White Passes ‘Cats Past Cougars

Dan White threw a touchdown pass to Cary Taylor and Charles Myles and Kevin Schmidtke each rushed for scores as Arizona defeated Washington State 24-14 Saturday night.

White completed 11 of 25 passes for 151 yards as Arizona (4-4, 2-3 Pacific-10) handed Washington State (3-5, 2-3) its third consecutive loss. The Wildcats took a 21-7 lead, then snuffed the Cougars’ fourth-quarter comeback hopes with a fumble recovery and two interceptions.

It was the first game in the last four between the teams that was not decided by a field goal.

Washington State scored first when Chad Carpenter caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Chad Davis with 3:47 remaining in the first quarter after Johnnie Nansen intercepted White on the Arizona 39.

Arizona tied it 7-7 on the next series with a 66-yard scoring drive capped by Myles’ 1-yard touchdown plunge. White hit Taylor for a 38-yard completion on the drive’s first play to the Washington State 28.

Taylor later made a one-handed grab in the corner of the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown from White as Arizona went up 14-7 just before halftime. The drive was made possible after Rafell Jones recovered a Frank Madu fumble on the Washington State 43 and a fake punt in which White flipped a shovel pass to Myles, who was dragged down on the Washington State 18.

Schmidtke scored on a 6-yard run to give Arizona a 21-7 third-quarter lead. Arizona got the ball after Washington State was forced to punt from its 11 and Rodney Williams returned to the Cougars 40.

The Cougars pulled within seven points on a 13-play, 72-yard scoring drive to start the fourth quarter that was capped by Madu’s 13-yard touchdown run.

Davis completed 15 of 38 passes for 170 yards as Washington State compiled 299 yards of offense.