- One bad snap cost the Cougs a chance at an upset in Boise
A fourth-quarter turnover turned a close game into a lopsided loss for Washington State, which kept pace with a heavily favored opponent for three quarters before crumbling.
The Cougars defense played admirably for much of the game. WSU’s offense was stuck in the mud for most of the day, and a communication error between the Cougs quarterback and running back resulted in a costly interception that spelled another defeat for WSU.
In the end, No. 21 Boise State pulled away for a 31-10 Pac-12 win on Saturday at Gesa Field.
WSU fell to 1-7 overall and 0-4 in conference play under first-year coach Kirby Moore. The Broncos (6-1, 3-0) captured their first-ever win in Pullman and remained the front-runners in the Pac-12 with their sixth straight win.
Game spirals on crucial mistake
The Cougars were very much alive until a game-changing blunder early in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Owen Eshelman, making his second start for WSU, wasn’t playing great, but he had mostly avoided big mistakes and was playing just well enough to keep it close. But the redshirt freshman made his first truly costly mistake of his young career with 12 minutes, 23 seconds left in the game and his team down by a touchdown.
Eshelman looked to pass over the middle on a second-and-10, expecting running back Kirby Vorhees to cut left on his route. But Vorhees went right, and Eshelman had already released the throw. His pass went right to Boise State linebacker Boen Phelps, a Freeman High grad, who returned the pick to the WSU 33 to set up a touchdown that suppressed the Cougs’ hopes of earning a signature win.
That turnover was the turning point. WSU’s offense had labored all game to move downfield, and a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter was pretty much insurmountable. WSU reached midfield on its next drive, but a third-down sack stalled the possession – WSU’s offensive line had a game to forget, surrendering four sacks and eight QB hits.
Eshelman finished 21 of 40 for 191 yards with no TDs. He had a handful of nice moments, improvising to convert third downs (WSU went 6 of 17 on third downs) and using his legs effectively – excluding yards lost from sacks, Eshelman gained 70 yards on 19 carries. But the downfield passing game left much to be desired, and the Cougars tailbacks were a nonfactor yet again against a stout Boise State front. Vorhees and Leo Pulalasi gained 20 yards on 10 carries.
Offense remains this team’s weak spot. The unit showed some promise during a long TD drive late in the first half and a possession that ended with a field goal midway through the third quarter. But there’s just not any sustained fluidity and a glaring lack of big plays – WSU only had one play of 20-plus yards.
Despite stats, WSU defense earned props
The Cougars defensive front had a respectable outing against one of the nation’s best rushing teams – until the fourth quarter.
Boise State finished with 258 rushing yards and three TDs on the ground, averaging 7 yards per carry. Broncos running back Dylan Riley, who entered the game ranked No. 6 nationally in rushing yards, produced 128 yards and two touchdowns.
But 133 of the Broncos’ rushing yards came during the fourth quarter, and two Riley runs accounted for 105 of those. Before the superstar junior tailback broke off scoring runs of 33 and 72 yards in the fourth quarter against a deflated WSU defense, the Boise State ground game hadn’t overpowered the Cougars like it had so many other teams this year.
BSU running backs only had one carry of 20 yards before the fourth. WSU’s linebackers and defensive line did well to swarm to the ball and meet the Broncos ball-carriers near the line of scrimmage.
And the Cougars secondary deserves some credit for limiting Boise State’s downfield passing attack. WSU’s pass defense slipped on the Broncos’ first scoring drive, allowing a chunk gain on fourth down and a 33-yarder, and the Cougs defensive backs gave up four straight completions during a BSU drive that ended in a field goal at the end of the first half. Aside from those slips, it was a commendable effort for the WSU DBs. Boise State’s veteran quarterback, Maddux Madsen, was held to 14 of 23 for a season-low 149 passing yards, with two completions of 15 yards or more.
Could’ve been worse
The Cougars are officially eliminated from postseason contention. It’s a lost season that began with so much hope, a thoroughly disappointing debut for Moore in the new Pac-12. Having said that, the Cougars aren’t as bad as they were a few weeks ago.
To be sure, a 1-7 team doesn’t deserve optimism, but WSU has at least been more fun to watch over the past two weeks, showing some competitiveness against the Pac-12’s top two teams. On Saturday, the Cougars had the score tied against a ranked team heading into the fourth quarter. A month ago, that would’ve seemed impossible.
