Lucky Sutton
Wazzu keeps Lucky Sutton in one place: 3 stories so far. The section currently leads with “San Diego exposed what keeps WSU from closing out wins”, “Owen Eshelman's third start: a few bad throws, a lot of poise”, and “Cougs fall in San Diego rain as another fourth-quarter push falls short”. Jaylen Thomas shook his head after the San Diego State loss, and you could see the frustration. Owen Eshelman threw a pick in the second quarter and an intentional grounding penalty in the third that killed a scoring drive. The unofficial read for people who left Pullman and stayed Cougs. The list below is every Lucky Sutton story on Wazzu, newest first.
San Diego exposed what keeps WSU from closing out wins
Jaylen Thomas shook his head after the San Diego State loss, and you could see the frustration. The Cougars have a tackling problem, and it's not new. SDSU ran for 202 yards, and Lucky Sutton broke off runs of 46, 11, and 16 yards. The secondary missed its chances. Thomas knows it. So does the rest of the defense. Here's the thing: WSU's interior line is doing its job. Kaden Beatty, Jirah Leaupepetele, and the rest have made it tough to run up the middle. So opponents just go outside. That's where the tackling falls apart. The perimeter guys are athletic, but they're taking bad pursuit angles and missing wraps. Coach Kirby Moore wanted to hold SDSU under 150 rushing yards. They gave up 202. Then there's the pass rush. The Cougars came into this game ranked 131st out of 138 FBS teams in sacks. They didn't add any in San Diego. Pressure is there from McLain and Zunk, but they can't finish. This defense has pieces. But the little things, tackling, sacks, decision-making, are keeping WSU from closing out wins. If you want to dig into a Coug who did finish runs, check out our piece on Dan Doornink, a Coug and a Seahawk, who ran for 123 yards we still remember. Go Cougs.
Owen Eshelman's third start: a few bad throws, a lot of poise
Owen Eshelman threw a pick in the second quarter and an intentional grounding penalty in the third that killed a scoring drive. Those are the mistakes you remember. But the rest of it? Thirty completions on 42 attempts, 299 yards, two rushing touchdowns, and a fourth-quarter comeback that just ran out of time. For a redshirt freshman in his third start, that's a lot of poise. He looked like he belonged. The loss stings, and if you want to know exactly how it slipped away, go read "The three plays that undid WSU in San Diego." Eshelman wasn't one of them. The kid kept fighting. Meanwhile, SDSU's Javion Kinnard spent the night being a problem. Five-eight, 175 pounds, and he ran like he was bigger. Seventeen carries, 5.1 yards a pop, two touchdowns. He and Lucky Sutton combined for over 200 yards on the ground. That's a tough backfield to deal with when you're trying to close out a win. Eshelman is still figuring it out. He's making freshman mistakes. But he's also making plays. That's the kind of guy you can build around. Go Cougs.
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Cougs fall in San Diego rain as another fourth-quarter push falls short
The rain in San Diego didn't wash away the same problem that keeps showing up: Washington State can't close. Down six with the ball and under five minutes left, the Cougars couldn't reach midfield. Ten plays. Two sacks. A false start. A turnover on downs. The final drive was a summary of the season. This one stings a little more because the defense finally gave the offense a shot. They forced a three-and-out on SDSU's last possession, got the ball back, and the offense did nothing with it. Managing only 20 points against a defense ranked 133rd in the country is hard to explain. It's not like the Aztecs suddenly got stingy. They came in giving up 36 points a game. The Cougars just couldn't take what was there. Owen Eshelman threw for a career-high 299 yards and ran for two scores, but the running game is basically gone, 34 yards on 14 carries. That's not a ground game. That's a suggestion. And the defense, usually a strength, got gashed on the ground again. 202 rushing yards allowed. 5.5 per carry. Seven runs over 10 yards. That's three straight games over 200 yards rushing allowed. It's getting dark. One-win seasons are possible. If you want to know which plays broke this one, our piece "The three plays that undid WSU in San Diego" walks through the exact moments. It's not a fun read, but it's honest. Go Cougs.