It’s an interesting way to play the game – risky for sure – but once again, the Washington State Cougars discovered a way to beat a quality Pac-12 opponent in a game most will say they were vastly outplayed in the second half.

Just FedEx the Player of the Year award – Trophy? Plaque? Key chain? – to Gardner Minshew right now.

Has there been more of a win-win Saturday for Washington State University?

Difference makers from Washington State’s 34-20 victory over Oregon

Pac 12 Commissioner Larry Scott addressed the media at halftime of the Oregon game to address the ongoing controversy over a missed targeting call in Washington State’s Sept. 21 loss at USC.

Longtime Washington State linebacker Peyton Pelluer continued to climb up the school’s record books Saturday afternoon against Oregon.

PULLMAN – Washington State radio broadcaster Matt Chazanow opened the pregame show Saturday honoring 89-year-old Bob Robertson, who finally hung up the ear phones after 52 years of calling Cougar games.

Starting Washington State cornerback Sean Harper Jr. didn’t suit up for Saturday’s Pac-12 North duel against No. 12 Oregon and will miss his first game of the season because of an undisclosed injury.

The formula has been perfected over the course of 31 years. But that doesn’t mean College GameDay, ESPN’s Saturday morning pregame football show, can’t reach new heights.

Officially, ESPN GameDay at Washington State University began at 6 a.m. and ended at 9. Unofficially, the party began at about 3 a.m., as an estimated 20,000 Cougar faithful arrived.

They’re coming from every corner of the country this weekend to join Tom Pounds, to celebrate the Cougars and to commemorate the movement started by “The Flagfather” 15 years ago, inauspiciously on a random morning in Austin, Texas.

Justin Herbert’s prolific arm and WSU’s putrid record (1-5) after a bye week under Mike Leach create a problematic scenario for the Cougars, who haven’t seen the Oregon QB at his best and haven’t seen a Ducks team with this much confidence since 2014.

The show is set to take place from 6-9 a.m. across the street from Martin Stadium on the intersection of Stadium Way and Ferdinand’s Lane. Tens of thousands of fans are expected to be clogging the area. It’ll be hard to miss.

Hours after ESPN College GameDay disassembles its set, Kirk Herbstreit leaves Wazzu for Purdue and tens of thousands of Cougar fans recharge from the early-morning party on the corner of Stadium Way and Ferdinand Lane, No. 12 Oregon and No. 25 Washington State will throw on some pads and helmets and duke it out across the street.

The keys to a potential victory for Washington State against Oregon Saturday at Martin Stadium.

There’s a lot going on inside that giant mascot head. Or maybe it’s a cougar head, or maybe a duck or a buckeye – whatever’s the cranial representation of the mascot of the college football team that Lee Corso believes will win the showcase game of the week.

Chris Fallica, Drew Gallagher and an estimated 100 crew members will be on-site this week for GameDay’s first-ever show on the WSU campus – a voyage that Cougars coach Mike Leach called “long overdue” and one that ESPN has been eager to make since Tom Pounds flew his Ol’ Crimson flag behind the GameDay set in Austin, Texas, exactly 15 years ago.

PULLMAN – For many Cougar fans, it’s all about the journey. This one was special.

Justin Herbert hadn’t yet grown out his hair, and certainly not his arm, the last time the Oregon Ducks visited Washington State.