Washington State had a shot to steal one on the road Saturday night, but the Cougars couldn’t finish the job. Their last possession ended on a turnover on downs, and San Diego State escaped with a 26-20 win in a rain-soaked Pac-12 game at Snapdragon Stadium.
The loss left Washington State at 1-8 overall and 0-5 in conference play, still winless against FBS opponents. It was another rough chapter in a season that keeps sliding the wrong way, with the offense unable to put together a complete performance against an Aztec defense that came into the game ranked among the nation’s worst.
Owen Eshelman gave Washington State a chance to hang around. In his third start, he threw for a career-high 299 yards and ran for two touchdowns.
But the Cougars didn’t get enough around him. He also threw an interception, and a third-down intentional grounding penalty in the red zone helped turn a promising drive into a missed long field goal.
The final drive told the story. Trailing by six with just under five minutes left, Washington State needed to move the ball and couldn’t even get to midfield. The possession included two sacks and a false start, and it ended with 38 seconds remaining when Eshelman was pressured on fourth-and-10 and couldn’t connect on a deep throw.
The run game never gave the Cougars much help, either. Washington State managed only 34 rushing yards on 14 carries from its tailbacks.
San Diego State, meanwhile, found plenty of room on the ground. The Aztecs ran for 202 yards on 37 carries, averaging 5.5 yards per attempt, and had seven runs of more than 10 yards, including a 46-yard burst early in the game. Lucky Sutton and Javion Kinnard repeatedly pushed through contact, and open-field tackling was a problem for Washington State all night.
The Cougars did make a few timely stops. Their defensive front forced a three-and-out on San Diego State’s final possession in the fourth quarter, giving the offense one last chance. Washington State also picked off a pass and held the Aztecs to 104 passing yards.
But SDSU still found a way to hurt the Cougars with a key trick play on a goal-line fourth down, a WR pass that helped stretch the lead to 12 points midway through the fourth quarter. That drive also featured Kinnard’s tackle-breaking third-and-9 run to keep things moving, followed by a 16-yard Sutton run in the red zone that saw several WSU defenders miss.
The bigger picture is getting harder to ignore. Washington State’s run defense has now allowed more than 200 yards in each of the past three games. And with the offense continuing to sputter, a season that began with hope now looks increasingly bleak.
It was supposed to be a fresh start with a promising new coach and a winnable new conference. Instead, Washington State is staring at the possibility of a one-win season, and that’s a place few would have imagined this team ending up.
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Washington State Let Another Winnable Game Slip Away Late
Washington State had enough of the game to leave Snapdragon Stadium with a result it could have lived with, but instead walked away with a 26-20 loss to San Diego State after a late chance slipped through its hands. The Cougars moved the ball better than the Aztecs in yardage and controlled possession for longer stretches, which made the ending sting all the more in a game that felt there for the taking.
The bigger concern is the familiar one: WSU is still searching for its first Pac-12 win and sits at 1-8 overall, with another winnable game ending in frustration. There were positives in the performance, including a productive outing from tight end Trey Leckner in his return from a foot injury, but the Cougars could not turn those moments into the one drive that would have changed the night. [Read more 🡒]
Washington States Latest Loss Put One Frustrating Problem On Display
A frustrating season for Washington State kept taking on more familiar contours in a 26-20 loss to San Diego State, where the Cougars again found themselves undone by the kind of self-inflicted mistakes that have piled up over the first stretch of the year. With only one win in nine games, the margin for error has been thin for a team trying to stabilize itself, and this one featured a handful of decisions that left points on the field and momentum hanging in the balance.
The issues were not limited to one side of the ball, either. A conservative stretch before halftime slowed the offense when it still had a chance to press, and the late-game clock management only added to the sense that Washington State let opportunities slip away in a game it could have controlled more cleanly. For a team searching for answers, the loss was another reminder that the problems are not just about execution, but about the situational details that keep deciding close games. [Read more 🡒]
Washington States Offense Is Improving But One Problem Wont Go Away
Washington States offense took another step forward with redshirt freshman quarterback Owen Eshelman looking more comfortable, completing 16 of 20 passes for 161 yards while adding 34 yards on the ground. The Cougars also got a small milestone from preferred walk-on Caleb Northcroft, who made his first reception in a WSU uniform as the passing game continued to find a steadier rhythm under first-year coach Kirby Moore.
The bigger concern, though, remains on the other side of the ball, where Moore has seen the same issue linger even as the offense improves. San Diego State was able to lean on its ground game and keep the Cougars under pressure with repeated success running the football, a problem Washington State will have to clean up if it wants the progress on offense to turn into wins. [Read more 🡒]