running back
6 stories filed under running back on Wazzu. The newest of them: “A Freeman grad named Boen Phelps just broke a Coug heart in Boise”, “Owen Eshelman and Branden Ganashamoorthy made the scoreboard hurt a little less”, and “Braden Atkinson keeps slinging it, now tops in the FBS”. A Freeman High grad named Boen Phelps just broke a Coug heart in Boise. You can't sugarcoat a 48-30 loss, especially the fourth straight. The unofficial read for people who left Pullman and stayed Cougs. The list below is every running back story on Wazzu, newest first.
A Freeman grad named Boen Phelps just broke a Coug heart in Boise
A Freeman High grad named Boen Phelps just broke a Coug heart in Boise. The junior linebacker, a former walk-on, picked off an Owen Eshelman pass early in the fourth quarter and returned it 13 yards to set up a touchdown that put the Broncos up by 14. That's the kind of play that makes you groan into your beer. Eshelman and running back Kirby Vorhees weren't on the same page, Vorhees went the wrong way, and the ball went right to Phelps. Two plays later, Boise State scored. Game over. Phelps finished with six tackles, but it was Dylan Riley who twisted the knife. The Broncos' star back struggled for three quarters against a WSU defense keying on the run. Then the fourth quarter happened. Riley ripped off a 33-yard score right after the pick, then bounced outside for a 72-yard dagger on the next possession. He finished with 128 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Ranked No. 6 nationally in rushing entering the game, he's now at 963 yards for the year. One bad snap. One missed read. That's the difference between a tight game and a runaway loss. For deeper coverage on how that fourth quarter unraveled, check out "One bad snap cost the Cougs a chance at an upset in Boise." Go Cougs.
Owen Eshelman and Branden Ganashamoorthy made the scoreboard hurt a little less
You can't sugarcoat a 48-30 loss, especially the fourth straight. But if you watched Owen Eshelman and Branden Ganashamoorthy work together in Corvallis, you saw something that looked a lot like a future. Eshelman, a redshirt freshman making his first start, threw for 289 yards and ran for 147 more. That's the second-most total yards by a WSU quarterback in a single game, ever. He looked nothing like the guy who started the first six games. He trusted his arm, trusted his legs, and trusted Ganashamoorthy, who hauled in 11 catches for 147 yards and a touchdown he described as tunnel vision. The offense put up 30 points, its best against FBS competition all season, and for the first time all year, they didn't turn the ball over (unless you count a meaningless late pick). So that's the good part. The bad part is real. The running game is stuck in neutral, 26 yards on 13 carries from three backs. That's a problem for a coach who made his name unlocking the run at Missouri. And Kirby Moore's decision to punt twice on fourth-and-short in the first half cost them 14 points on the very next play. He says he trusted the defense. It didn't work. But for the first time this season, the Cougars had a quarterback. If Eshelman and Ganashamoorthy keep that rhythm, a few more of these losses might start looking different.
Braden Atkinson keeps slinging it, now tops in the FBS
Braden Atkinson threw a 90-yard touchdown in the first half and never looked back. The Oregon State quarterback, a sophomore transfer from Mercer, is now the FBS leader in passing yards and touchdown throws. He went 23 of 38 for 347 yards, three scores, and zero picks against Washington State. That brings his season totals to 2,604 yards and 24 touchdowns with just two interceptions. The guy won the Jerry Rice Award as the FCS freshman of the year last season. He looks like he belongs at this level. The Cougars could not stop him, and they could not stop AJ Newberry either. The Oregon State running back, a Vanderbilt transfer, put up 225 total yards and a touchdown. He ran for 105 yards on 11 carries, averaging 9.5 a pop, and caught five passes for 120 more. His 88-yard screen pass touchdown in the second quarter made it 27-3. That was more than WSU could climb back from. The Cougars found some offensive rhythm with a new quarterback, but consistency is still missing. If you want the full picture, check out "Kirby Moore finally had something to say, and it wasn't about a tie" for the head coach's take on this stretch. Go Cougs.
