Spokesman.com
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.
