SAN DIEGO - Washington State briefly made Saturday night feel like it might turn into a rerun.
Down 26-14 in the fourth quarter, the Cougars started moving the ball against San Diego State and suddenly had the game looking a lot like a road trip from two years ago, when WSU erased the same deficit in the same building. This time, though, the comeback never fully formed. The final possession stalled near midfield after a false start on right tackle Jaylin Caldwell, coach Kirby Moore burned his last timeout to avoid a 10-second runoff, and Owen Eshelman’s last two passes fell incomplete as the ball went back to the Aztecs.
The result was a sixth straight loss for WSU, which fell to 1-8 overall and 0-5 in the Pac-12. With three games left, the Cougars are still searching for their first FBS win of the season. They’re off next week, their first break after nine straight games.
The biggest issue remains the pass rush. WSU has only eight sacks through nine games, a total that ranks No. 134 out of 138 FBS teams.
That’s not what Moore had in mind when he added Matyus McLain and Linus Zunk from the transfer portal last winter. The Cougars didn’t record a sack against SDSU, marking their second straight game without one, and they generated only six pressures on redshirt freshman quarterback Stone Saunders, according to Pro Football Focus.
McLain had two of those pressures, Zunk had one, and the rest of the defense never got close enough often enough. On one play, cornerback Khamari Terrell had Saunders in position for what looked like an easy sack, only for the quarterback to slip free.
The ground game hasn’t offered much relief either. Kirby Vorhees, Maxwell Woods and Leo Pulalasi combined for 34 yards on 14 carries against the Aztecs, a 2.4-yard average.
That kind of output has become a theme. In eight FBS games this season, WSU’s backs have averaged 15 carries for 46 yards.
The numbers are rough enough on their own, but the bigger problem is obvious: the offensive line isn’t moving people in short-yardage situations. At this point, the run game looks more like a dead end than a foundation.
San Diego State also found room where Boise State did a week earlier - on the edges. WSU has done a solid job clogging the middle, but the Cougars have struggled once opponents bounce outside and get to the perimeter.
That’s how Javion Kinnard scored both of his touchdowns, with nickelback Jamarey Smith and Jeremiah Bernard among the defenders he made miss on the way to the end zone. WSU missed 10 tackles in the game, according to PFF, an improvement from the 16 it missed against Boise State but still not nearly clean enough.
When sacks are scarce and turnovers are limited, tackling has to hold everything together. It hasn’t lately, even with safety Jaylen Thomas picking off his third pass of the year.
WSU has forced only six turnovers, which is tied for No. 121 nationally.
There were some signs of life on offense, especially on third down. The Cougars converted 9 of 14 third downs, one of their better showings in that area all season, and used those conversions to string together several productive drives.
One touchdown march lasted nearly five minutes and covered 75 yards. Another took 6 minutes and 15 seconds and went 64 yards.
WSU opened by converting five of its first six third downs, including two keepers by Eshelman.
Still, the finishing touch never really arrived. In the third quarter, the Cougars spent 6:25 moving 40 yards in 13 plays, only for Eshelman to take a 14-yard sack on third-and-10.
That forced a fourth-and-long from the 35 and set up a 53-yard field goal attempt for Jack Stevens, which drifted wide left and came up short in rainy, windy conditions. Later, after Thomas’ interception gave WSU the ball at the SDSU 36, the offense ran three plays, reached fourth down and came away empty.
The bye week now arrives at a useful moment. It gives Moore and his team time to reset before a home game against Colorado State, which has the worst defense in college football. WSU didn’t exactly light up an SDSU defense that had already allowed 41, 66 and 56 points, but the Cougars will get a chance to regroup and make the adjustments they need to chase that first FBS win.
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 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 🡒]