Washington State’s season took another hit Saturday night, and the final blow came in the rain.
The Cougars fell 26-20 to San Diego State at Snapdragon Stadium, their sixth straight loss and eighth overall, leaving them at 1-8 and 0-5 in Pac-12 play. They still have not beaten an FBS opponent heading into November.
WSU had one last opening to flip the night late, when it got the ball back at its own 14-yard line with 4:43 left after forcing a quick San Diego State three-and-out. Down six, the Cougars put together a brief push behind redshirt freshman quarterback Owen Eshelman.
He ran for a first down on third-and-2, then hit Trey Leckner on third-and-13 to move the ball to the WSU 37 at the two-minute timeout. After the break, Eshelman found Daniel Blood for 11 more yards to the 48, and that was as far as the Cougars would get with the game hanging in the balance.
The drive unraveled from there. Eshelman was sacked for a loss of one, setting up second-and-11.
Before the next snap, right tackle Jaylin Caldwell was flagged for a false start while Eshelman was still trying to get the play call straight. Head coach Kirby Moore chose to use his final timeout instead of accepting the 10-second runoff with 1:16 remaining.
On second-and-16, Eshelman checked down to Kirby Vorhees for six yards. Then came the near-miss: Eshelman almost threw an interception to Caleb Ricks, bringing up fourth-and-10.
He rolled right under pressure and tried to launch one toward Branden Ganashamoorthy, but the pass fell incomplete. Turnover on downs.
Game over.
Even without the late sequence, the night looked a lot like the rest of Washington State’s season. The run game never got going, with the running backs combining for just 34 rushing yards.
The defense held up for stretches. The offense flashed here and there.
But the Cougars never managed to stack enough good plays together to make it last four quarters.
That’s the story of this team now. Washington State is 1-8, staring at the bottom of the Pac-12, and will get its next shot next weekend at home against Colorado State.
In Other News...
Washington States Defensive Problem Is Getting Harder To Ignore
Washington States 26-20 loss to San Diego State added another uneasy chapter to a defense that has been searching for answers. The Cougars had trouble in the secondary, and the tackling issues showed up again as the Aztecs were able to keep drives alive and control stretches of the game on the ground. Coach Kirby Moore pointed to the teams problems with turnovers and rushing defense, two areas that have become increasingly hard to overlook as the season has worn on.
The pass rush never arrived either, which only made the rest of the night more difficult for Washington State. Without consistent pressure up front, the Cougars were left trying to clean up too many plays after the catch or after contact, and that has become a familiar and frustrating pattern. For a defense already under scrutiny, the inability to disrupt the quarterback or slow the run leaves little margin for error going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Washington State Keeps Finding New Ways To Let Close Games Slip Away
Washington State had another chance to make a game feel different late, and again it slipped away. The Cougars fell 26-20 to San Diego State, dropping to 1-8 overall and 0-5 in Pac-12 play, in a game that followed a familiar script of competitive stretches, missed chances and a finish that left the offense and sideline looking for answers. Owen Eshelman did his part to keep the Cougars in it, completing 30 of 42 passes for 299 yards with one interception, but the team still struggled to turn drives into the points it needed.
The frustration was sharpened by the decisions around the final sequence, with head coach Kirby Moore's use of timeouts drawing plenty of attention after a game that already felt like one Washington State could have taken. The Cougars also had to live with a long field goal try that came up short, another reminder that the margin in these losses keeps getting thinner without changing the result. [Read more 🡒]
Washington State Let Another Brutal Late Collapse Slip Away
Washington State had another late-game gut punch on its hands Saturday, but the bigger story was the way San Diego State kept finding answers when the pressure climbed. The Aztecs leaned on their ground game and a defense that tightened up when it mattered most, turning a tight finish into a 26-20 win that kept the Cougars from escaping with a result they badly needed.
Lucky Sutton and Javion Kinnard helped set the tone for San Diego State on the ground, and the games most eye-catching moment came on a trick play that flipped momentum in a hurry. For a team still chasing bowl eligibility, it was the kind of road win that can matter in November, and it sends the Aztecs into next weeks matchup with Utah State with a little more breathing room and a lot more belief. [Read more 🡒]