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Sep. 17—Two players with over $1.2 million in collective name, image and likeness earnings met two players with 10 combined seasons on the Palouse. As history will tell, the Palouse tenure won the day.
Facing fourth-and-goal on the 1-yard line, Washington quarterback Will Rogers took a shotgun snap and ran to his right. Washington State senior edge Andrew Edson bull rushed Rogers, prompting him to lateral to running back Jonah Coleman up the right sideline. Senior linebacker Kyle Thornton wrapped his arms, strengthened by six years on the Palouse, around Coleman to force him out of bounds and seal WSU’s 24-19 Apple Cup win Saturday in Seattle.
Thornton said WSU’s coaches had planned for him to be the one to make the play on Coleman with the game on the line. The pressure weighed on his mind, but he was prepared.
“My eyes were on him the entire time, because he was my man,” Thornton said. “And it was just like, all right, it’s ‘Me versus you.’ And as soon as the ball gets snapped, he darts off to the sideline. And immediately I’m like, ‘Okay, this is interesting,’ because we were anticipating something up the middle, and Eddie (Andrew Edson) and Ansel (Din-Mbuh) do a great job of widening it all the way out to the sideline.
“I approach with a straight, clear shot all the way to him. I finally see him deal it, and it’s just like, ‘All right, let’s get him down. Get him out. Get him down.’ And next thing I know, the crowd erupts. And I’m like, ‘Oh my god, we just did it.'”
The first person Thornton hugged after making the play? His strength coach Ben Iannacchione, who helped mold the very arms that made WSU history.
Rogers and Coleman were playing just their third game in the purple and gold after accomplished careers at Mississippi State and Arizona, respectively. They are earning hundreds of thousands through NIL deals…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/wazzus-apple-cup-win-contrast-121700529.html
Author : Lewiston Tribune, Idaho
Publish date : 2024-09-17 12:17:00
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