Analysis: Washington State’s final third-down play call looms large in loss to Oregon State

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Somewhere down the line, after Washington State’s baffling loss to Oregon State on Saturday night, coach Jimmy Rogers, and offensive coordinator Danny Freund might think back on one play.

Whoever was behind the biggest play the Cougars ran, a third-and-4 rollout pass for quarterback Zevi Eckhaus in the game’s final moments, will want the call back.

There’s little explanation to call that pass in that position. WSU’s previous few plays on that drive? Chunk runs for 12 and 13 yards. And the Cougars decide to throw the ball against one of the nation’s worst defenses in the game’s biggest spot.

A lot more went into this WSU loss, a 10-7 defeat marred by the Cougars’ depleted offensive line and Eckhaus’ two interceptions, and much of that can be addressed later. Heck, if kicker Jack Stevens can connect on a 32-yard field goal – his first miss inside of 40 yards, only his second miss all season – maybe we aren’t talking about this at all. Maybe we’re talking about a WSU win in overtime.

But the truth is that the Cougs (4-5) could have avoided putting Stevens in that kind of position – asking a redshirt freshman to tie the game on the road in the final moments, no matter the distance – by converting on third down.

Let’s count all the reasons why it made sense for WSU to go to the ground on that play.

• Eckhaus had thrown two interceptions already

• Eckhaus was “banged up,” Rogers said after the game

• The Cougars had broken two big runs just plays earlier

• Their offensive line may have been depleted, but they were showing solid run-blocking on this drive

• WSU coaches want to establish a run-centric offense, especially in the biggest spots

Given the opportunity to elaborate, Rogers didn’t say more about Eckhaus’ status other than that he was “banged up.” For his part, Eckhaus said “I feel fine. I’m good.”

In any case, they veered in the opposite direction, asking their shorthanded offensive line to protect a turnover-prone quarterback for enough time to make the one read he was given on the play.

That’s the word from Eckhaus himself, who said the read was a slip pass to tight end Trey Leckner.

“We just tried to do a little slip pass,” Eckhaus said. “We were trying to show like we were doing a run with the quarterback, QB boot, and had Trey Leckner kinda slip out there. And they played well. The corner stayed on it. Don’t need to make a play worse in that situation. Obviously, we were in field goal range, so just tried to get what I could. And that’s what it was.”

“We were trying to get a first down to get into the end zone,” Rogers said. “The thing about the play is, for one, he shouldn’t have tried to get out of bounds. Something that we talked about quite a bit, and if it wasn’t there, I didn’t want to turn the ball over. Trying to play to win, and not just to tie the game. But made a poor decision, got out of bounds, and we kicked a field goal, which we should have tied it. It’s a basic, chip-shot field goal. We missed it.”

Above all, this also feels confusing because of how deft a touch WSU coaches showed in making adjustments earlier in the season. In September, they swapped Jaxon Potter with Eckhaus at QB. Even before that, in the Cougs’ win over San Diego State, they recognized their running game wasn’t working, so they had Potter throw 42 passes – the most by a QB in one game under Rogers. “If we have to do that, we have to do that,” Rogers said then. “I’m not one to ram a square peg down a round hole.”

Plus, in October, they replaced Angel Johnson with Kirby Vorhees at running back. Cougar coaches have been far from perfect, but they have illustrated the right attitude in making changes at the appropriate times. Why, in crunch time against a reeling defense when their ground attack had been flourishing, did they switch things up – and away from the physical style they prefer anyway?

Think about it this way: Even if the Cougs couldn’t secure four yards and a first down on that play, maybe they get one or two. Maybe they even look at that as a chance to center the ball for Stevens, who was kicking from the right hash. Make things easier on their young kicker.

Instead, they went away from the type of football that they have always figured to make the identity of their program.

Let’s get into some context. On that play, Eckhaus faced almost immediate pressure, a function of the shape of the Cougs’ offensive line, which looked like this: They were playing everyday left guard Jonny Lester at right tackle in the absence of their top two options at that spot, starter Christian Hilborn and backup Jaylin Caldwell. Then, in the second quarter, center Brock Dieu exited early with some sort of injury, prompting backup Kyle Martin to take his place.

Then the Cougs got creative later in the second quarter. After right guard AJ Vaipulu was hit with a false start penalty, his seventh penalty of the season, coaches benched him for true freshman Trevor Bindel, who made his collegiate debut. But that experiment became an on-and-off affair: Vaipulu reentered the game in the second half, only for Bindel to replace him in the fourth frame.

WSU also still has a chance to make a bowl game, and with a bye week coming up, Eckhaus can likely return to full health. That gives the Cougs three chances to win two games, achieving their sixth win: Home against middling Louisiana Tech, on the road against surging James Madison and then home against this same Oregon State team.

Are there two wins in there? It’s entirely possible. But the Cougars cannot keep playing this kind of offense, totaling only 96 yards in the second half against a Beaver defense allowing nearly 33 points per game, and expect to win any of those contests.