San Jose State Spartans vs Washington State Cougars Match Player Stats On Sep 08, 2018

Gardner Minshew threw for three touchdowns and ran for a fourth Saturday night, delivering Washington State a 31-0 victory over San Jose State in a non-conference football game in Pullman, Wash.

The Cougars (2-0) limited San Jose State (0-2) to 109 total yards en route to their first shutout since blanking Colorado 28-0 in a Pacific-12 Conference game last October.

The teams were meeting for the first time since 1996.

Minshew, who threw for 319 yards last week in a 41-19 win at Wyoming, completed 34-for-51 for 414 yards and the three scores, helping Washington State roll up 544 yards of total offense. He was intercepted twice.

The Cougars scored on each of their first two possessions, with both drives culminating in a Minshew-to-Davontavean Martin touchdown pass.

Washington State took the opening kickoff and quickly drove 70 yards in six plays, with Minshew hitting Dezmon Patmon for 34 yards to set up the score.

Martin got the TD on a 15-yard pass from Minshew just 2:05 into the game.

After San Jose State went three-and-out, Washington State went 85 yards on 13 plays for its next score, with Minshew and Martin connecting from 36 yards out this time for the touchdown and a 14-0 lead just 9:15 into the contest.

Linebackers Jesse Osuna and Kyle Harmon intercepted passes for San Jose to help the Spartans stay within striking distance through most of the first half.

But after Blake Mazza had increased the lead to 17-0 with a 36-yard field goal with 5:48 left in the second quarter, the Cougars scored on the final play of the half on a 1-yard run by Minshew to take a 24-0 lead into the intermission.

Minshew's 3-yard TD pass to James Williams with 4:39 left in the game capped the scoring.

Nehemiah Shelton added a third San Jose State interception in the second half to keep the game from being a complete runaway.

Spartans starting quarterback Montel Aaron threw for 94 yards on 13-for-25 passing with no interceptions. Josh Oliver had five catches for 51 yards to account for nearly half of the total offense for San Jose State, which was coming off a 44-38 loss to U.C. Davis in its opener.

Washington State's Max Borghi was the game's leading rusher with 10 carries for 46 yards.

--Field Level Media