The Cougars should have a chance to win back a smidge of faith in the coming weeks. They have what appear to be three very winnable games on the horizon against fellow Pac-12 underachievers in San Diego State, Colorado State and Texas State. That first FBS win has to be in there somewhere.
- Cougs hand Utah State a win with an offense that forgot how to finish
Coming off one of its worst losses in recent memory, Washington State stumbled to another humiliating defeat, blowing what appeared to be a comfortable lead and falling 17-16 to fellow Pac-12 bottomfeeder Utah State on Friday night at Maverik Stadium in Logan, Utah.
The Cougars’ offense was unwatchable for the large part of the game, even with coach Kirby Moore taking over playcalling duties from offensive coordinator Matt Miller, who failed to get the unit moving in last weekend’s dismal display against Fresno State. As has been the case for much of what has become a lost season, the Cougars’ defense had a respectable performance squandered and WSU slipped to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in the rebuilt Pac-12 Conference.
Wheels are off
After WSU fell flat last weekend against Fresno State, many fans were rightfully in full-blown panic mode, and Friday’s effort only made matters worse.
The Cougars are off to a disastrous start under their new staff in the new Pac-12. They were expected to be contenders in this refashioned conference with a seemingly soft schedule. WSU saw an opportunity to establish itself as one of the conference’s top dogs. Instead, the Cougs are one of its worst teams. And they face Pac-12 contenders Oregon State and Boise State in the next two weeks. Any bowl hopes are almost certainly out the window.
To restore some amount of faith in the fanbase, the Cougars absolutely could not afford to lose to lowly Utah State (2-4, 1-1). The Aggies, like WSU, have one of the worst offenses in the country. The Aggies lost to FCS Idaho State to open their season. The Aggies were just steamrolled last weekend by Boise State, a team that was supposed to be a good rivalry match for WSU.
WSU needed to win to preserve some hope in this season. But the wheels are fully off now.
Something else needs to change offensively
WSU’s offense was not quite as bad as last week. But it was close. Quarterback Caden Pinnick, the receivers, the run game – nothing was inspiring.
The Cougars had few openings in the ground game, save for Leo Pulalasi’s 54-yard scoring scamper in the second quarter – a play that only happened because a Utah State defender committed an unsportsmanlike penalty after the Aggies sacked Pinnick on third down on the previous play.
Take away that run, and WSU managed 47 yards on 31 carries, good for a whopping 1.5 yards per attempt.
Following the season’s trend, Pinnick couldn’t complete passes downfield. He settled almost entirely for checkdowns or designed receiver screens. He threw 36 passes and finished with just 156 yards and committed a costly turnover – already his seventh of the year. At some point, the Cougars need to consider their other options.
Whatever changes Moore brought as the new playcaller clearly didn’t bring results, as the Cougars’ offense continued to trend downward, putting up the kinds of numbers WSU hasn’t seen since the Paul Wulff era. And it obviously didn’t help that the offense committed 10 penalties, a few of them costly errors in scoring position.
To be fair, it seemed like the Cougars offense operated with some semblance of rhythm for parts of the first half. They scored (field goals) on their first three drives, logged their first touchdown in two weeks and totaled 193 yards – more than they mustered in all of last week’s loss.
Then the Cougs fell apart in the second half, recording only 64 yards, no points, averaging less than 1 yard per carry, 2.2 yards per play and going 1 of 8 on third downs. They led by 13 entering the second half, but couldn’t put any offense together to finish the deal and had no answers when Utah State went ahead in the fourth quarter. The Cougs’ offense practically handed it to Utah State, committing two turnovers (fumbles by Pinnick and tight end Jack Pedersen) in their own territory to gift Utah State a momentum-turning touchdown, and later, the go-ahead score.
Aggies weren’t good, either
It’s not like Utah State found some groove and turned into a competent team. The Aggies also looked miserable throughout this one. Their offense only moved in the second half when they were given two possessions on short fields. Utah State totaled 236 yards, 21 fewer than WSU, which had possession for about 11 more minutes than the hosts.
The Aggies’ quarterback, Grady Brosterhous, completed just 11 of 26 passes for 150 yards. Those are not winning numbers. Many of his throws were just plain off-target. But he got enough chances that eventually, some of them hit.
Utah State averaged 2.9 yards per carry. Again, not a good number. The Cougars’ interior defense mostly held, but could only preserve a low score for so long. Will the offense ever reward its defensive counterparts?
