WSU rewind: After Cougars’ win over Colorado State, should the ball be in Zevi Eckhaus’ hands even more?

PULLMAN – To take down Colorado State on the road this weekend, Zevi Eckhaus made all manner of plays.

Washington State’s veteran quarterback got his team on the board with a 35-yard touchdown strike, placed perfectly into the chest of wide receiver Jeremiah Noga, who hauled it in the back of the end zone. Eckhaus also made good on a far easier touchdown pass, a wide-open throw to tight end Ademola Faleye, whose reception gave the Cougars the final 20-3 margin.

Those were crucial plays for WSU, which really needed this win to give itself an easier chance at earning bowl eligibility. The Cougs have two daunting tasks ahead: visiting No. 4 Ole Miss on Oct. 11 and No. 24 Virginia the weekend after. Now they only need to win three of their next seven games to earn another trip to a bowl.

As impressive as many of the throws that Eckhaus made in this win were, we already knew he could make those. In two starts, he has wielded a sharp deep ball. With wide receiver Devin Ellison back in the fold, Eckhaus has looked comfortable airing it out, and he’s always been an accurate thrower.

What he might not be getting enough credit for: his running ability. He totaled 30 rushing yards on eight carries in Saturday’s game. He rushed one time for 15 yards, once for 8 and another for 9. He’s hardly a blisteringly fast runner, but he always seems to be fast enough, which has unlocked another gear in WSU’s offense.

All told, WSU (3-2) totaled 158 rushing yards in this win, the group’s most all season. It was likely a sigh of relief for the Cougs, who ranked among the nation’s worst rushing offenses. They needed to show some life on the ground, and they did that in Fort Collins, where they broke one rush for 45 yards and one for 18.

“It just really takes the life out of a defense,” said Eckhaus, whose offense operated a drive of more than seven minutes to wind out the clock in Saturday’s fourth quarter, running only one pass on an 11-play series.

But take out that 45-yarder from running back Leo Pulalasi, for example, and WSU’s rushing totals become a little more pedestrian: 113 yards on 32 carries, an average of 3.5 yards per rush. That’s a little closer to the Cougs’ season average, which is 2.6 yards per rush, only three spots up from worst nationwide. This much is clear from Saturday’s game: While WSU may have taken a meaningful step forward in the rushing department, that unit still has a ways to go.

Which brings us back to the main point: Eckhaus might need more touches, especially on the ground. His 15-yarder came on his team’s second snap on offense. He made the right read on an RPO and pulled the ball, zooming upfield for a first down. He showed the same burst on his other rushes, evading tacklers.

Plus, it wasn’t like Eckhaus piled up the rushing yards on scramble plays, when he couldn’t find anyone open downfield or he faced pressure in the pocket. He earned his runs on designed QB keepers, and for the most part, he looked sharp in those spots.

That opens up this question: Should Eckhaus have the ball in his hands even more than he already does? He’s far from the Cougars’ best runner, but he has shown more consistency than some of their running backs. After Saturday’s game, Eckhaus shouted out running back Angel Johnson, who Eckhaus said on one play “he would have been gone for maybe 70 yards” with one more slipped tackle.

But the truth is that even though he churned out several nice chunks against Colorado State, Johnson posted only eight carries for 32 yards, his season best. That brings his totals this fall to 73 yards on 40 attempts, an average rush of 1.8 yards. He has yet to get going the way coaches are hoping he will, and while WSU’s offense has a hand in making that happen, Johnson has been more than doubled up by fellow running back Kirby Vorhees: He has 156 yards on 38 carries, two fewer than Johnson.

Can the Cougs turn things around on the ground? It’s possible, and their offense would be far better off, better than just 35 rushing yards and zero points in Saturday’s second half. But either way, it’s also possible WSU could help itself out by keeping the ball in the hands of Eckhaus, who avoided turning it over at a key juncture in his team’s season.

“That’s going to win football games down the stretch,” Eckhaus said of an effective running game. “So just the more that we can run the ball, the more that we’re gonna win the game. The more we can run the ball, the more we can pass the ball, and that’s going to set up us winning games.”