A Grip on Sports: Despite the cracks showing in the sport overall, watching college football is still fun, especially when the home team performs as well as WSU did in topping San Diego State
A GRIP ON SPORTS • College football is broken in a lot of ways. But the cracks and chasms – depending on your perspective – that highlight the offseason haven’t crushed the on-field product just yet. Games can still be exciting, mainly when they match opponents with like resources. As illustrated by the games in Pullman and Corvallis on Saturday.
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• The Pac-12’s lone representatives in 2025 matched up with two of their soon-to-be conference mates, San Diego State and Fresno State.
The Beavers were up first. And played about as entertaining a game with FSU as possible. I mean, how often have you watched a college football game in which just about every long snap for the home team held the potential for a 20-yard loss? C’mon. Who isn’t entertained by that?
Or by a head coach dropping an F-bomb on national TV as he did his halftime walk-off interview. Or one of his players doing the same after being called for a holding penalty, the reaction caught by the referee’s open microphone?
Good football? Nope. Entertaining? In a perverse sort of way, sure.
The Beavers dominated the statistics. They dominated the trenches. They should have won. But as Oregon State coach Trent Bray said, his special teams were a “fudge joke.” Only he didn’t say “fudge.” And no one wearing orange and black was laughing.
That wasn’t the case later in the evening on the Palouse.
There were lots of smiles. For the home team.
The Cougar defense flew around, just as it did in the opening win over Idaho. The groups quickness and execution overpowered San Diego State’s size advantage, beating the Aztecs up front often enough to limit them to 2.7 yards per rushing attempt. And make life miserable for SDSU quarterback Jayden Denegal.
Denegal, under pressure most of the night and sacked for a safety at one point, hurried often and finished 15 of 30 passing for just 133 yards.
Two games in, that sort of efficient and focused defense seems it will be a hallmark of Jimmy Rogers’ tenure.
But what of the offense? Well, the final score was 36-13, which tells part of the story. The key numbers, though, seem to 33, 145 and six.
As in number of carries, yards gained rushing and the ball carries called upon.
The Cougars, after losing yards by the boatload by sacks and miscues in the opener, didn’t allow Jaxson Potter to hardly be harried, let alone sacked. The time allowed for efficient drives and a 28-for-42 passing performance, albeit for only 257 yards. Still, three touchdowns, no interception and a 23-point win against a peer-program is just fine.
Now if the second-quarter harmonic declaration of “we always find our way back home” were actually true, then the Cougars’ fortunes would seem a bit brighter.
• There may have been 24,330 tickets sold for Saturday’s Pullman game – that was the announced attendance – but there certainly never were that many in Martin Stadium last night.
The aerial shots The CW Network showed throughout the game highlighted a facility that was less than half full, even considering a decent student section crowd. The non-student sections of the stadium looked to be a quarter-full at best. And for Homecoming no less.
Is that a consequence of the offseason loss of talent? The influx of 74 new players? The lack of name recognition that used to be at the core of college football’s fan engagement? Yes to all of it.
But don’t worry about it. I’m sure the powers that be in Pullman will not let that happen again. Oh, sure, the crowds after the Apple Cup may be as sparse. But we’re sure the conference’s partners with CW will no longer show them, not after the network’s video evidence of fan apathy circulated on social media.
• If there is a pothole that threatens to knock the wheels off the game, it is the caliber of officiating. It seems to be reverting to a level of homer-ism we haven’t seen in half a century. Or since instant replay began to inform the viewing public just how often cronyism decided games.
Part of it is money, of course. So much rides on every game, especially the interconference matchups that inform the CFP picks in a few months, there can’t help but be pressure on crews from each league office. Not in so many words, sure, but in assignments and grades. The other main source of pressure comes from a source as old as the game itself. Home crowds. Large, vocal, intimidating home crowds.
Like the one in Starkville, Mississippi last night, where a penalty called on the field would have cost the host Bulldogs a key touchdown against visiting Arizona State. While all but a few of the 50,808 in attendance rained down invectives on the officiating crew, they gathered, talked about the obvious chop block flag and decided it wasn’t really a penalty.
The final score? Mississippi State 24, ASU 20.