- Cougs jump Arizona early, then watch a 14-point lead dissolve
It was a dream start for Washington State against its old Pac-12 foes from Arizona. The Cougars built a two-touchdown lead in the first quarter after a stellar opening possession and a pick-six.
But the Wildcats rallied, and WSU began to lose steam in the second half. Arizona contained the Cougs’ offense, and too much was asked of the WSU defense, which eventually faded. The Wildcats scored on their final four drives to close out a 34-24 win over WSU on Saturday at Gesa Field in Pullman.
A long time between TDs
WSU’s first drive of the game was inspiring. It surely had fans wondering if the Cougars had found the recipe for offensive success after the unit struggled in its first two games against FBS opponents.
The Cougs coasted downfield with precision, scoring on quarterback Caden Pinnick’s 11-yard keeper to cap a 10-play, 71-yard drive. The passing game was fluid, with quick throws to the sideline most effective. The tempo game was working.
But the Cougs couldn’t maintain that level of flow offensively. Not by a long shot. The Cougars’ first five drives of the second half resulted in 22 net yards on 20 plays. WSU punted four times and Pinnick lost a fumble on a sack during that stretch. That allowed Arizona to gradually build its lead.
WSU’s offense didn’t score another touchdown until a prayer was answered midway through the fourth quarter – a 46-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-10 to Branden Ganashamoorthy, which cut the Arizona lead to 31-24 and gave WSU life after it appeared the game was out of reach.
Before WSU’s last two possessions, the team had barely surpassed 200 total yards.
The Cougs’ ground game was largely ineffective (3.1 yards per carry on 30 attempts). Arizona’s blitzing became more impactful as the game wore on, and Pinnick seemed like he was constantly under pressure. Does that explain the Cougs’ offensive fall-off after the first series? Whatever the case, WSU showed that it can have a capable offense. It just needs to find a way to sustain it for more than one drive.
Credit to the defense
Star Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita was gifted short fields on the Wildcats’ first two possessions of the second half – lousy punt return coverage by WSU set up Arizona at the WSU 33, then Pinnick lost a fumble at his own 32.
The Wildcats didn’t score on either drive. WSU’s defense stuffed two runs and came up with an open-field tackle to force a three-and-out on the first one, and Arizona missed a 42-yard field goal. The Cougars showed more impressive open-field tackling on the next Arizona series, and a low kick on a 43-yard field goal try was blocked by WSU’s Damarjhe Lewis.
The Cougs’ defense accounted for seven of WSU’s 17 first-half points – Jackquintin Bal made a heady interception and returned it for a touchdown – and the unit kept the game in reach as WSU’s offense continued to stall.
Finally, as the fourth quarter approached, WSU’s defense couldn’t hold any longer. The group had just been on the field too much and was clearly getting tired.
Fifita, as a fifth-year player should do, started to find the cracks, and Arizona scored 20 points over its final four possessions – though it should be noted that the Cougar defense came up with a big stand on Arizona’s final drive, stuffing three consecutive runs to force a 51-yard field goal attempt. But the kick sailed through, dashing WSU’s hopes of tying the game on its final drive.
Some positives for WSU’s defense: It held Arizona to less than 3 yards per carry through three quarters before the Wildcats amassed 93 yards on the ground in the fourth; Fifita, one of the nation’s top passers, was thrown off his game on six of Arizona’s 12 possessions and completed a season-low 61% of his passes, and the Cougs’ pass rush got home for three sacks.
Otherwise, just a few too many explosive plays allowed. Fifita and receiver Tre Spivey, who had a career day in the first half alone with 125 yards and two TDs, connected for four passing plays of 18 or more yards before halftime. When WSU’s defense adjusted and covered Spivey up, Fifita found Caleb Smith on back-to-back deep balls of 41 and 38 yards. There were some clear miscommunications in the secondary for WSU.
More of these games, please
It’s uncertain whether WSU, now effectively relegated to the Group of Six, can bring more former Pac-12 rivals to Pullman for nonconference games in future seasons. But if at all possible, the Cougars should make it happen.
These games feel important, giving the Cougars a chance to show that they’re still more than capable of competing with Big 12/Pac-12 legacy programs like Arizona.
For the most part, it was an entertaining and well-matched game, and evoked some feeling of “Pac-12 After Dark” nostalgia, though it – thankfully – didn’t kick off at 8 p.m.
Certainly, the WSU/Arizona matchup was one of the three most highly anticipated games on the Cougs’ schedule, alongside the Apple Cup and the Oct. 24 home game against Boise State.
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