FORT COLLINS, Colorado (AP) — Cameron Ward threw for three touchdowns and ran for another and Jaden Hicks returned an interception 37-yards for a touchdown and Washington State beat Colorado State 50-24 Saturday night.
Ward was 37 of 49 for 451 yards passing, including touchdowns of 3 yards to Kyle Williams, 12 yards to Nakia Watson and 25 yards to Josh Kelly. Ward also rushed for 40 yards, including a 1-yard score, helping Washington State start the season with a victory for the fifth time in six years. Lincoln Victor led a productive group of Washington State playmakers with 11 catches for 168 yards. Dean Janikowski kicked a career-best 55-yard field goal and John Mateer, who spelled Ward several times, had touchdown runs of 1 and 3 yards. “I thought offensively we were spotty at times, and the scoreboard says we did some really good things,” Washington State coach Jake Dickert said. “Defensively, we go out there and really put together three complete quarters and then not finish. So, there’s lot of things that we will learn from this. Our guys have to come back ready to work and know that we need to get better.”
Kobe Johnson returned a kick 98 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter for Colorado State, which lost an opener for a sixth consecutive season. Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi relieved starting quarterback Clay Millen after he was shaken up in the third quarter, completing touchdown passes of 75 yards to Justus Ross-Simmons and 20 yards to Dallin Holker as part of the Rams’ 21-point fourth quarter. “That was disappointing to say the least,” Colorado State coach Jay Norvell said. “We did at times do some good things. We didn’t do enough offensively to help our defense against a good offense, and we certainly didn’t play our best defense either to slow them down.”
Up 14 , the Cougars scored two touchdowns in a 28-second span in the third as Mateer scored the first of his two touchdown runs and Hicks picked off Millen, heading down the sideline untouched to put the Cougars 29-3 early in the third. The teams each put 21 points on the board in the fourth quarter. “We knew that their O-line was one of their weaknesses and we decided to get after them,” Hicks said. “Using that pressure really helped out the defense overall. Three-and outs were really key to the game and getting them off the field and getting our offense on the field so they can get rolling was really good.”
