Easop Winston Jr.’s 89-yard TD shows how far WSU has come

Easop Winston Jr.’s 89-yard catch-and-run touchdown against the Utah Utes that won the game for the Washington State Cougars was a thing of beauty, and it shows just how far WSU has come under Mike Leach.

First off, let’s take another look at the play, in which Winston is singled up against Utah corner Julian Blackmon, widely recognized as the best the Utes have to offer. With the Cougars backed up, Utah goes with a single high safety and floods the underneath routes with four defenders. Advantage Winston — and Gardner Minshew II, who broke out of a tough second half to deliver a gorgeous ball:

What really makes the play, of course, are the moves Winston makes after catching the pass, turning around safety Corrion Ballard before outrunning him to the end zone.

I don’t know about you, but the first thing I thought of was BY GOD WE FINALLY HAVE OUR REVENGE FOR THIS:

In all seriousness, though ... how far has this WSU program come? That Winston is one of multiple receivers on the roster with the ability to do that to one of the better defenses in the conference says a lot.

Additionally, it’s been quite the road for Winston, personally:

How cool is that? Winston finished with 115 yards and that TD.