After watching the Boise State tape, Kirby Moore came away with one clear message: Washington State has to get better in pass protection, and fast. The Cougars’ head coach said Wednesday on his radio show that the issues up front were a major problem in the loss, even if they were not the only reason the offense stalled.
Moore said quarterback Owen Eshelman did what he could while the pocket kept collapsing around him.
"I thought Owen (Eshelman) responded continuously throughout the game," Moore said. "He had some great scrambles early, third-down conversions, and just trying to trust his teammates.
"At the same time with everyone around him, we've got to make sure from a protection standpoint that we're protecting the quarterback a little bit better, so he's able to see downfield a little bit better. We took a lot of shots from a play-call standpoint, and I think there's some things that affected that. We had to check the ball down or he extended plays with his legs."
Eshelman finished 21-of-40 for 191 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. Washington State stayed in it through three quarters, tied 10-10, before Boise State took over in the final 15 minutes and pulled away with three touchdowns in a 31-10 win.
Moore also pointed to communication issues as part of the problem along the offensive line.
"It's a combination of things," Moore said of the breakdowns up front. "We talk a lot about verbal combat and five guys being on the same page.
Then there's a lot of one-on-one matchups that you gotta win against the guy across the ball. Again, give Boise credit.
They did a really good job of winning some of those one-on-ones. The movement up front affected us."
With San Diego State up next and a bye following Saturday’s game, Moore said the Cougars are stressing a quick fix in practice this week. Washington State enters the matchup in SoCal at 1-7.
He also said the trip south comes with some familiar support in the stands.
"I've talked to a number of people about looking forward to coming down to San Diego," Moore said of Coug fans traveling for the SDSU game. "Even alums and players.
River Cracraft, I talked to him this summer, and he's going to be down there with his family. Kyle Sweet"
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