SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Gardner Minshew II and that glorious mustache conjured up a final bit of magic in a grand finale for Washington State, Friday night. The graduate transfer quarterback whose whiskered upper lip was loved and mimicked by Cougars fans all season, threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score in sending No. 12 Washington State to a 28-26 win over No. 25 Iowa State in the Alamo Bowl.

Minshew’s passing and scrambling earned the Cougars (11-2) a school record for wins in a season.
He threw for 299 yards, none of them bigger than a play made out of desperation when Iowa State had all the momentum. After watching a 21-10 lead dwindle to 21-20 by early in the fourth quarter, the Cougars stripped the ball from Iowa State running back David Montgomery at the Cyclones’ 30. Minshew, who had been held in check in the third quarter, escaped a third-down pass rush to flip a last-second shovel pass to Tay Martin that went for 20 yards.

The play stunned the Cyclones, and Max Borghi scored on a 10-yard run the next play. It was just another big fourth-quarter moment for the transfer from East Carolina who coach Mike Leach had lured out West with the promise he could lead the nation in passing. Minshew was the nation’s leading passer in yards per game this season and won the Johnny Unitas Award as the nation’s top senior quarterback in a season the Cougars fell one game short of playing for the Pac-12 championship. Nearly all of his completions this season were more orthodox than the flip to Martin.

The Cyclones did a good job in bottling him up for much of the game. Iowa State’s defense held Washington State 10 points and 135 yards below their season averages and two of the Cougars’ touchdowns came on short drives after turnovers. But after Minshew found a way to get Washington State in the end zone, the Cougars’ defense made the one play it had to at the end.

Iowa State’s last chance came after quarterback Brock Purdy scored from a yard out with 4:02 left. The Cyclones went for two, but a pass to Montgomery was stopped well short of the goal line after a false-start penalty pushed the line of scrimmage back to the 8. Iowa State had seven false start penalties and had two players ejected for targeting hits on Minshew.

Purdy passed for 315 yards and Cyclones receiver Hakeem Butler caught nine passes for 192 yards, six yards shy of the Alamo Bowl record. Montgomery rushed for 124 yards. The Cyclones (8-5) had rallied from a 1-3 start to finish third in the Big 12, the program’s best conference finish in 40 years. Turnovers and targeting calls were critical in the fame. Purdy threw two first-quarter interceptions and Montgomery’s fumble was a game-changer. Iowa State had two key defenders ejected in the second quarter for targeting hits to Minshew. Senior linebacker Willie Harvey was ejected after smashing Minshew in the facemask on a scramble. Defensive end Enyi Uzwazike was booted after a sack knocked Minshew’s helmet off.
UP NEXT: The Cyclones were in the mix for a Big 12 title-game berth late in the season and will expect to be again in 2019 with Purdy leading an experienced lineup that loses only five senior starters. The key will be the NFL draft options for 1,000-yard rusher Montgomery and 1,000-yard receiver Butler.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs safety Eric Berry missed practice Friday after the heel injury that kept him out most of the season acted up, leaving his status for Sunday’s pivotal game against Oakland in question. The Chiefs (11-4) can clinch the AFC West and No. 1 seed in the playoffs by beating the Raiders.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid said the soreness was similar to what Berry experienced early in training camp. The three-time All-Pro, who missed most of last season with an Achilles’ tendon injury, returned to practice over the summer but was sidelined early in camp. He did not play until Week 15 against the Chargers, and had been increasing his playing time slowly the past couple of games.

“He’s going to try to see if he feels better. That’s what he is going to do right now,” said Reid, who listed Berry as questionable on the final injury report. “We’ll just see how he is as time goes on.”
Wide receiver Sammy Watkins remained out of practice with his foot injury, while running backs Spencer Ware and Darrel Williams were listed as questionable with hamstring injuries.

Meanwhile, top cornerback Kendall Fuller is hopeful of playing after missing a game with a hand injury. Fuller had surgery about two weeks ago and thought he could play last week in Seattle, but the pain from the recovery was too much when game time rolled around. “I feel like he did a good job,” Reid said. “He worked through it and didn’t miss a beat.”

Reid also felt good about the first week back at practice for Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who has been on injured reserve with a broken bone in his leg. The starting right guard was injured in Week 5 against Jacksonville, but the team hoped he would return in time for the playoffs. He has a three-week practice window in which the Chiefs must decide whether to activate him.

In other news, the agent for Damien Williams announced that the Chiefs had signed their backup running back to a two-year contract extension that could be worth up to $8.1 million Williams was signed to compete for a third-string job in training camp. But when the Chiefs cut Kareem Hunt following his off-the-field issues, and Ware went down with hamstring and shoulder injuries, it pushed the former Dolphins running back into a feature role.

The 27-year-old Williams ran 13 times for 103 yards last week against the Seahawks, and he has three touchdowns on the ground and another through the air over the past three games. Williams, who signed this season for $1.2 million with just $60,000 guaranteed, also helps to solidify the next season. Ware and Charcandrick West are due to become a free agent, leaving Darrel Williams as the only other running back signed next season.

“Damien’s really done a nice job,” Reid said. “He was rewarded for that with a nice contract. It allows him to be on the football team here for a little bit here. I’m happy for him because he’s earned it. He’s gone out and played special teams and excelled on special teams. And was given an opportunity to play the running back position.”

(Learfield Sports) Iowa basketball coach Fran McCaffery says Connor McCaffery will play but Luka Garza will be out of Saturday night’s game when the 24th ranked Hawkeyes host Bryant University. McCaffery missed the last game against Savannah State with a concussion while Garza was out with a sprained ankle.

McCaffery says with Garza out Tyler Cook will spend time playing the post.

The 24th ranked Hawkeyes are 10-2.