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Difference makers: Zevi Eckhaus overcomes turnovers for solid offensive game

Washington State Cougars quarterback Zevi Eckhaus (4) celebrates after he ran the ball in for a touchdown against the Toledo Rockets during the first half of a college football game on Saturday, Oct 25, 2025, on Gesa Field at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Wash. (Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review)
By Colton Clark The Spokesman-Review

Parker McKenna

McKenna, a Beaverton, Oregon, native, finished second on the team with 10 tackles (seven solo) and added a tackle for loss, leading the charge during another admirable defensive showing for WSU.

The Cougar linebacker made the defensive play of the day, recording WSU’s first interception of the season. McKenna was positioned perfectly on a first-down pass, which was tipped up by its intended target and plucked out of the air by WSU’s fifth-year senior. The takeaway came at a critical moment. The Cougs were struggling to put away Toledo, and the Rockets were in WSU territory with about 9 minutes remaining in the game and looking to slice into their 14-point deficit. But the interception dashed the visitors’ hopes of making a comeback and erased a troubling stat for the Cougars, who were one of only two teams in the nation to have not registered an interception on the year.

Zevi Eckhaus

This might be a controversial pick, considering the senior quarterback’s sluggish second half and underwhelming final stat line – he completed 10 of 22 passes for 159 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions on the day, and was 1 of 6 with both picks during a rough third quarter. But Eckhaus dazzled in the second quarter and lifted the Cougs to a comfortable lead, which they were able to preserve throughout the second half. He scored all of his touchdowns during the second period, tossing TD passes to Tony Freeman and Carter Pabst and darting into the end zone on a 7-yard keeper. Eckhaus went 7 of 11 for 141 yards with three total TDs in the second quarter, leading three consecutive scoring drives as WSU built a 21-0 lead. He threw impressive deep balls to Joshua Meredith for 40-yard gains on back-to-back drives. Eckhaus also led the team in rushing, posting 74 yards on 15 carries for the team’s second-most productive individual rushing game of the season. The fifth-year collegian, a former three-year starter at FCS Bryant, went over 10,000 career passing yards during the win..