Eastern Washington Eagles vs Washington State Cougars Match Player Stats On Sep 08, 2012

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 8, 2012

Washington State 24, Eastern Washington 20: Jeff Tuel threw two touchdown passes to Isiah Myers and host Washington State held off Eastern Washington's late drive to notch its first victory under new coach Mike Leach.

Carl Winston scored on a short touchdown run and Andrew Furney booted a 60-yard field goal as the Cougars (1-1) rebounded from a 30-6 loss to Brigham Young in Leach’s first game as coach.

Tuel passed for 171 yards before leaving the contest early in the fourth quarter with a right knee injury. Eastern Washington (1-1), ranked ninth in Sports Network’s FCS Top 25 poll, pulled within four points on Kyle Padron’s 17-yard scoring pass to Brandon Kaufman with 2:17 left and reached the Washington State 32-yard line on its final possession before Padron’s pass into the end zone fell incomplete as time expired.

The Cougars scored the final 10 points of the first half to take a 24-14 halftime advantage. Tuel hit Myers on a 17-yard scoring pass with 8:41 to play and Furney electrified the stadium with his 60-yard boot on the final play of the half.

Myers caught a 2-yard pass from Tuel with 5:42 left in the first quarter for the first touchdown of the Leach era. Eastern Washington wasted no time recovering, scoring 27 seconds later on a 93-yard scoring pass from Padron to Kaufman.

Winston scored from 1 yard out with 1:29 left in the opening stanza to give the Cougars a 14-7 lead. The Eagles tied the contest when Jordan Talley took a Statue of Liberty handoff and scored on a 5-yard run three-plus minutes into the second quarter.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The record for longest field goal in Washington State history belongs to Jason Hanson, who connected on a 62-yard kick against Nevada-Las Vegas in 1991. Hanson begins his 21st NFL season for the Detroit Lions on Sunday. … Kaufman caught five passes for 142 yards for his 10th career 100-yard outing. … Connor Halliday replaced Tuel and completed 5 of 11 passes for 76 yards. He was intercepted once. … Padron, a transfer from SMU, averaged 26 yards per completion in the first half. He finished 26-for-55 for 379 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.