossing pass
from Leaf to move the ball to the Illini 30, and Leaf found hit
McWashington one play later for the score.
Washington State racked up 500 yards of total offense to
Illinois' 338. Black ran for 112 yards on 19 carries and Leaf,
who has passed for at least three scores and 300 yards in all
three games, hit eight different receivers.
"We didn't underestimate Illinois, but I think we took them too
lightly," said Leaf. "Illinois is a good team, they disrupted
my rhythm and I was too high on a lot of my passes. I need to
watch more film so it doesn't happen next week. I played very
poorly. I wasn't on my game today. I need to correct things
after looking at film."
The insurance scoring was needed, as Hoekstra threw a 12-yard
touchdown to Rob Majoy with 3:35 remaining and found Matt
Cushing for the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to
35-22. But Washington State recovered the ensuing onside kick
and ran out the clock.
Hoekstra ran two yards for the first Illinois touchdown midway
through the first quarter and Robert Holcombe gave the Illini
their only lead 1:26 into the second quarter when he raced
around left end 48 yards for a score.
"We were in the wrong cover and he just broke a tackle and shot
to the corner," said Washington State free safety Ray Jackson.
"We know Holcombe is 50 percent of their offense, but we also
saw stuff we didn't see in film. He is an All-American, and the
strongest back I have ever played against."
Holcombe carried 32 times for 163 yards and Hoekstra was
23-of-46 for 165 yards and one interception. Majoy caught six
passes for 40 yards and was one of seven different receivers to
make at least two grabs for the Illini.
"This loss is extremely frustrating," said Turner. "They are an
excellent football team and I'm not taking anything away from
them, but we had some big chances to win this game. We needed
to make plays, make catches and big tackles, but we couldn't. We
didn't take advantage of some valuable opportunities."
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