In Apple Cup, WSU QB Zevi Eckhaus proved he could make sharp throws on the move. Can the Cougs keep giving him time?

PULLMAN – Zevi Eckhaus may never have seen the pressure headed his way, not with his back turned. It was early in Washington State’s loss to rival Washington last weekend, and after the Huskies took an early lead, Eckhaus and the Cougars were looking to match.

Eckhaus never got the chance because, trying to make a throw around midfield, he was crushed. UW edge Zach Durfee used a blistering spin move to evade left tackle Ashton Tripp and hit Eckhaus, who unleashed a wobbly throw as he was leveled. The ball was deflected and picked off by the visitors, one of two interceptions Eckhaus threw in WSU’s 59-24 loss.

“Zevi played well,” WSU coach Jimmy Rogers said. “He got put in a tough situation.”

But all told, Eckhaus rebounded to complete what was largely a sharp outing: 25-for-36 passing for two touchdowns (three total) and two interceptions, keeping the Cougars within striking distance for nearly the entire way. Things unraveled in the fourth quarter for WSU, which dropped the frame 28-0, but in his first start of the season, Eckhaus did his part.

After Eckhaus took an early hit for an interception, coaches took note. Likely recognizing the mismatches WSU (2-2) faced up front, offensive coordinator Danny Freund and others took care to scheme Eckhaus away from the pressure, using a number of roll-outs to give the quarterback time and space to throw.

He took full advantage in those situations. When he was kept clean, Eckhaus completed 16 of 19 passes for 183 yards and one touchdown, according to Pro Football Focus, which handed him a passing grade of 91.4 on those kinds of throws. That’s the second-best mark nationally in Week 4. It’s clear that when he has time to throw, Eckhaus is lethal through the air.

For WSU, the question is this: How can we keep putting him in those types of scenarios? Against UW, which had advantages in size and speed up front, the answer involved moving the pocket and manufacturing better looks for Eckhaus, whose mobility unlocked that possibility.

“That’s kinda his niche,” Rogers said. “He’s better a little bit on the move. He’s better kinda off script at times. You would like to always make sure that he’s protected so he doesn’t take the hits that he took in the game, because if he’s going to be the guy, he’s gotta stay healthy and he’s gotta feel good. There’s some movement piece of that to be able to set a deeper mark for him, so that he had a little bit more time to see the actual pressure coming and didn’t get blindsided.”

When he had time to throw, Eckhaus looked excellent. He provided the best example early in Saturday’s third quarter, when he took a shotgun snap, faked a handoff, spun and rolled to his left. That’s about when he spotted veteran receiver Josh Meredith streaking open downfield, so Eckhaus lobbed a pass his way, sticking the landing for a 48-yard gain – the second of a nine-play drive that ended in a touchdown.

“He came into this game really confident,” Meredith said. “He’s a guy that struts around knowing what he wants to do, knows how to lead a team. Natural-born leader to me. And you saw when the tempo was going, it looked like UW had no response to us. We marched down the field like it was nothing. Feel like we could have done that all night.”

In the second quarter, Eckhaus took a deeper dropback and targeted wide receiver Devin Ellison, who was making his season debut after missing the first three games with a heel injury. Eckhaus put some touch on the ball and lofted it to the right, where Ellison settled under it for the catch, a 26-yard gain on a drive that ended in a field goal.

Eckhaus and the Cougars also got some meaningful mileage out of a certain play design they debuted in Saturday’s first quarter. On this play, Eckhaus faked a handoff and rolled to his right to hit tight end Trey Leckner for a short gain, giving the QB space and time to throw. On their next drive, the Cougs used the same type of design to convert a crucial third down, this time going to running back Leo Pulalasi, who jetted ahead to move the sticks.

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But WSU did all this out of necessity. In Saturday’s game, the Cougs’ offensive line was responsible for yielding 19 pressures, including one of the three sacks Eckhaus took, according to PFF. Left guard Johnny Lester, who was dinged for four pressures, logged a pass-blocking grade of just 6.5. Tripp’s grade was 8.5. Right guard AJ Vaipulu finished at 19.4, while right tackle Christian Hilborn (32.1) and center Brock Dieu (48.4) were a little better.

WSU’s problems up front may have been augmented by Washington, which has the type of size and speed to win individual matchups. The Huskies did so for much of the game. But these issues are not entirely new for the Cougs, who had permitted 22 total QB pressures before the Apple Cup: seven against Idaho, four against San Diego State and 11 against North Texas.

But in those three games, WSU’s starting quarterback was third-year sophomore Jaxon Potter, whose lack of mobility is likely his biggest weakness. His failure to read coverages downfield, which led to three interceptions against UNT, ended up costing him the starting job. One day later, Rogers decided to elevate Eckhaus into that role.

At least theoretically, WSU figures to have an easier time this weekend against Colorado State, which dropped a home game to UTSA last time out. The Cougs may not have to scheme Eckhaus away from pressure and roll him out. But on Saturday, after Eckhaus showed what he could do in those types of spots, maybe they will anyway.

“We’ll learn from it. He’ll learn from it,” Rogers said. “I know he was upset and banging himself. He was just upset overall. The whole team was. And it’s a good sign that we wanna be competitive. The response this morning was much better.”