‘It’s just about finishing games’: After loss to No. 21 JMU, WSU’s next step under Jimmy Rogers is becoming clear

PULLMAN – In the days leading up to Washington State’s final game of the season, a road test against a surging James Madison team, it felt fair to wonder about what the next step for Jimmy Rogers’ team was.

To top the Dukes and knock them out of the College Football Playoff picture, the Cougars needed play staunch defense, avoid turnovers, keep penalties to a minimum, and tackle a little better, too.

But in the aftermath of the game, which JMU won to the tune of 24-20, another reality bubbled to the surface.

“We just gotta learn how to finish games,” said Rogers, whose team finishes the regular season 1-5 on the road. “And everybody continuously do their job and not reach for things outside their scope to do.”

It wasn’t clear what Rogers meant by that second part. Bu there was no confusion about what he meant by the first. Saturday’s loss, means the team will have to earn bowl eligibility in its regular-season finale against Oregon State next weekend.

The Cougars’ game against the Dukes looked like the last three that preceded it on the road: The WSU took an early lead. Their defense played well enough to win. And then things went awry in the second half.

In the second halves of their last three road games, WSU has scored a grand total of six points, which came on two field goals by redshirt freshman kicker Jack Stevens. Those three games weren’t all made equal – those included losses to ACC power Virginia and a struggling Oregon State group – but the Cougs lost them all in similar fashion. If their offense looked like a spaceship in the first half, it devolved into a beat-up Honda Civic in the second.

“Some of that is due to play-calling, some of that is due to lack of execution,” Rogers said. “Some of that is due to penalties. And so we need to continue to get better. There’s nobody that feels like the blame is on them as much as I do, and we need to be hungry to finish out the season.”

What’s to blame? And how can the Cougars avoid meeting a similar fate against the Beavers, who will be looking for their first road win in nearly 15 months? As Rogers mentioned, it might take some more creative play-calling, particularly in the final two quarters.

WSU’s rushing attack looked phenomenal early on. Early in the fourth quarter, facing a key third-and-10 in JMU territory, running back Kirby Vorhees burst through the line of scrimmage, into the second level and then bowled over a defender to secure the first down. Along the sideline, running backs coach Donnell Kirkwood looked like a man possessed, going bananas when Vorhees completed his rush. On the afternoon, Vorhees totaled 19 carries for 61 yards, which means he’s cleared the 60-yard mark in four of his last six games.

But for WSU, that kind of energetic ground game was in much shorter supply in the second half. Outside of a few chunk runs by redshirt freshman tailback Maxwell Woods – who earned a season-best 30 snaps because third-year back Leo Pulalasi was injured, Rogers said in a postgame radio interview – the Cougs looked toothless. They posted just 75 total yards in the second half, including just 35 on the ground.

Could offensive coordinator Danny Freund have mixed things up a little in that way? It’s possible. WSU called what the official stats feed designated a run up the middle 24 times. The Cougars generated only 68 yards on those, which comes out to an average carry of 2.8 yards up the middle. Here are those carries in the fourth quarter: 1 yard, loss of 1 yard, 2 yards, no gain.

Another problem for the Cougs’ offense that has become clear in recent weeks: They don’t have much depth at the wide receiver spot. Their top two wideouts, Josh Meredith and Tony Freeman have done almost all the heavy lifting, catching 47 and 44 passes, respectively. The wideout with the third-most catches: Jeremiah Noga, who has 17.

Part of that problem involves the absence of transfer Devin Ellison, who departed the program in recent weeks after playing only 19 snaps in two games. Ellison, a junior college star last year, was slated to play a key role for the Cougs’ offense, and when you don’t have a guy of that caliber, your offense will take a hit. And besides, WSU played the third quarter on without veteran center Brock Dieu, who exited with an injury, then re-emerged on crutches, his foot in a boot.

But things are where they are for the Cougars, who won’t play another true road game this season, which might be the best news yet for the team. They’ve looked like their best selves in Pullman. But play like they did in Harrisonburg this weekend, and the Cougs might give the a chance to buck that trend.

“I feel confident,” WSU QB Zevi Eckhaus said. “I feel great in our team and our abilities to make plays. It’s just about finishing games.”