Utah State linebacker strips Coug tight end, flips the game
Utah State linebacker Asher Cunningham made the play of the game, and it wasn't even close. He stripped tight end Jack Pedersen just before Pedersen's knee hit the turf on a third-down play with under eight minutes left. Then he pounced on the ball deep in WSU territory. That set up the Aggies' go-ahead touchdown. Game flipped. Cunningham also knocked the ball loose from Caden Pinnick in the third quarter. Utah State recovered that one too, scored five plays later, and the momentum never came back. The Elon transfer finished with a career-high 17 tackles, half a sack, and two tackles for loss. He now has 52 tackles on the season. That puts him near the top 20 nationally. The guy was everywhere. On the other side, Jirah Leaupepetele did what nose tackles do: the dirty work nobody notices until you watch the tape. The 349-pound Eastern Washington transfer plugged gaps, recorded his first full sack of the season, and stood up his blocker on a critical third-and-short with under three minutes left. He brought down the running back just before the line to gain, forced a punt, and kept WSU alive. Five tackles, tied for third on the team. That's a good day's work. This loss stings. If you want the full picture of how the offense let this one slip, go read "Cougs hand Utah State a win with an offense that forgot how to finish." It's exactly what it sounds like. Go Cougs.
Wazzu's Saturday math problem: Fresno takes the ball, Cougs give it back
Here's the math problem for Saturday, and it's not the kind you can solve with a calculator. Fresno State comes to Pullman ranked sixth in the country in turnover margin at plus-seven. Washington State is 119th at minus-four. That gap is the whole ballgame before kickoff even happens. The Cougars have given it away seven times this season. Five of those are Caden Pinnick's doing. The quarterback has been fine when he keeps it short, completing 71% of his throws inside 19 yards. But the moment he tries to push the ball downfield, the wheels come off. He's hit just 2 of 13 passes of 20-plus yards and thrown two picks on those attempts. That's not a matchup problem. That's a decision problem, and it's shown up against Washington and even Duquesne. So what's the counter? Run the ball. Keep the pressure off Pinnick and make Fresno's defense respect something underneath. That gets harder if Kirby Vorhees can't go with that upper-body injury. He's the best weapon Matt Miller has in the backfield, and without him, the offense loses its teeth. We're not going to overthink this one. The Cougars have a chance because the game is at home and the matchup is more even than the records suggest. But turnovers travel, and Fresno's defense feeds on them. Give us the Bulldogs, 24-20. If you need a break from the math, check out "Three Cougs who made the Boeing Apple Cup one to remember.
Kirby Vorhees banged up for Fresno; Trey Leckner likely good to go
Kirby Vorhees is banged up, and that changes the math for Washington State on Saturday. The Cougars' first Pac-12 availability report has the tailback listed as questionable with an upper-body injury from practice this week. Kirby Moore says he's "a little dinged up," which is coach-speak for "we'll see." Vorhees has been the most consistent piece of a run game that's still finding itself, and if he can't go, Maxwell Woods becomes the feature back. Woods has looked shifty all season, and Leo Pulalasi is there too, but it's not the same comfort level. The bigger headline might be Trey Leckner. He's probable, which means his season debut is finally in sight after missing spring ball, fall camp, and most of the year with that foot injury. He caught 24 balls last year and tied for third-most touchdowns by a tight end in WSU history. This offense has been missing a reliable middle-of-the-field target, and Leckner is exactly that. If he's close to ready, it's a real boost. The defensive end depth is thinner than a Pullman frost. Malachi Wrice and Mike Hughes are out, and that means Matyus McLain and Linus Zunk keep stacking snaps. They've played 184 each through four games. That's a lot of miles. Ben Beatty and Fernando Lecuona Jr. need to step up. Nylan Brown's foot injury sounds serious, maybe season-ending. That hurts the linebacker room, even if he's mostly been a special teams guy.