WASHINGTON STATE’s defensive problems were on display again Saturday night, and this time the damage came mostly on the edges.
The Cougars fell 26-20 at San Diego State, and the Aztecs made a living running outside and breaking tackles. WSU’s secondary took the brunt of it, with missed stops turning routine plays into chunk gains and touchdowns.
Jaylen Thomas didn’t need long to identify the issue.
“I just gotta find ways to get better at wrapping up,” Thomas said, “either taking the extra step to get closer to the running back. It’s just stuff I work on, just making sure I get the guy down as opposed to just making contact.”
San Diego State piled up 202 rushing yards and two scores on 37 carries. Lucky Sutton led the way with 115 yards, including a 46-yard burst and three other big runs of 11, 11 and 16 yards. Javion Kinnard added touchdowns on runs of 9 and 10 yards.
The pattern was hard to miss. Thomas, safety Jeremiah Bernard and nickelback Jamarey Smith all had chances to end plays, and too often the Aztecs slipped through. It was another ugly chapter in a tackling problem that has shown up repeatedly this fall, especially in last week’s loss to Boise State, when WSU missed 18 tackles.
There was one area where the Cougars did hold up. Their interior defensive linemen made life difficult for anything aimed between the tackles. Kaden Beatty, Jirah Leaupepetele, Damarjhe Lewis and Paul Hutson helped clog the middle and force opponents to look elsewhere.
San Diego State did exactly that. The Aztecs found room on the perimeter, where Bernard and Thomas line up along with cornerbacks Jalil Tucker and Khamari Terrell. Those defenders have the athleticism and awareness to make plays, but against SDSU they were hurt by poor tackling and some bad pursuit angles as they chased the ball.
WSU coach Kirby Moore pointed to two goals his team had before kickoff, and neither one was fully met.
“We had two goals going into the game,” Moore said, “and the first one was to take care of the football and take the ball away. They’d won one game over three years when they lost the turnover battle.
We didn’t do that. It was tied.
Defensively, we wanted to keep them under 150 yards rushing. They rushed for 202.
Did a better job of executing from that standpoint. There was a number of times to win the game outside of the last drive.
Appreciate our players’ fight. We gotta go back to work.”
Another issue that continues to haunt the Cougars is the pass rush. WSU failed to record a sack against Stone Saunders, even though defensive ends Matyus McLain and Linus Zunk have consistently created pressure. The problem has been finishing the play.
Before the game, Washington State ranked No. 131 out of 138 FBS teams with just eight sacks. That total stayed put after Saturday. For the Cougars, the formula for improvement is plain enough: tackle better on the perimeter, and find a way to finish more plays in the backfield.
In Other News...
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 Winnable Game Slip Away
Another winnable game slipped through Washington States hands on Saturday, this time in a 26-20 loss to San Diego State that extended the Cougars skid to six straight. At 1-8 overall and still searching for their first Pac-12 win, the Cougars again found themselves close enough to make the ending matter, but the offense never quite found enough rhythm to seize control.
The running game remained a problem throughout, with the backs producing just 34 rushing yards, and Washington State stayed winless against FBS opponents. Even with a late chance to flip the result, the Cougars could not finish the job, leaving another frustrating reminder of how thin the margin has been during this difficult stretch. [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 🡒]