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Holiday Bowl, Minnesota vs Washington State: Highlights, score and recap

By John Buhler

Dec 27, 2016; San Diego , CA, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers receiver Shannon Brooks (23) celebrates after catching a 13 yard touchdown pass in the third quarter against the Washington State Cougars during the 2016 Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 27, 2016; San Diego , CA, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers receiver Shannon Brooks (23) celebrates after catching a 13 yard touchdown pass in the third quarter against the Washington State Cougars during the 2016 Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Minnesota Golden Gophers defeat the Washington State Cougars 17-12 in the 2016 National Funding Holiday Bowl. Minnesota improves to 9-4, while Washington State drops to 8-5 on the season.

If you wanted a high-scoring thriller, the 2016 National Funding Holiday was not the game for you. This low-scoring, defensive struggle between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Washington State Cougars ultimately went to Minnesota to the tune of 17-12.

Washington State would carry a slim 9-6 lead into halftime, edging out the Golden Gophers with a pair of Erik Powell field goals. Cougars head coach Mike Leach would call his offense ‘anemic’ through the first half. His star quarterback Luke Falk couldn’t run the Air Raid effectively against the Golden Gophers defense on Tuesday night.

What this game really came down to was a few highlight worthy plays that Minnesota made that Washington State never could. The first and weirdest one came on an atrocious touchdown pass from quarterback Mitch Leidner to running back Shannon Brooks.

Leidner barely completed 50 percent of his passes. This red zone heave was nowhere near Brooks, but it was tipped off a Cougar defensive back right into Brooks’ hands for six points. The made Emmit Carpenter would make it 10-6 Golden Gophers late in the third quarter.

Needing a big play, Falk had all the time in the world to throw an interception to Adekunle Ayinde. He returned it 53 yards to the house, but upon further review he stepped out well short of the goal line. Minnesota running back Rodney Smith would pound the rock on a red zone touchdown to make it 16-6. The Carpenter PAT would make it 17-6 Golden Gophers.

Falk would orchestrate a scoring drive, ending in a touchdown pass to Kyle Sweet to make it 17-12 Golden Gophers. Washington State would go for two and fail. However, the Cougars would get a second opportunity after a Minnesota targeting penalty.

From the one-yard line, Washington State would then proceed to half a false start penalty. So from the seven-yard line to attempt the two-point conversion for a third time, Washington State would come up a yard short. The onside kick attempt that followed was all sorts of bad.

Minnesota unleashed the fury defensively in a game that the Golden Gophers initially wanted to boycott. Shutting the vaunted aerial attack of Washington State leads to a very impressive game by the Minnesota football team.

Three Stars

  1. Rodney Smith: Smith had 17 carries for 74 yards and a touchdown. He also had a catch for a yard.
  2. Shannon Brooks: Brooks had 13 carries for 51 yards. He also had two catches for 10 yards and a touchdown.
  3. Mitch Leidner: Leidner completed 11 of 20 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown. He also carried the football 10 times for 26 yards.

Highlights

Next Game

Minnesota will play its first 2017 game against the MAC’s Buffalo Bulls. Kickoff from TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis will be on Thursday, Aug. 31.

Next: Best college quarterback born in every state

Washington State will play its first 2017 game against the FCS Montana State Bobcats. Kickoff from Martin Stadium in Pullman will be on Saturday, Sep. 2.

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