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# Monday Musings: Washington State Blown Out By North Texas in Week 3 Wake Up Call
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/monday-musings-washington-state-cougars-blown-out-north-texas-week-3/
- Published: 2025-09-15T16:50:11.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T05:58:15.000Z
- Author: Jacob Stevenson
- Tags: Analysis, Zevi Eckhaus, Jedd Fisch, Jimmy Rogers, Julian Dugger, Jaxon Potter, Cougars

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/546225754_18525978838030707_6783777591940941834_n-format-original.jpg)

Giving away the football as if Christmas had come in September, the Washington State Cougars turned in an embarrassing performance at North Texas, to say the least, in a shocking 59-10 loss to the Mean Green.

With five first half turnovers and a blocked punt, North Texas’s average field position in the first half was the Cougars’ 11-yard line. Even with the defense giving up 416 yards on the day, they weren’t at fault for the 59 points. The offense put the defense in some really bad positions in the first half and the game was out of hand in the third quarter with the home team taking a 42-3 lead. 

“This is embarrassing and the players feel the same way” said head coach Jimmy Rogers afterward. 

The majority of the second half, backups got some snaps for Washington State and with a 49 point loss before this week’s upcoming Apple Cup rematch against Washington, there are plenty of questions left to be answered.

**What is going on with the quarterbacks?**

Failing to build off a strong Week 2 performance, Jaxon Potter really struggled against North Texas, including throwing three interceptions in the first half. He was serviceable in his first career starts against Idaho and San Diego State, but going on the road against a better opponent, the speed of the game seemed to be too much. Julian Duggar got some snaps in the second and third quarter and the offense was unsuccessful when he was in the game. Zevi Eckhaus, who was thought to be the winner of the QB competition coming out of camp, was fine in mop up duty in the last drive of the third quarter and the fourth, going 7-10 with 72 yards and a rushing touchdown.

“We’ll address the film, we gotta keep looking who the best players are,” Rogers said.

It remains to be seen who the quarterback will be against Washington but the old saying is "if you have two quarterbacks you don’t have one.” The Cougars have three quarterbacks and really outside of a half against San Diego State, the offense has struggled with Potter and Duggar under center, so it may be time for a change again to see how Eckhaus does returning to the starting role.

**How will the Cougs respond to their first adversity in the Rogers era?**

After a 59-10 loss, things won’t get any easier for the Cougars, who will now face the most talented team on their schedule thus far. And even though Washington State won the Apple Cup last year, there are plenty of new faces on the Huskies’ roster who didn’t partake in that game a year ago in Seattle. Stating the obvious, the Cougars will need a much better performance than we saw Saturday against North Texas to have any shot at keeping this one competitive in Pullman, and much of that will boil down to the messaging coming out of a blowout from Rogers and his staff.

After a shocking loss that unraveled early in Denton, the Cougs are not only going to have to figure out the quarterback position, but also figure out the run game to help keep the ball out of Washington’s hands. The run blocking struggled again against the Mean Green with the running backs combining for 19 carries for 62 yards and a fumble. With Saturday’s loss being the worst the program has endured since 2008, they will have to exhibit short term memory loss and put that game behind them, focusing on eliminating the mistakes that doomed them on the road and playing more complementary football on offense to ensure the defense doesn’t get put in horrible spots defending short field again.