STANFORD, Calif. - Gardner Minshew completed his first 19 passes of the second half and drove No. 14 Washington State to a 42-yard field goal by Blake Mazza with 19 seconds remaining to put the Cougars in sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 North with a 41-38 victory over No. 24 Stanford on Saturday.
Minshew completed 40 of 50 passes for 438 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Cougars (7-1, 4-1 Pac-12) to their third straight win over the Cardinal (5-3, 3-2).
K.J. Costello kept Stanford within striking distance, throwing a 25-yard touchdown pass to JJ Arcega-Whiteside to even the game at 38-38 with 1:25 remaining. Costello finished with 323 passing yards and four touchdowns, becoming the first Cardinal quarterback to record multiple four-touchdown games in a season since Andrew Luck in 2011.
Minshew engineered the winning drive in the final 1:25 with the big play coming on a 35-yard pass to Jamire Calvin on third-and-2 from the 33. Minshew completed one more pass to move the ball to the 25 and after two incomplete passes, Mazza made his kick to win it.
With No. 15 Washington losing at California, the Cougars head into the final month of the season alone in first place in the conference and remain the only one-loss team in the Pac-12.
Arcega-Whiteside continued his torrid play, hauling in a career-high 10 receptions for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Arcega-Whiteside, who moved into 17th place in school history with 1,792 career receiving yards, is the first Cardinal player with 11 touchdown catches in a season since 1980.
Kaden Smith hauled in nine catches for 112 yards while Trenton Irwin totaled 80 yards on eight receptions, representing his third straight game with at least seven catches.
Stanford built a 28-14 lead with 1:04 remaining before halftime, as Costello found Houston Heimuli from one yard out. Washington State quickly answered with a 23-yard field goal as time expired, closing the gap to 28-17.
Jet Toner's 40-yard field goal at the 6:16 mark of the third quarter extended the Cardinal's lead to 31-24 before the Cougars responded with a pair of touchdowns to open the fourth.
Stanford next travels to Husky Stadium to play No. 15 Washington on Saturday, Nov. 3, at 6 p.m. The Cardinal's final home game is slated for Nov. 10 against Oregon State, with the first 10,000 fans receiving a Christian McCaffrey bobblehead.