Washington State’s second straight road trip against a power-conference opponent turned into a mess on Saturday, with the Cougars getting handled 34-7 by Kansas State at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas.
The final score told the story, but the performance behind it was even rougher. WSU’s offense never found a pulse.
The Cougars failed to score, punted eight times, went three-and-out or four-and-out on six possessions, converted just 2 of 12 third downs and finished with only 166 total yards. It was the kind of outing that left little doubt about where the biggest problem sits right now.
Play selection never seemed to open things up. The deep ball wasn’t there, the run game went nowhere for long stretches and the Cougars only threatened once, on their opening drive. That possession ended with a tipped short field goal that looked shaky even before Kansas State got a hand on it.
Sophomore quarterback Caden Pinnick never settled in, finishing 9 of 20 for 65 yards. The passing game was clogged by misreads and a lack of separation, while the ground game produced 101 yards mostly after the outcome was already out of reach and the Wildcats had eased off.
If the offense was the clearest issue, the defense didn’t do enough to cover for it.
Kansas State rolled up 487 yards and repeatedly hit chunk plays, including five runs of 15 yards or more. The biggest one came early in the third quarter, when Rodney Fields Jr. sliced through a wide-open lane on the left side and went 75 yards for a touchdown to stretch the lead to 24-7 and wipe out any lingering hope of a comeback.
WSU’s defense spent too much time on the field, thanks in large part to the offense’s struggles. Kansas State held the ball for more than 34 minutes, and its time of possession in the first half was twice Washington State’s. That wear-and-tear showed up in the way the Wildcats kept stringing together long drives.
Still, the Cougars couldn’t get the stops they needed. Kansas State converted 8 of 10 third downs in the first half, and quarterback Avery Johnson found answers when pressure broke down.
Two of his three touchdown passes came on broken plays. Washington State never brought him down for a sack and finished with just four tackles for loss, while the Wildcats piled up 295 rushing yards at 7.4 yards per carry.
The one defender who gave WSU a real jolt was safety Jaylen Thomas. He intercepted Johnson twice in the second quarter and briefly gave the Cougars life. On the first one, Thomas returned the pick to the K-State 45-yard line, but the offense squandered it immediately, turning the ball over on downs after four straight runs up the middle.
His second interception produced Washington State’s only points. With seven seconds left in the first half, Johnson forced a throw toward the sideline, and Thomas made the play before racing 50 yards for a touchdown that trimmed the margin to 17-7.
Then came the weather delay. After an hourlong pause at halftime, Washington State had a chance to reset.
Instead, the Cougars opened the third quarter with another three-and-out, and Kansas State answered with the 75-yard Fields run on the first play from scrimmage. That sequence shut the door.
For new coach Kirby Moore and his staff, the first two games have produced an expected 0-2 record against Power Four opponents, but the contrast between Week 1 and Week 2 was stark. There were some encouraging signs against Washington. There were almost none here.
The schedule should soften a bit next week, when Duquesne comes to Pullman. That gives Washington State a chance to regroup and gives offensive coordinator Matt Miller some room to sort through the problems that have drawn plenty of heat over the last two weeks.
This is still a team built with a completely reworked roster and a first-year staff, so some growing pains are baked in. But getting outclassed by a Kansas State team also under a first-year coach doesn’t exactly build confidence.
Arizona comes to town in two weeks, and then the Pac-12 schedule begins. The Cougars have a lot to clean up before then.
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Amid all of that, Jaylen Thomas was the one player providing real life. He intercepted two passes, one of them going the distance for a pick-six, giving Washington State something to hang onto while Caden Pinnick and the offense searched for answers. It was a rare stretch of momentum in a half that otherwise leaned heavily toward Kansas State, and it kept the Cougars from sinking even deeper before the break. [Read more 🡒]