If Washington State is going to hang around with Oregon State, the Cougars may need a different kind of Saturday than the one they’ve had for much of the season. Through six games, defense has been the unit keeping WSU afloat. Now the pressure shifts to an offense that has to do more, because the Beavers arrive with a scoring machine.
Oregon State enters the week ranked 10th in FBS in scoring at 41.8 points per game under first-year coach JaMarcus Shephard, and the Beavers don’t sound remotely satisfied. Offensive coordinator Mitch Dahlen made that much clear when he said, “We want more. We want more every single week.”
For WSU, that means the spotlight falls on quarterback Jerry Eshelman, who is being handed his first start in a hostile environment after Moore had seen enough of Caden Pinnick’s passing inefficiency and turnover-making ways. The Oklahoma product comes into the job with the trust of the staff and teammates, who rave about his presence and call him a natural leader.
On the field, Eshelman has to do two things at once: get the ball out on time and avoid the mistakes that have hurt the Cougars. He can also run, though he is more of a battering ram than a quick, elusive threat. In a game that figures to tilt toward points, Washington State needs him to keep drives alive and keep the ball out of Oregon State’s hands.
That challenge gets even tougher against a Beavers team throwing it as well as anyone in the country. WSU brings the conference’s No. 2 pass defense into the game, allowing 203.9 yards per contest and only nine passing touchdowns in six games. But Saturday’s test is a major one, with Oregon State averaging 391.2 passing yards per game behind quarterback Braden Atkinson and wide receiver Jesse Legree, a Heisman Trophy candidate.
The secondary will have to be sharp from the start. Cornerbacks Khamari Terrell, Jamarey Smith, CJ Solis-Lumar, Ishmael Gibbs and Tucker, along with safeties Jaylen Thomas, Jeremiah Bernard and Jackquintin Bal, all figure into a game that demands cleaner communication than the group showed earlier against Arizona and Fresno State.
Tucker, in particular, has a little extra attached to this one. He played 10 starts for Oregon State in 2025 before transferring to Pullman, so there’s a revenge-game edge to his matchup.
Washington State’s best shot at staying in the fight may also depend on whether its run game can pop a few explosive plays. Oregon State coaches are said to be worried about how well Moore has blended outside-zone, or “stretch,” run concepts from his Missouri play-calling days into the offense.
Last week against Utah State, Leo Pulalasi broke loose for a career-long 54-yard touchdown run to give WSU its only score of the first half. Two other outside-zone runs that could have been chunk gains were wiped out by holding calls.
That kind of damage will be hard to manufacture again against a stout Beavers defensive front, especially for an offensive line that struggled badly last week. WSU will need its front to move bodies and create space, then hope a back like Woods can find a crease and turn it into a long score.
In Other News...
WSU Defense Faces Its Biggest Test After Carrying The Cougars
Washington States defense has become the stabilizer in a season where the offense has had trouble sustaining drives, and the unit has had to do plenty of heavy lifting while dealing with poor field position after turnovers. Even so, the Cougars have kept competing the way Keith Brown describes it, with the defense forcing punts, getting after quarterbacks and giving the team a chance to stay in games when the offense has sputtered.
The challenge only gets bigger from here, because Oregon State brings a much more dangerous offense than the Cougars have seen in recent weeks. For a Washington State group that has already spent plenty of time bailing out short fields and uneven offensive stretches, this matchup looks like the kind of test that can show whether the defense has been carrying the load or merely holding it together. [Read more 🡒]