Notes and observations from Washington State’s second scrimmage of spring camp

PULLMAN – Reserves and starters often shared the field as Washington State mixed and matched personnel throughout its second scrimmage of spring camp.

With several players vying for roles – some of them competing for backup spots, others trying to cement themselves on WSU’s first team – the Cougs highlighted a few position groups for extra evaluation during a two-hour mock game at Gesa Field on Saturday morning.

Notes and observations from WSU’s scrimmage:

Backup QBs spotlighted

Sophomore transfer quarterback Cameron Ward, who has all but locked up starting responsibilities, led three scoring possessions – guiding a pair of two-minute drives that ended with field goals, then tossing a 14-yard touchdown to De’Zhaun Stribling.

Ward earned one of coach Jake Dickert’s two “Juice Player of the Day” awards for spurring the offense early with crisp decision-making.

“He was commanding the ship,” Dickert said. “He was really accurate. He was getting the ball out on time.”

He completed 6 of 10 passes for 59 yards and spent the rest of the session spectating from the sideline and providing guidance for his backups, three of whom are competing for No. 2 on the depth chart.

Third-year sophomore Victor Gabalis, second-year freshman Xavier Ward and true freshman Emmett Brown traded drives for much of the exercise.

“We need to separate some of these quarterbacks,” Dickert said.

To gain an accurate measure of their young quarterbacks’ capabilities, the Cougs surrounded each of them on a few possessions with their most talented available receivers and first-string offensive linemen.

Brown and Xavier Ward were especially sharp. A 6-foot-2 native of Southern California, Ward completed 9 of 10 passes for 117 yards and lofted a 34-yard touchdown to freshman receiver Tre Horner late in the scrimmage.

Brown, a strong-armed 5-10 product of San Marcos, California, went 13 of 17 for 120 yards. He steered a 99-yard touchdown drive early in the day, capping the series with a 6-yard TD to freshman Tsion Nunnally.

Unlike the others, Gabalis has seen action in an official game. The Everett product replaced injured starter Jayden de Laura and led a near-comeback in the second half of WSU’s Sun Bowl loss to Central Michigan on Dec. 31.

On Saturday, Gabalis completed 7 of 12 passes for 75 yards and committed the offense’s only turnover when he left an intermediate pass hanging in the air. Junior backup linebacker Joshua Erling collected the interception .

Dickert expects the scrimmage film to act as a “separator” in the race for backup QB.

“This is a big day to kinda sort out those guys,” he said.

Strong showing from the pass-catchers

Drops were rare and first downs frequent when WSU went to the passing game.

Ten receivers logged catches as the Cougs rotated regularly and performed steadily at the position.

“The receiver corps in general – we were clean,” Dickert said. “We haven’t been this clean in a long time. We caught the ball well. I thought we advanced it well and we made some people miss.

“That’s the consistency piece I’ve been searching for, and I’m so glad it came out in a moment like a scrimmage.”

WSU scrimmaged without its two No. 1 slot receivers in Renard Bell and Lincoln Victor, who are working their way back from injuries. Five reserve slot receivers registered multiple receptions. Orion Peters, whose name has come up repeatedly in spring camp news conferences, impressed on screens and quick outs and totaled 34 yards on three grabs before leaving the field with a minor ankle injury.

“Orion Peters is the one who’s always been standing out to me,” Dickert said. “I couldn’t be more excited about his progress and mentality. He went down a little bit, but he’ll be OK.”

Donovan Ollie, a returning starter at outside receiver, took a healthy amount of reps and recorded 31 yards on three receptions while Stribling – presumably still recovering from an injury sustained earlier in camp – only appeared on two or three drives. Backups Nunnally and sophomore Anderson Grover stepped in and shouldered the load of snaps on the outsides, catching three balls apiece and combining for 80 yards.

The reception of the day went to Nunnally, who soared above an undersized corner in the back corner of the end zone and came down with a 6-yard TD from Brown.

“We’ve been waiting for big-boy receivers, especially on the outside, and he’s one of them,” Dickert said of Nunnally, a 6-3, 210-pound redshirt freshman out of Santa Rosa, California. “He’s that budding star that we’ve been continually waiting for. … Guarding him in the end zone with 5-10 corners is going to be an issue.”

More offensive tidbits

At running back, the Cougs leaned on starting junior Nakia Watson and true freshman Djouvensky Schlenbaker. They carried the ball eight and nine times, respectively, while reserves Dylan Paine and Kannon Katzer combined for two rushes. Katzer darted into open field and scored from 11 yards out on his only attempt.

Schlenbaker, one of the Evergreen State’s top prep prospects of the 2022 class, churned out 35 yards.

“He had some hard, tough yards,” Dickert said.

Watson, a third-stringer last year after transferring from Wisconsin, piled up 51 yards for an average of 6.4 yards per carry. Watson burst through gaps, powered through defenders and hurdled one.

“Nakia is starting to understand the style we’re wanting to run with,” Dickert said.

Speedster running back Jouvensly Bazil was sidelined with an injury.

WSU’s offensive line provided clean pockets for the first half of the scrimmage but the advantage shifted to the defensive front later on.

“We did a better job with our (first-team) O-line group,” Dickert said.

The first unit up front played approximately half of the possessions.

Starting left tackle Jarrett Kingston was in and out of the lineup. He’s been dealing with a couple of injuries during camp and was replaced by Jack Wilson for stretches on Saturday. Rodrick Tialavea, a first-teamer at left guard for most of spring, did not participate. Dickert shined a light on second-year freshman Christian Hilborn, who took on a heavy workload Saturday at right guard.

Tight ends Jake Bowen, Travis Ward and Billy Riviere combined for seven short receptions.

Competition at LB; defensive line impresses

Nevada transfer Daiyan Henley is WSU’s surefire starter at outside linebacker. But position battles are developing beside and behind him.

Junior Travion Brown and second-year freshman Francisco Mauigoa rotated at middle linebacker throughout the scrimmage.

“We want to see who’s going to be the starting ‘Mike’ between Tre and ’Cisco,” Dickert said. “So, those guys took a lot of reps and it was one of those moments where I want them to be all out there now, because in fall camp they’re not going to be taking 50 scrimmage reps.”

Senior Ben Wilson and fourth-year sophomore Kyle Thornton are neck and neck for the No. 2 spot at outside linebacker, so they alternated for the majority of the session.

“It was very scripted,” Dickert said. “I want to see these guys this amount of times, so we can start to sort some of these things out.”

WSU’s defensive line totaled eight “touch” sacks. Fast-rising freshman edge Raam Stevenson had three, third-year frosh edge Gabriel Lopez posted two and sophomore transfer defensive tackle Nusi Malani added two.

“As we went through the scrimmage, the defensive momentum really picked up and that’s where that D-line really came into play,” Dickert said.

Malani, who spent the past two seasons at Virginia, earned Dickert’s defensive “Juice Player of the Day” nod.

“(Lopez) was a close consolation, but I went with Nusi Malani,” the first-year coach said. “We’re starting to see his development. You continually see the disruption of the quarterback at that tackle position, which we desperately need.”