Pacific 10 Roundup : Cougars Beat Huskies, Accept Aloha Bowl Bid

It was snowing at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Wash., Saturday night, but after the game the victorious Washington State players were wearing leis around their necks.

“I’m excited,” said quarterback Timm Rosenbach, who scored the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Cougars’ 32-31 victory over Washington. “I’m going to get healed up first and then I’m going to get out and get ready to go.”

Washington State is going to the Aloha Bowl for a Christmas Day game with Houston with an 8-3 overall record (5-3 in conference play) and a 4-game winning streak. Aloha Bowl officials passed out the leis to the Cougars’ players and coaches moments after they came off the field into their locker room.

Rosenbach was the hero for the 19th-ranked Cougars, scoring on a 4th-down, 5-yard run with 9:06 left after a blocked punt by Shawn Landrum in a regular-season-ending Pacific-10 Conference game.

The Cougars trailed, 28-16, at halftime.

For the first time in 10 years, the Huskies, who finished at 6-5 and 3-5, weren’t invited to a bowl game.