Gardner Minshew Leads Washington State to Comeback Win over Bryce Love, Stanford

Quarterback Gardner Minshew led the No. 14 Washington State Cougars to a 41-38, come-from-behind victory over the No. 24 Stanford Cardinal on Saturday night at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California.

Washington State trailed 28-14 late in the second quarter, but Minshew turned in a dominant second-half performance and finished with 438 yards and three touchdowns on 40-of-50 passing.

Minshew orchestrated a masterful drive with 1:25 remaining in the fourth quarter and the score tied at 38. A 35-yard pass to Jamire Calvin on third down got the Cougars in field-goal range, and Blake Mazza converted from 42 yards out with 19 seconds left to give Washington State the win:

That came on the heels of Minshew putting together a go-ahead drive just minutes earlier.

After the Washington State defense forced a turnover on downs in the fourth quarter, Minshew drove the Cougars down the field and threw a go-ahead, three-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Renard Bell with 4:28 remaining:

That wasn't enough to win it for Washington State, though, as Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to JJ Arcega-Whiteside with 1:25 left.

Costello came out on the losing end, but he enjoyed a great game in his own right, as he went 34-of-43 for 323 yards and four touchdowns.

His one blunder may have been the fact that he left too much time on the clock for Minshew and Co. to win it in regulation.

The Cougars are now 7-1 on the season with a 5-1 mark in the Pac-12, while the Cardinal fell to 5-3 with a 3-2 conference record.

Washington State is now all alone atop the Pac-12 North following Washington's surprising loss to California. 

Minshew Deserves Heisman Hype After Win vs. Stanford

Minshew has flown under the radar for much of this season, but it is time for the senior signal-caller to finally get mentioned in the Heisman Trophy conversation.

Things were looking bleak on the road against a Top 25 team when Stanford took a two-touchdown lead late in the second quarter, but Minshew cobbled together a drive that yielded three points before entering the locker room before proceeding to go off in the second half.

As pointed out by Josh Dubow of the Associated Press, Minshew came out firing in the third quarter and couldn't miss:

After running back James Williams cut down the Stanford lead with a three-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, Minshew helped tie it up with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Davontavean Martin in the fourth:

Among the many impressed by the moxie Minshew displayed Saturday was former Washington State and NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf:

On the go-ahead touchdown drive later in the fourth, Minshew got the job done with his arm and his legs, as he converted a 4th-and-1 in Stanford territory with a two-yard run.

It would have been easy for Minshew to get down after his go-ahead score was erased by Costello on the next drive, but he remained locked in to set up the game-winning field goal.

Joe Healey of Rivals made it clear that he believes Minshew is a legitimate Heisman candidate:

While it's tough to make an argument for Minshew over Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa given the Crimson Tide quarterback's dominance, Minshew deserves a spot as a finalist given the ridiculous numbers he has put up.

Through eight games, Minshew has thrown for 3,183 yards, 26 touchdowns and just six interceptions. Largely because of that, the Cougars control their own destiny in terms of winning the Pac-12.

Some may argue that head coach Mike Leach's pass-happy offense is aiding Minshew's production, and while that may be true, Minshew deserves credit for running the system to near perfection.

Stanford's Slide Due to Lack of Reliance on Love

Stanford is getting quality quarterback play from Costello this season, but that hasn't manifested itself into the type of success the Cardinal have grown accustomed to when it comes to wins and losses.

The running game has been Stanford's biggest strength for many years, and when Bryce Love announced that he was returning for his senior year after rushing for over 2,000 yards last season, that seemed likely to be the case again.

Love has battled injuries this season, though, and he has struggled to find his rhythm.

He played Saturday despite being questionable, and he even had an impressive, 43-yard scamper that brought back shades of his old self in the eyes of College Football Talk's Bryan Fischer:

Love finished with just five rushes for 68 yards and four receptions for 14 yards despite that flash of brilliance.

Stewart Mandel of The Athletic speculated that Stanford was playing it cautious with him given his injury struggles:

While that may be the case, five carries is an unacceptable number for Love given the fact that he was out there during the game's biggest drives.

Stanford only lost the time-of-possession battle by about two minutes, but it could have limited Minshew's effectiveness to some degree by sustaining longer drives and wearing down the Washington State defense with Love.

After not playing in Stanford's loss to Utah a few weeks ago, Love rushed 11 times for 21 yards against Arizona State last game and then carried the ball just five times Saturday.

The Cardinal didn't have a single drive that lasted at least five minutes, and that likely contributed to Minshew's great rhythm.

Stanford has lost three of its past four games, and if it is going to be a factor down the stretch, Love must be a much bigger part of the game plan.

What's Next?

The Cougars will look to put an even stronger stranglehold on their Pac-12 North lead when they host California next week.

Stanford will have another tough matchup on its hands next week when it faces a desperate Washington Huskies team on the road.