[6][7][8][9][10] Led by Mike Leach, in his second-year at Washington State, the Cougars opened the season with a loss to Auburn, an eventual top finisher on the final BCS Standings, and a win over then No.
Leach commented on the group of walk-ons, specifically Bosch, noting, "He’s developed his skills, worked really hard in the weight room and has been a big cornerstone for us.
"[20] The Cougars' measly rushing attack, which averaged only 58.7 yards per game (123 out of 123 in the FBS), included junior Marcus Mason and sophomore Teondray Caldwell.
[18] Senior Andrew Furney, an honorable mention all-conference performer,[17] handled the kicking duties, and made 15 of his 19 field goal tries with a long of 52 yards and 43 of his 44 extra point tries.
At tight end, NFL Draft prospect Crockett Gillmore caught 43 passes for 533 yards and 2 touchdowns.
[24] Wide receivers Charles Lovett and Thomas Coffman, as well as tight end Kivon Cartwright were key contributors in the passing game.
[33] Colorado State's offensive line was "gnarly", and featured four seniors and one junior, and were anchored center Weston Richburg.
[35] Their kicker was Jared Roberts, a first team all-conference performer who made 17 of his 20 field goal tries with a long of 54 yards and all 54 of his extra point attempts.
In the secondary, second team all-conference honoree Shaq Bell totaled 57 tackles and 7.5 TFL at cornerback.
[40] Washington State (WSU) got the ball to start the game, but on the second play of the game, Connor Halliday threw an interception to Max Morgan of Colorado State (CSU), but Nolan Washington stripped Rashad Higgins on the ensuing play, giving WSU the ball right back, and they subsequently scored on a Halliday pass to River Cracraft.
After the ensuing kickoff, ESPN aired a series automobile and insurance commercials that were amongst the most viewed of the early bowl season.
On the next drive, CSU was faced with a fourth down and short, and looked like they would punt, but at the last moment called an audible and rushed up the middle for a first down.
On the ensuing drive for CSU, they went 75 yards down the field on 9 plays, ultimately scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run by Kapri Bibbs.
They took advantage of a pass interference penalty on WSU when Roberts kicked a 30-yard field goal as time expired, making the score 35–23 at the half.
CSU's ensuing drive lasted only one play – a 75-yard touchdown run by Kapri Bibbs that made the score 38–30, with Washington State retaining the eight-point advantage.
Though they reached the red zone on their next drive, Cory James sacked Halliday twice, and then WSU committed a delay of game penalty, which ultimately moved them out of field goal range, so they had to punt.
They had another opportunity, starting in CSU territory after Jordon Vaden fumbled the ball on a run after a catch, but punted then too.
Needing a two-point conversion to tie the game, Donnell Alexander rushed the ball outside on a statue of liberty play and attempted to reach inside the pylon at the goal line, and was initially ruled out of bounds, however video review again overturned the call, and consequently, the score was tied at 45 with only 33 seconds to play.
Two plays later on CSU's drive, Jared Roberts made a 41-yard field goal attempt as time expired to win the game, 48–45.