CougCenter Player of the Week: Gardner Minshew II

11 games, 10 wins. How on earth am I typing that?! There are several reasons, of course, but principle among them is the guy behind center. There’s also the five-man unit in front of him, the eight-man rotation of receivers, the wrecking crew linebacker squad, and on and on. The imbeciles who vote for the conference players of the week haven’t selected a Cougar in ages, which shows that this Cougar team is greater than the sum of its parts.

And as we’ve written many times before, the fact that WSU is getting solid contributions from nearly everywhere on the field makes this more difficult than it’s been in the past. When WSU keeps winning, however, it’s more fun than it is difficult. If you saw the game, or if you read about it without seeing one second, you’re undoubtedly smart enough to know where we’re going with this week’s honors.

Oh, and I know I’m leaving out a bunch of guys who should probably garner some recognition. Such is life after a 41-point win over a conference foe.

Honorable Mention: Kainoa Wilson

Huh? Wilson only caught one pass! Oh, but that’s not why he’s here. He also fell on the fumble that ended the hilarious WSU kickoff-turned WSU touchdown, after more than one other Cougar player couldn’t reel the ball in. Let’s re-live it one more time.

One of the funnier parts of this sequence is how mad Deion Singleton gets because he had a chance at his first college touchdown, but couldn’t come up with the ball. Luckily Wilson had no such problem.

Boobie Borghi

13 rushes, 100 yards and two touchdowns. Ho hum, just another day at the office.

Calvin Jackson Jr.

A late addition, Jackson had himself quite a night, and is becoming a bigger part of the offense by the week. In addition to the masterful tape-job on his socks, Jackson caught five passes for 85 yards, and scored his first two touchdowns as a Cougar, making the Arizona secondary look hapless along the way.

2nd Runner-Up: Jahad Woods

I’m just gonna guess that the guy with the least amount of gas left in the tank late last night was Mr. Woods. If I had to spend my entire night chasing Khalil Tate around, I might just quit football entirely. Woods was undaunted, though, leading the defense with 11 tackles, recovering a fumble on a kickoff, and making a key play late in the first half. Well, it was as key a play as one could make when his team is leading by 34. Gary Brightwell was no more than an inch or two from the goal line when, once again, Woods ripped the ball away. One Cougar recovery, two plays and 80 yards later, the WSU had 55 points before halftime.

1st Runner-Up: Davontavean Martin

Tay Martin has been the quintessential “feast or famine” receiver this year, and it had been a while since he had a big impact on a game. But man, when he eats, he EATS. The catch he made, using his legs, while his face mask was being pulled, was something else. That 50-yard touchdown catch wasn’t exactly an easy one, either. Once Leach and Minshew remembered that he’s really good at something other than a screen pass, Martin put on a show. Martin led the team in both receptions (seven) and yards (124). Welcome back, again, Tay.

Winner: Gardner Minshew II

Honest to god, what the hell am I supposed to write that hasn’t already been written about Minshew? Well ok, there are a few new superlatives this week. As I wrote yesterday, he had as many touchdowns as incompletions in the first half, and he threw 33 times! When you throw the ball 55 times, and average 8.6 yards every time the ball is in the air...I mean...good lord. Seven of those passes went for touchdowns, which isn’t bad either! That’s enough of my rambling. Let’s enjoy Minshew’s personal highlight video, which says more about his performance than I ever could.

Minshew has been an amazing find, which has produced an amazing season. Congratulations, Gardner. Is another seven-touchdown game too much to ask for next week?