By Theo Lawson

The Spokesman-Review

PULLMAN — Max Borghi called his shot. Then made his house call.

With four seconds on the game clock, more than 10,000 fans chanting his name behind the east end zone and two yards to work with, the Washington State sophomore collected the ball from Anthony Gordon, tucked it into his arms and lowered his head.

He could’ve chewed up 10 yards. Borghi only needed two.

Bold in his predictions and apparently in his play, WSU’s standout back scored with two seconds remaining in a game that went back and forth until Borghi finally crossed the goal line, securing a 54-53 victory over Oregon State that guaranteed a fifth-consecutive bowl appearance for Mike Leach and his resilient Cougars.

“I thought we were tough, I thought we played hard, I thought we had a certain amount of dumbness mixed in there,” Leach said of a team that gave up 601 total yards of offense, allowed the opponent to recover a late onside kick and turned over the ball five times, but made the crucial plays in a game that featured two lead changes and 48 points in the fourth quarter. “Tough and dumb is better than soft and smart. Right now, I would say we’re fairly tough but medium intelligence, is what I think we are.”

Most important, the Cougars are bowl-eligible — something that might not have been such a certainty had they left it up to the final week of the season, when WSU (6-5, 3-5) will attempt to end a six-game losing streak against Washington (6-5, 3-5) in the Apple Cup at Husky Stadium.

Borghi guaranteed Saturday’s win as he left a similar news conference one week earlier, stating after a win over Stanford, “We just gotta carry it into next week, and have a great week of practice and prepare for Oregon State because we’re goin’ bowlin’, guaranteeing that, because we’re gonna win next week.”

Then he signed off: “See ya later.”