Washington State gets back to work this week with a chance to snap into its first Pacific-12 Conference win, and three Cougars look set to be central to the push when Colorado State visits Pullman for a night kickoff Saturday.
The bye week gave the roster a reset. Tight end Jack Pedersen spent part of it with his girlfriend, who came to visit for her birthday, and caught college football games involving friends.
Defensive lineman Kaden Beatty used the break to go back through every Washington State game and study what went right and wrong. Left tackle Ashton Tripp put in extra time in the trainer’s room trying to get his legs ready for the stretch run.
With first-year coach Kirby Moore and his staff away on recruiting trips last weekend, the players had Friday and Saturday off before turning the page to Colorado State.
“We’ve got three weeks left,” Pedersen said. “And if you break down the game time of three games left, it is very minimal - 20 or 30 minutes of actually playing football.”
One of the biggest assignments falls to Brown, the defensive leader, who should be fresh for a difficult matchup with Colorado State quarterback Hauss Hejny. At 6 feet and 206 pounds, Hejny brings a lot to deal with. He’s slippery enough to escape individual pass rushers, and when he commits to running, he can make defenders miss and finish through contact.
Hejny has piled up 1,668 total yards of offense even while missing three games with a hamstring injury. Washington State will have to accept some completions downfield, but Brown’s job is to keep Hejny from turning broken plays into drive-extending runs and explosive gains.
On the other side of the ball, Ganashamoorthy looks primed for a breakout after a quieter stretch the last two games. He caught four passes for 58 yards and no touchdowns in each of the games against Boise State and San Diego State, but this matchup points in the opposite direction.
Colorado State has struggled everywhere in coverage this season, including deep middle, and Ganashamoorthy’s big-play skill set should fit the opening. Slant-ins, shallow crosses and post routes all figure to be in play, and this has the feel of a game where the redshirt junior from Monroe, Wash. could top 100 receiving yards for the second time this season while adding his fourth touchdown catch.
Tripp is another Cougar who could benefit from the matchup. The big man from Kennewick, Wash. made it clear the state of the run game has been weighing on him, and his first mention when asked about Colorado State was the chance to get the ground attack rolling again.
He and right tackle Jaylin Caldwell should have a cleaner path to sealing the edge on outside-zone runs for Kirby Vorhees, Maxwell Woods and Leo Pulalasi. Colorado State has had major trouble stopping runs outside the hashes all season, and Washington State will try to lean into that weakness for what should be a better day on the ground.
In Other News...
Washington State Is Bringing A Fresh Look Into Pac-12 After Dark
After a bye week, Washington State comes back home Saturday with a fresh look for another Pac-12 After Dark stage, and the Cougars are leaning into it with a new uniform combination. The set pairs anthracite jerseys and pants with a crimson helmet and white facemask, a variation on looks the program has used before but not quite in this exact way.
It also adds another entry to a long-running trend under the current run of uniform creativity, becoming the 58th new combination since 2017. Washington State has had some memorable results tied to these pieces in the past, which only adds a little extra intrigue to what the Cougars will look like when they take the field at home again. [Read more 🡒]
WSUs Defense Has A Season-Long Problem That Wont Go Away
Washington States defense gave the Cougars another reason to regret a tight loss to San Diego State, even as Jaylen Thomas came through with his third interception of the season. The play was one of the few bright spots in a game that ended with Washington State falling to 1-8, and it fit into a season where the defense has had trouble creating the kind of game-changing moments that can swing close contests.
The bigger issue has been hard to miss all year: this unit simply has not produced enough turnovers or pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Near the bottom nationally in both turnovers forced and sacks, Washington State keeps putting itself in long stretches where the defense is on the field without delivering the extra possession or negative play the Cougars need. Until that changes, even the occasional takeaway feels more like a brief reprieve than a sign of a larger fix. [Read more 🡒]
Washington State Gets A Rare Opening It Can't Waste Saturday
Washington State has a chance Saturday to take advantage of a Colorado State team still trying to keep its bowl hopes alive, and the matchup gives the Cougars a clear path to a much-needed conference breakthrough. The Rams have had trouble on defense, especially against the run, which puts the spotlight on Washington States ability to control the line of scrimmage and turn a favorable setup into momentum.
Colorado States offense brings a different kind of problem, with quarterback Hauss Hejny adding stress to a Washington State secondary that will need to stay disciplined. For the Cougars, the opportunity is obvious: if they can handle the Rams defensive vulnerabilities and limit the damage on the back end, they can finally chase down their first Pac-12 win of the season. [Read more 🡒]