For the first time in a long while, there were no missed field goals, no late collapses, and no heart-stopping drama in the last few minutes of Washington State’s football game Saturday.

A huge fourth quarter propelled the Cougars (6-3, 4-2 Pac-12) to their best start since 2006, improving their record with a 38-24 victory over the Arizona State Sun Devils (4-5, 2-4) and becoming bowl eligible for the first time in two seasons.

Freshman cornerback Darrien Molton returned to the lineup for the Cougs to intercept redshirt senior quarterback Mike Bercovici with 1:21 to play, effectively ending the game. The Cougars gained 248 yards – just under half their 512 yard output on the day – in the fourth quarter, and redshirt sophomore quarterback Luke Falk threw three of his five touchdown passes and 238 of his 497 yards in the final period.

“I thought as a team collectively we finished this game better than we have all year,” Head Coach Mike Leach said. “We have come back in games this year against other people, but today we put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter. That is something this team has not been very consistent at so I thought that was an element of improvement we needed to achieve.”

A 75-yard touchdown pass to redshirt senior receiver Dom Williams put WSU up by 14 with four minutes to play. He also caught a TD midway through the second quarter on a slant pattern after an inadvertent whistle gave the Cougars a second chance at a 4th-and-5 play from the Sun Devils’ 11 yard-line.

Before the Cougars’ strong second half, in which they scored touchdowns on four of their first five possessions, they struggled out of the gate. Their first three drives of the first quarter spanned seven plays and netted just 10 yards, two punts and a Falk interception. The Sun Devils scored touchdowns on their first two drives to take a 14-0 lead, the largest deficit WSU has faced this season.

After freshman safety Kareem Orr intercepted Falk in the first quarter, the Cougar defense stepped up with a 4th-down stop near the goal line to prevent ASU from taking a three-posession lead.

On 4th-and-2 from the WSU 3, Bercovici tried to run for the first down but was stopped by junior safety Shalom Luani and redshirt senior linebacker Ivan McClennan. The Cougars would outscore the Sun Devils 38-10 after that stand.

“The first two drives happened so fast and we were not able to get in a rhythm defensively,” redshirt junior nickel back Parker Henry said. “We were playing soft on the first two Arizona State drives. We were able to get a stop on fourth down on their third drive and then we started to play like we have been the past few weeks. We got the momentum after that fourth down stop and we needed that.”

Henry led the team with 14 tackles and a sack, which helped the defense clamp down on the Sun Devils. After ASU’s first two scores, their next six drives ended in a turnover on downs, a fumble by redshirt senior receiver Devin Lucien that was forced by redshirt sophomore cornerback Kirkland Parker and recovered by sophomore cornerback Marcellus Pippins, three punts and the end of the first half.

That allowed the Cougar offense to finally gain some momentum. The fourth WSU drive of the first quarter started at the Cougars’ 3 yard-line, and the offense drove 92 yards on 17 plays to record a field goal.

Redshirt sophomore right tackle Cole Madison kept the drive alive by recovering a Falk fumble after he’d been sacked. Without redshirt senior left tackle Joe Dahl, three offensive linemen made their debuts in different spots on the line, which was the cause of some early offensive pains.

“We definitely need to improve how we start games,” redshirt senior offensive lineman Gunnar Eklund said. “You have to give Arizona State credit for how they blitz and try to change your eyes before the play. When we were down 14 points, you cannot look at the scoreboard and get down. You have to play the next play. When everyone is doing their job in this offense we are hard to stop.”

Earlier in the week, Leach suggested the Pac-12 conference should investigate ASU for stealing signals from its opponent’s sideline. After the win, he was asked what halftime adjustments he made to allow the Cougars to do so well in the second half.

“The first half we stole a bunch of their signals, and those helped us a bunch the second half,” Leach said sarcastically.

The Cougars took the lead for good on junior receiver John Thompson’s first touchdown reception as a Cougar early in the fourth quarter. Redshirt junior receiver Gabe Marks had a key 16-yard reception on a 4th-and-1 play on that drive, and freshman receiver Kyle Sweet made a 36-yard catch on a 3rd-and-6 play to bring the Cougars down to the ASU 8. WSU took a 24-21 lead and would never relinquish it on its way to becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 2013.

“I do not think becoming bowl eligible is significant because we knew we could play good enough to get to this point,” Marks said. “We are more focused on winning the next game and the games after those. We do not want to be satisfied just because we are bowl eligible. We just want to keep winning.”