Pac-12: Cougars are the big cats in this matchup

Washington State has been the punching bag of the Pac-12 for years and looked like it would be again this season after opening with a home loss to Portland State.

But the Cougars have changed the script over the past month, inserting themselves into the Pac-12 championship conversation.

Luke Falk threw for 514 yards and hit Gabe Marks on four of his five touchdown passes, helping resurgent Washington State beat Arizona, 45-42, Saturday.

“We didn’t really have all the pieces tucked in and into place,” Washington State Coach Mike Leach said. “We had good individual effort, but we really didn’t play well early in the year. We’ve steadily improved on playing together.”

Washington State (5-2, 3-1 Pac-12) beat Oregon in Eugene two weeks ago and tacked on another impressive road victory behind the arm of Falk to remain in the thick of the Pac-12 North race.

The sophomore completed 47 of 62 passes and had the most yards passing ever against Arizona, breaking the mark of 511 yards set by Arizona State’s Ryan Kealy in 1998.

Marks caught eight passes for 97 yards, the last one a nine-yard touchdown that put the Cougars up, 45-35. Washington State recovered an Arizona onside kick to hold on for its first three-game Pac-12 winning streak since 2003. The Cougars also are 5-2 for the first time since opening that season 7-2.

“Every game it seems like we’re talking about this is the game and I guess when you’re winning the pressure keeps getting higher and higher,” Marks said. “Every game I feel we’re solidifying ourselves and being what we thought we were.”

No. 10 Stanford beats Washington, 31-14

Christian McCaffrey caught a touchdown pass, ran for another score and gained 300 all-purpose yards in another sterling all-around performance to lead No. 10 Stanford to its sixth straight victory, 31-14 over Washington on Saturday night.

Kevin Hogan threw for 290 yards and two scores for the Cardinal (6-1, 5-0 Pac-12). They have topped 30 points in each game since a season-opening loss to Northwestern thanks to their efficient quarterback and all-purpose star.

McCaffrey, who entered the game with an FBS-best 253 all-purpose yards per game, had a 50-yard touchdown catch and 7-yard scoring run in the third quarter. In all, he ran 23 times for 109 yards, caught five passes for a career-high 112 yards and added 79 yards on kick returns in his third 300-yard all-purpose game of the season.

The Huskies (3-4, 1-3) were no match for the Cardinal, especially with starting quarterback Jake Browning watching with an injury. Backup K.J. Carta-Samuels completed just 9 of 21 passes for 118 yards as Washington didn’t even cross midfield until the third quarter.

The one bright spot for the Huskies was freshman running back Myles Gaskin, who ran for 108 yards and a score for his third straight 100-yard game. Gaskin ran five times for 57 yards on the opening drive of the third quarter to cut Stanford’s lead to 17-7.

McCaffrey took over from there. He sneaked out of the backfield on the next drive and hauled in a deep pass from Hogan before outrunning the defense for the touchdown. He then iced the game with his TD run to cap the next drive, making it 31-7.

The matchup between the Pac-12’s top offense and top defense was one-sided from the start. Stanford took the opening kickoff and drive 62 yards in six plays for the score on Hogan’s 21-yard pass to Austin Hooper.

The Huskies struggled to move the ball with Carta-Samuels getting his first career start in place of the injured Browning, who appeared to hurt his right shoulder late in last week’s loss to Oregon.