A worse travesty happened in Fort Collins, Colorado. With just seconds left on the clock, last-season’s Big Sky cellar-dweller Northern Colorado trailed the host Rams by four points after host Colorado State’s go-ahead score with 44 seconds left.
The Bears weren’t done. With 8 seconds on the clock, Eric Gibson Jr. lofted an 18-yard pass toward Carver Cheeks in the CSU endzone. The UNC receiver made an acrobatic, juggling catch for what looked to be the game winner.
At least it was called on the field that way.
But replay had to look at it. It was a scoring play. A winning play.
I have watched the replay at least a dozen times. Seen every angle available. And can’t for the life of me see how the on-field decision could have been overturned. There is no way to see if the ball ever touched the turf. Under the rules, “indisputable video evidence” must be present. Terms like “clear and obvious” are also in the rule. Beyond all doubt is bandied about.
Hah. Colorado State survived. And UNC lost. So did college football.
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WSU: It’s not easy covering a game that finishes at around 11. But Greg Woods was able to get a game story put together as well as working with the folks in the office on the recap with highlights. … There are also difference makers to pass along as well as a photo gallery from Geoff Crimmins. … One more thing. The game coverage from the San Diego Union Tribune. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner has his usual look back in the Mercury News at Saturday’s games. He still doesn’t know what to make of WSU. I’ll help. They are well coached. Talent poor in some areas, but well coached. Health and luck will play big roles in the Cougs’ record. … Wilner has some media criticism as well. … The best national game of the day? John Mateer leading Oklahoma to a 24-13 win over Michigan. Mateer did some of the same things he did last year in Pullman, only on a bigger stage. … Stewart Mandel has his weekly thoughts in The Athletic. … Here are the rest of the (current, old and future) Pac-12 scores from Saturday, listed chronologically. The schedule below includes any game in which finding news about turned out to be nearly impossible.
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– No. 19 Texas A&M 44, Utah State 22: The Aggies from Logan, Utah, showed their best and worst during their visit to College Station.
– No. 6 Oregon 69, Oklahoma State 3: That was a rout. One of those games where the best meme afterward is the one with the crying kids from the Simpsons pleading for the massacre to stop. Who said money can’t buy fans some happiness? … John Canzano shares his thoughts on the buildup and beatdown. … It was the best Duck defensive performance since Dan Lanning arrived. … Dante Moore was extremely accurate with the deep ball, something that was not that common when he was at UCLA.
– Fresno State 36, Oregon State 27: We let Canzano have the first word on the ugly game and the performance from Bray. But not the only word. Bill Oram has a bunch of them in the Oregonian on that one word Bray said. … Yes, the Beavers’ special-team performance was that bad. You can watch one gaffe for yourself. … No matter how it came about, the Bulldogs were happy to beat OSU at its place.
– Colorado 31, Delaware 7: Two quarterbacks fought for the starting position during camp. Neither was effective in the opener or early Saturday. So third-stringer Ryan Staub was given a chance. And made the most of it. But did he win the job? … The Buff defense did its job.
– Texas State 43, UTSA 36: There were 45,778 in the Alamodome yesterday to watch this nonconference “Battle of I-35” rivalry game. We can guarantee that is more than will be attendance at the Apple Cup (of obvious reasons). And we’re guessing the 79 combined points is more than the two Washington rivalries will score in a couple weeks.
– California 35, Texas Southern 3: Freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and the Cal offense didn’t get started until the second half. It was OK against Texas Southern. But might not bode well for down the ACC road.
– Utah 63, Cal Poly 9: Kyle Whittingham saw some things that have to be fixed. Of course he did.
– Colorado State 21, Northern Colorado 17: One headline used the word steal to describe the Ram’s win. Good choice. I am sure the Northern Colorado fans agree. And some of the CSU faithful.
– Mississippi State 24, No. 12 Arizona State 20: We mentioned the penalty controversy. But we also must mention the Sun Devils lead by three points with less than a minute left. And played man-to-man. And blitzed. The Bulldogs took advantage and hit a long pass to win the game.
– USC 59, Georgia Southern 20: The Trojans have scored 132 points in two games. Now the games get tougher, even if the first Big Ten game is against Purdue next week. It is in Indiana. … There was one more factor in play Saturday.
