Tuesday Takeaways: Washington State Loses Tough One to Oregon State, Drops To 4-5
The Washington Cougars lost an ugly low-scoring 10-7 affair on Saturday night to their lone Pac 12 rival in the Oregon State Beavers, dropping their overall record to 4-5 and decreasing their odds of earning a bowl game as a result.
Even while playing with four backup offensive linemen for the majority of the game, Washington State embarrassingly scored just seven points against a team that entered play with a 1-7 record. Stating the obvious, the offense has to be better to get to six wins as the Cougars enter a bye week. They must use this time to figure out a way to continue to improve and cutting down on penalties would be a great place to start. 10 penalties for 90 yards isn’t going to cut it against anyone, especially in a three-point game.
Here are three quick takeaways from Wazzu’s latest loss in Corvallis:
On the positive side, the Cougs’ defense was elite once again
Giving up 10 points and 208 total yards to any opponent at the Division I is phenomenal, especially in a rivalry game, and the Cougars gave everything they had keeping Saturday’s game in striking defense with stop after stop. Washington State gave up 60 total passing yards and a mere 3.1 yards per play, the type of performance typically reserved for playing against FCS foes. With those types of defensive numbers, you should win every game you play. This came on the heels of a performance where they only gave up seven points against Toledo in the previous matchup.
Outside the North Texas game, where there were five first-half turnovers that constantly put Washington State’s defense in horrible spots and definitely adds some context into the final 59-10 score, the defense has been great this year. The Cougars tackled much better against the Beavers and that has been a positive uphill trend over recent weeks. Washington State tallied three sacks and had eight tackles for a loss as well, frequently visiting the backfield to make big plays. Even with a banged-up defensive line, Washington State was able to stop the run and get pressure on the quarterback.
In particular, a positive takeaway has been the early play of true freshman Sullivan Schlimgen. Schlimgen, a freshman from Sioux Falls, SD, was originally a South Dakota State commit but flipped once Jimmy Rogers took the Washington State job. He has been playing a lot more in recent weeks and had his first start on Saturday, contributing eight total tackles, including three solo stops and one for a loss.
The offense turned in arguably the worst outing of the year
Saddled with injuries up front, the Cougars struggled to pass block and at times run block on Saturday. Zevi Eckahus faced pressure all game and had his worst game as a starter since returning to the lineup, going 13-24 with 146 yards and two interceptions. Both interceptions were poor decisions by the senior signal caller. There were also a couple missed throws he normally completes that ended up being errant and his overall decision making seemed to be impacted by the constant barrage of pressure by the Beavers.
Regardless of the offensive line issues, you can’t go a quarter and a half without a first down. But that’s what Eckhaus and the Cougars did, and yet, they somehow had the lead for the majority of the second half without even moving the chains once. It was a frustrating result facing a one-win opponent, especially after playing better football on the offensive side of the ball over the last couple of weeks, including scoring 28 points against Toledo.
Injuries in the backfield certainly didn’t help the situation. Backup running back Leo Pulalasi was seen with his arm in a sling in the second half, hurting depth behind Kirby Vorhees. Depending on how long he’s out, that means more snaps for Maxwell Woods, the running back who’s been mainly used as a receiving back on third downs. He was in for Washington State’s last offensive drive and carried the ball four times for 20 yards. With a couple long runs skewing the final rushing stats, Washington State struggled to get anything going on the ground and if they did find a rhythm, penalties, turnovers, and sacks would stop the momentum every time.
Special teams wasn’t special when it needed to be to force overtime
Given the struggles of Washington State’s offense throughout the game, it may have come as a surprise that Rogers’ squad had a chance to send the game to an extra period. But that’s exactly what happened thanks to the defense shutting down Oregon State all day prior to giving up a short touchdown to Anthony Hankerson, keeping it a three-score game heading into the closing moments. After the Beavers had a short punt that helped the Cougars set up shop past midfield in opposing territory, Woods and Vorhees opened up a decisive drive with 12 and 13 yard runs, and though Eckhaus was sacked on 3rd and 3, they were still well within kicker Jack Stevens’ range.
Facing 4th and 7 after calling a timeout in the aftermath of Eckhaus being sacked, Rogers sent Stevens in to attempt a game-tying 32-yard field goal attempt with 1:05 left on the clock. At that distance, the kick seemed like a chip shot. But the football sailed wide right off his foot, allowing the Beavers to take over and run out the clock, sending the home crowd into a frenzy while entire Cougars sideline stood dejectedly.
