Football downs Fighting Illini, 35-22.

September 20, 1997

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Washington State overcame a slow start in front of 47,131 fans at Champaign's Memorial Stadium, coming up with 21 fourth-quarter-points to defeat Illinois 35-22 and move to 3-0 this season.

It didn't take long for the 19th ranked Cougs to send a message to winless Illinois, as Ryan Leaf connected with Kevin McKenzie on the first play from scrimmage for an 80-yard touchdown play. The Cougars were not as successful with their next possession when a Leaf pass was intercepted by Ivan Benson at the WSU 36 yard line.

The Fighting Illini rumbled into the endzone on seven plays, receiving help from a costly nine-yard pass interference call on second down and 11. At the end of the first quarter, the score was knotted at 7-7. In 15 minutes of play WSU had been penalized for 53 yards.

The Illini would get a chance to take the lead when Leaf fumbled at the WSU 22 with less than three minutes to go in the half. But the Cougar defense held strong, holding Illinois for zero yards and forcing a Neil Rackers 39 yard field goal attempt which missed.

At half-time the score was still tied at 7-7. The normally dominant first-half offense of WSU was held to 193 total yards and had turned the ball over twice. However, a strong defense allowed only 116 total yards by Illinois, keeping the Cougars in the game.

The third quarter was not promising for WSU. The Illinois offense opened the second half with its best drive of the game, going 59 yards for the go-ahead score on the shoulders of a 48-yard touchdown run by Robert Holcombe.

On Illinois' next possession, Ray Jackson intercepted Mark Hoekstra's first down pass from midfield at the WSU 13. Three plays later WSU was at their 47 yard line, threatening to drive, when Leaf threw his third interception of the day.

But the Illinois offense could not crack the Washington State defense and WSU regained possession with 8:44 remaining in the third quarter.

The Cougs put together a nine-play 47-yard drive that ended with a five-yard touchdown reception by Chris Jackson. The extra-point by Lindell tied the game, and the Cougars never looked back.

Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, DeJuan Gilmore dashed 21 yards for what would be the first of three fourth-quarter touchdowns by WSU, putting the Cougs up 21-14.

On their next possession, Leaf found Nian Taylor for a 30-yard touchdown hookup, and WSU went up 28-14. Just over two minutes later, Washington State got its third possession of the quarter and again found the endzone, this time on a 30-yard pass to Shawn McWashington.

Hoekstra tried to answer with a 69-yard drive and 12-yard touchdown pass to Rob Majoy, but it was too little too late.

WSU held on to win 35-22, keeping their undefeated season alive. Washington State finished with 500 yards of total offense, with Black picking up 112 yards on the ground. Leaf spread his 302 passing yards to eight receivers, four of them finding the endzone. Todd Nelson and Brandon Moore jumped on Illinois with ten tackles each.

WASHINGTON STATE	7	0	7	21	35
ILLINOIS		7	0	7	8	22


TEAM	QTR	TIME	SCORING PLAY (Yards/Plays/Drive Time/How Gained Possession)
WSU	1	14:44	McKenzie 80 pass from Leaf (Lindell kick) (1/80/0:16/kickoff)
ILL	1	4:45	Hoekstra 2 run (Rackers kick) (7/36/2:48/interception)
ILL	3	13:34	Holcombe 48 run (Rackers kick) (5/59/1:26/kickoff)
WSU	3	4:45	Jackson 5 pass from Leaf (Lindell kick) (9/47/3:59/punt)
WSU	4	14:54	Gilmore 21 run (Lindell kick) (2/65/0:25/downs)
WSU	4	8:24	Taylor 30 pass from Leaf (Lindell kick) (6/58/2:31/fumble)
WSU	4	5:20	McWashington 30 pass from Leaf (Lindell kick) (4/55/0:51/downs)
ILL	4	3:35	Majoy 12 pass from Hoekstra (Cushing pass) (10/69/1:45/kickoff)


TOTAL OFFENSE  -  WSU 74/500/6.8  ILL 87/338/3.9.
RUSHING  -  WSU :  38/219/21/198/1/44:  Black 19/113/1/112/0/44, Gilmore 3/36/0/36/1/21, Hawkins 4/17/0/17/0/10, Meriwether 2/15/0/15/0/8, Tims 1/9/0/9/0/9, Leaf 9/29/20/9/0/9.  ILL  37/178/5/173/2/48:  Holcombe 32/164/1/163/1/48, Lavery 1/6/0/6/0/6, Hoekstra 4/8/4/4/1/4.
PASSING  -  WSU :  36/21/3/302/4/80:  Leaf 36/21/3/302/4/80.  ILL:  50/32/2/165/1/19:  Hoekstra 46/23/2/165/1/19. Lavery 4/0/0/0/0/0.
RECEIVING  -  WSU  McWashington 4/62, Jackson 4/46, Tims 3/34, Taylor 3/33, Black 3/11, McKenzie 2/92, Hawkins 1/25, Jefferson 1/-1.  ILL:  Majoy 6/40, Willis 5/47, Cushing 3/30, Whitman 3/16, McDonald-Ashfor 2/21, Garrett 2/6, Holcombe 2/5
INTERCEPTIONS  -  WSU:  Jackson 1/18, Gibbons 1/24.  ILL:  Benson 2/0, Stargill 1/0.
PUNTING  -  WSU:  Banks 7/299/42.7/56.  ILL: Tabloff 7/303/43.3/49
PUNT RETURNS  -  WSU:  Tims 3/20.  ILL:  Majoy 4/28.
KICKOFF RETURNS  -  WSU:  0/0.  ILL:  McDonald-Ashfor 2/42.
SCORING  -  WSU:  McKenzie 6, C. Jackson 6, Gilmore 6, Taylor 6, McWashington 6, Lindell 5.  ILL: Hoekstra 6, Holcombe 6, Majoy 6, Cushing 2, Rackers 2.
FIRST DOWNS  -  WSU:  21/7/14/0.  ILL:  22/8/10/4.
FUMBLES/LOST  -  WSU:  1/1.  ILL:  1/1
PENALTIES/YARDS  -  WSU:  18/126.  ILL 7/42.
POSSESSION TIME  -  WSU:  28:56.  ILL 31:04.
THIRD-DOWN CONVERSIONS  -  WSU:  3/12.  ILL:  7/20.
ATTENDANCE  -47,131
WSU TACKLERS (T-P-A)  - Nelson 10/7/3, Moore 10/7/3, Gleason 9/3/6, Stewart 8/5/3, Bender 6/6/0, Doyle 5/4/1, Holmes 4/4/0, Gibbons 4/4/0, Boose 4/3/1, Moronkola 3/3/0, McKenzie 2/2/0, R. Jackson 2/2/0, Price 2/1/1, Salausa 2/1/1, Meier 2/0/2, K. Moore 1/1/0, C. Jackson 1/1/0, Thomas 1/1/0, Nance 1/0/1, Emmerson 1/0/1.
WSU SACKS  -  0
WSU TFL  -  Gleason 1/-1, Holmes 1/-1.

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