– UNLV 30, UCLA 23: This Bruin team is not very good. And its fault showed Saturday in Las Vegas. At least it battled back to get close. At least.
– Arizona 48, Weber State 3: There was a two-hour weather delay before the start. It did not slow the Wildcats from Tucson.
– BYU 27, Stanford 3: The Cardinal are devoid of offense. Their quarterback, Ben Gulbranson, struggled last season with Oregon State. In two games this one, the passing game has yet to show up. The offense gained 161 yards. Total. … BYU was not that much better.
– Washington 70, UC Davis 10: Running back Jonah Coleman tied a modern-day UW record with five rushing touchdowns in the rout of one of the Big Sky’s preseason favorites. … The Huskies did what they thought they were supposed to do. … They also earned style points. … There are always grades. And instant impressions. And die-hard fans.
Gonzaga: If you want to cleanse your palate from the taste of football, we have just the full-meal-deal to pass along. Theo Lawson used his time in Las Vegas this summer efficiently, talking with Khalif Battle and outlining the wing’s plan to find a way onto an NBA roster someday.
EWU: Starting quarterback Jared Taylor was injured pretty badly Friday night. Enough so the game was paused for a few minutes as his family joined him on the Eastern sidelines. Dan Thompson doesn’t have a definitive update on his condition but does share the news Taylor returned to Cheney on Saturday. … The Boise State coach had some thoughts on the game. … Elsewhere in the (current and future) Big Sky, we mentioned Northern Colorado’s snatched-from-the-jaws-of-victory defeat above. But we link the Bears’ story here. … Weber State endured a lightning delay and then an offensive blackout in Tucson. … Cal Poly was blown out by Utah. … UC Davis didn’t put up much of fight against Washington. … Montana State and South Dakota State, ranked third and second in the FCS, respectively, put on a show in Bozeman. The Bobcats fell in overtime. … Montana had little trouble with Division II Central Washington. … Idaho State battled but fell to host New Mexico. … Portland State was blown out for the third consecutive game, losing to North Dakota. … Sacramento State bounced back well but still lost at Nevada on a late interception.
Idaho: The Vandals didn’t seem as sharp defensively as they did in the opener against WSU. But the offense had just enough, thanks in large part to quarterback Joshua Wood, to get past visiting St. Thomas 37-30. Peter Harriman has the game story.
Whitworth: The Pirates opened the season with a 23-10 victory over visiting Gustavus Adolphus 23-10. Ethan Myers was at the Pine Bowl and has this story.
Preps: Dave Nichols spent part of his Saturday putting together his weekly Friday Night Lights recap. … There is also a roundup of Saturday’s action from Cheryl Nichols to pass along.
Zephyr: Spokane returned home for its fourth match, but the offense didn’t come along. Fort Lauderdale’s second-half goal resulted in its 1-0 victory.
Mariners: A two-run home run in the first. Another two-run blast in a tie game in the seventh. It was Julio Rodriguez’s night to burn Atlanta, as the M’s snapped a losing streak with a 10-2 victory. Cal Raleigh added a ninth-inning solo shot, his 52nd of the season. … Victor Robles returned from his suspension and went right back in the lineup. … Ryan Bliss is working to return from his injury.
Storm: Sue Bird was inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame yesterday.
Reign: Seattle faces one of the NWSL’s best teams, the Spirit, today.
Seahawks: I’m with Dave Boling. This Seahawk team is going to be better than national pundits think. And, just for the record, I am not what you could call an optimist. Usually. … Now, Leonard Williams must stay healthy. He’s important. … There does not seem to be any national picks that have the Hawks winning today. Maybe that is because the 49ers will have Christian McCaffrey available. … There are often key impressions from the game-day roster moves. … It does not sound as if the RedZone ads will be intrusive today. But just you wait.
Tennis: Amanda Anisimova had a better showing than she did in Wimbledon’s finals, but she still lost in straight sets to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. … Jannick Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz meet in today’s men’s final.
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• The Seahawks begin their season today (1 p.m., Fox). Can they upset the 49ers? We’ll see. As will you I’m guessing. Until later …