5 Burning Questions Heading Into Cougars’ First Season of Jimmy Rogers Era

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Angel Johnson should carry a big workload in Washington State's backfield, but he will have competition during the season for snaps. Credit: Angel Johnson/Instagram [/caption]

With the Washington State Cougars set to kick off their 2025 season on August 30 against Idaho at Martin Stadium, there is no shortage of intrigue surrounding new coach Jimmy Rogers’ squad.

Heading into their first game against the Vandals, here are five key questions that must be answered for the Cougars entering a new era:

Can the Cougs’ defense take a step up to respectable?

Even with a completely new roster and coaching staff, the Cougars really struggled on the defensive side of the ball last year, ranking 97th in FBS on defense according to Bill Connelly’s SP + rankings. Last year, South Dakota State led the FCS in defensive points per game with Rogers at the helm, giving up 13.93 points per game. With some of the defenders off that dominant Jackrabbits team coming over to Pullman, including Caleb Francl and Tucker Large, it will be interesting to see how those same players fair with the same system and defensive coordinator against stronger competition. In Connelly’s preseason SP+ rankings, he has the Cougars with a preseason rank 117th defensively in the country, which is worse than the year before. With a new coaching staff and almost completely new players, will the Cougs take a jump on that end and prove that prediction wrong?

How will the running back rotation shake out?

With only two returning running backs in Dylan Paine and Leo Pulalasi and the additions of three running backs from South Dakota State - Angel Johnson, Maxwell Woods and Kirby Vorhees - it will be interesting to see how the backfield shapes up in an offense that will feature the run far more than it has for more than a decade. I think that you will see all five running backs play. Johnson, who was the backup last year at SDSU, turned down Tennessee to come to Wazzu and should be the main guy. Voorhees should see some carries in shortage situations, where Pulalasi and Paine should help in the passing game as receiving options, whereas Woods should figure into the mix as well. You should expect Johnson to get the majority of the carries, but it will be worth watching to see the variance of snaps and touches the other running backs get per game.

How many players will rotate on the defensive line?

There is expected to be a heavy rotation on the defensive line for the Cougars. That is not uncommon for teams and is something that Washington State has done in years past, even going back to the Mike Leach days, but you can expect the Cougs to go three to four guys deep across the board on the front line. There may even be guys like Jack Janikowski who aren’t listed on the depth chart that get meaningful snaps. But regardless of how the snaps play out, Max Baloun should be the main guy in the middle. Veterans Raam Stevenson and Buddha Peleti should be the primary weapons working off the edge. Last year, WSU was tied for 75th in the country in sacks per game and it will be important to do a better job of getting to the quarterback, which will start with this group.

How will the run/ pass split look?

In the past, Washington State has been a pass-heavy team with former quarterback John Mateer bringing a bit more balance last year due to his scrambling and running ability. South Dakota State has had more of a balanced approach the last couple of years wanting to run the ball more than Cougars teams have in the past. With the idea of a more balanced attack in Pullman than we’ve seen in years, it will be interesting to see how the Cougars attack opponents compared to predecessors. Zevi Eckhaus showed more mobility than he was believed to have in the Cougars bowl game against Syracuse last year. Depending on the quarterback, the quarterback may or may not be a key part of a more potent, prioritized rushing attack.

Who will be under center after a wide open competition?

The biggest question heading into the season for Cougar fans revolves around the uncertainty at quarterback. After spring ball, Eckhaus was expected to be the starter and, according to reports, that remains the consensus going into the season opener. There was a competitive four-man battle between him, Julian Dugger, Ajani Sheppard and Jaxon Potter this summer. When Washington State released a depth chart, the coaches did put Eckhaus on the top with OR designations with the other three quarterbacks. There won’t be a quarterback announced until August 30 when the Cougars take the field and it seems Eckhaus has the edge at this point, but it is nevertheless remains a major question mark.