TUCSON, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Jason Gesser threw for 275 yards Saturday night to become Washington State's all-time leader in total offense and Jermaine Green ran for 119 yards and a key touchdown in his first start as No. 11 Washington State kept pace with Arizona State atop the Pac-10 Conference with a 21-13 victory at Arizona.
Gesser's 16-yard scoring pass to Devard Darling with 2:04 to play in the third quarter gave the Cougars a 14-13 advantage. Washington State's two-point conversion attempt failed, however, when Jerome Riley stepped out of bounds just outside the end zone after taking a dump pass from Gesser along the left sideline.
Cougars' defensive end Fred Shavies sacked Arizona quarterback Jason Johnson with 9 1/2 minutes remaining in the fourth, causing a fumble that Isaac Brown recovered at the Wildcats 32. That set up Green's 18-yard touchdown run, and Drew Dunning made the extra point to give Washington State a 21-13 advantage with 7:37 to play.
On the Wildcats' next pass attempt, linebacker Pat Bennett intercepted Johnson at the Washington State 47, and Arizona did not threaten thereafter.
Gesser completed 20-of-35 passes with one touchdown and no interceptions for Washington State (7-1, 4-0 Pac-10), which polished off the Wildcats minutes after Arizona State beat Washington to also improve to 4-0 in the conference.
Sole possession of first place will be on the line next week when Washington State hosts the Sun Devils in Pullman.
Gesser finished with 281 yards of total offense, moving 141 yards past the previous school record of Jack Thompson (7,698). He surpassed Drew Bledsoe and Ryan Leaf into second place on the school's career passing list. He needs 228 yards to overtake Thompson's mark.
Johnson was 22-of-46 for 224 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for Arizona (3-5, 0-4), but was sacked seven times.
Washington State, which was coming off a bye week following a 36-11 thrashing of Stanford on the road on Oct. 12, limited Arizona to just 14 yards on 15 plays in the first quarter.
