CORVALLIS, Ore. — Coming off a sluggish showing, Washington State trudges into a much-needed rest week.
The Cougs looked sleepy during their most disappointing effort of the season, a 24-10 loss to Oregon State on Saturday at Reser Stadium. The Beavers (5-2, 2-2 Pac-12) controlled the lead from start to finish and handed WSU (4-3, 1-3) a deflating defeat.
The Cougars must use their bye week to rejuvenate energy before they return to action Oct. 27 for a Thursday-night home game against No. 15 Utah, which upset previously unbeaten USC on Saturday.
“It’s disappointing heading into the bye week (with a loss), instead of … having some momentum,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said after the Cougs fell flat in Corvallis. “I told them, ‘It doesn’t get easier.’ It’s really easy to be committed to the process when everything goes right. Now, we’re going to reveal who we all are.”
What went wrong for the Cougars this weekend? There were plenty of issues, but here are a few that stood out:
Beavers attack WSU’s strength
The Cougs’ rushing defense couldn’t hold up against the Beavers’ unrelenting ground game.
WSU surrendered a season-high 203 rushing yards on 47 carries.
Generally considered to be the strength of this WSU team, the Cougs’ defensive front was underwhelming at best. OSU tailbacks were seldom stopped near the line of scrimmage. They fought through Cougar tacklers all night and churned out intermediate gains between 4 and 7 yards.
“They were more physical than us at times and that’s obviously what led to the result,” WSU edge rusher Ron Stone Jr. said. “We weren’t sound enough throughout the game and they were able to get enough yards consistently to keep doing that.”
Last season, the Cougars allowed 200-plus rushing yards in five games — including a season-high 309 yards against OSU in a 31-24 Coug win.
It’d been a talking point during the preseason and early this campaign: WSU had made significant improvements in its ability to contain powerful rushing attacks. The Cougs’ rushing defense performed exceptionally in three games this year, but had a fair amount of slip-ups in the other four contests. WSU yielded about 180 yards against Wisconsin, Oregon and USC.
WSU’s rushing defense versus OSU’s rushing offense had been identified as a key matchup early this week. It was no secret that the Beavs would lean on their inside-running game.
“This will be a kind of check mark of where our interior defensive line is at,” Dickert said Wednesday. “We’re going to see the improvements we’ve made.”
Instead, the Beavs outmuscled the Cougars’ D-line and caused doubts about the progress of WSU’s rushing defense.
Though the Cougs’ rushing defense had shown cracks in three games, the unit had fared well in limiting explosive running plays. WSU hadn’t given up a rush of more than 20 yards all season, but surrendered a 50-yarder late in the third quarter to OSU tailback Damien Hernandez, who flew through a wide lane in the line of scrimmage and raced upfield to set up a short touchdown a few plays later, putting the Beavers up by 14 points.
“I just think it was hit-and-miss,” Dickert said of the rushing defense. OSU averaged 4.3 yards per carry. The Cougars bottled up the running backs for a few stretches, but couldn’t sustain it as their offense faltered.
“It was consistent for a while, but then (Martinez’s) game-breaker toward the end of the third quarter was the big one. … We just got the wrong call at the wrong time. They do a really good job at the line of scrimmage moving guys.
On a positive note, the Cougs’ rushing defense usually prevented Beaver ball-carriers from breaking past the second level. Aside from the 50-yard momentum-changer, OSU managed just three runs of 10-plus yards (13, 10 and 10 yards). WSU’s defense also registered its eighth takeaway of the year and its first since Sept. 24 against Oregon. Edge rusher Andrew Edson popped Gulbranson as he threw in the first quarter and Cougar free safety Sam Lockett III snagged the off-target pass. WSU DBs Jordan Lee and Chau Smith-Wade forced fumbles, but the Cougs couldn’t pounce on the loose balls.
“We had some opportunities to get some takeaways,” Dickert said. “We had some fumbles on the ground that we need to get. There were definitely some moments and some things to build on.”
Pressure a problem for Cougar offense
No team in the Pac-12 has allowed more sacks than WSU (26). Only two teams in the nation have allowed more sacks than the Cougars — Colorado State (29) and Akron (36).
Pass protection was the most glaring issue for the Cougs on Saturday. Quarterback Cameron Ward never got comfortable. Beaver defenders broke through blocks quickly and pestered the Cougs’ sophomore signal caller in the backfield. Ward absorbed a season-high six sacks and was often forced to throw passes out of bounds. He completed 25 of 54 attempts.
“They kept us off-balance and we just could never get enough of a rhythm offensively,” Dickert said.
“There were too many times where we were just getting pressured and Cam wasn’t able to get through his progressions.”
Trailing by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, the Cougs ditched the run game and tried to find a spark through the air. But the Beavers supplied steady pressure and WSU’s offense went stagnant. Ward was sacked four times in the final period and the Cougs couldn’t move the ball into OSU territory until a last-ditch possession with three minutes remaining.
No position group has caused more concern for the Cougs this season than their new-look offensive line. WSU’s first-team O-line has been far from reliable. The Cougars’ second-string O-linemen lack playing experience. WSU’s top backup, Fa’alili Fa’amoe, went down with a lower-body injury late against Oregon State and was carted to the locker room.
A freshman, Fa’amoe made his first-career start on Saturday, lining up at right tackle. Starting right tackle Ma’ake Fifita shifted to right guard to replace senior Grant Stephens, who missed the first half due to a targeting penalty in the second half last weekend against USC.
When Stephens returned to the field after halftime Saturday, the Cougs benched Fifita. Fa’amoe stayed at right tackle.
“We kept Fa’alili in the game because we felt like he was pretty consistent throughout the first half,” Dickert said.