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# 3 Burning Questions as Washington State Hits Road For First Time to Face North Texas
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/burning-questions-washington-state-cougars-road-first-time-north-texas/
- Published: 2025-09-12T03:53:43.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T05:36:33.000Z
- Author: Jacob Stevenson
- Tags: Analysis, Jimmy Rogers, Leo Pulalasi, Jaxon Potter, Kirby Vorhees, Angel Johnson, Tucker Large, Cale Reeder, Kyle Peterson, Cougars

Looking to build off an impressive 36-13 win against San Diego State, the Washington State Cougars will travel on the road for the first time to face former offensive coordinator Eric Morris’s North Texas Mean Green squad.

Having only played in the friendly confines of Martin Field so far, the Cougars stand to be tested by the Mean Green, who will also enter Saturday’s matchup with a 2-0 record, after making the long trip down to Denton, Texas.

Here are three key questions for the Cougs heading into their Week 3 road opener:

**Will Washington State’s offensive line take another positive step?**

The Washington State offensive line had a significantly better showing against San Diego State after getting called out following the opener by coach Jimmy Rogers. Not only did they help keep first-year starting quarterback Jaxon Potter upright against the Aztecs, but their run blocking was dramatically better than in the previous matchup against Idaho.

Versus the Vandals, the Cougs had 22 carries for just three yards and 16 carries for 15 yards by the running backs. But in their matchup against San Diego State, the Cougars carried the ball 36 times for 139 yards with the top three running backs in Angel Johnson, Kirby Vorhees, and Leo Pulalasi carrying the ball 26 times for 125 yards. The offensive line and offense as a whole clearly looked more comfortable and more cohesive as a unit, which should be expected with more than 70 new players acclimating to a new program. With added practice time and more games under their belt you should see Wazzu continue to get better in the trenches by week, and they’ll need to take it up a notch again in a hostile road environment.

**How will the pass/run balance shake out on offense?**

Coming into the season, bucking past trends under previous coaches Mike Leach, Nick Rolovich, and Jake Dickert, it was expected that Washington State would be primarily a running football team on offense. But the Cougars have thrown the ball more than anticipated with Potter attempting 42 throws against San Diego State, the most ever by a Rogers-coached team.

When asked about it in Monday's weekly presser, Rogers said, "I'm ok with winning, we will balance it out as we go.”

With two games down, the Cougars look to be primarily playing three running backs in Johnson, Vorhees, and Pulalasi, and all three of those players have shown the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, playing into throwing the ball more than predicted. It remains to be seen how the run pass breakdown will fare against North Texas and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they lean more towards the ground game on the road. But so far, it looks like Rogers is more than willing to adjust based on personnel and team strengths, which is something that hasn’t been consistently seen in the past in Pullman.

**How will Washington State’s defense fair against a familiar offense stylistically?**

To say Washington State’s defense has been impressive has been an understatement. Through the first two games the Cougs have given up a combined 23 points, holding each opponent to 13 points or less, which would have been the two lowest outputs all of last season. They also giving up an impressive 3.5 yards per play through the first two matchups.

Scoring more than 80 points in the first two weeks, the Mean Green will be the Cougars toughest task of the young season on defense. North Texas runs an Air Raid offense not like your typical Mike Leach Air Raid, as they will run the ball. But Morris’ offense plays at a fast tempo and will be a difficult challenge, especially in the heat as it is projected to be 92 degrees at kickoff. Along with playing on the road against a different type of offense in the Texas heat, they will be pitted against a quality redshirt freshman quarterback in Drew Mestemaker, who already has five passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in two games.

Getting Cale Reeder back at safety should help Washington State’s cause. The transfer from South Dakota State has been out the whole year and missed the majority of the 2024 season as well. It will be interesting to see how much Reeder plays right away since he has been out for nearly a calendar year and he likely will be on a pitch count. Matt Durance and true freshman Kyle Peterson have been playing well in his absence, but Reeder gives the Cougars one of their best all around players back in the lineup and adds depth with more flexibility to move players around defensively.