The Washington State Cougars went head-to-head with 14th-rated Utah at Martin Stadium on Thursday night time. Ultimately they fell small 21-17.
It was Thursday Evening Lights in Pullman as the Washington State Cougars hosted #14 Utah. The Cougs hung tricky with a superior workforce but lost 21-17.
WSU experienced a lot of options to pull off an upset. Mistakes and penalties cost them in the finish. Below are our 5 takeaways.
Ward up
Looking at the stat sheet, Cougars’ quarterback Cameron Ward had a fantastic sport. He was an successful 27 of 31 for 222 yards and a touchdown. That Includes 12 straight completions to begin the sport.
He continues to spread the ball about properly. This week 9 different receivers caught passes. Supporters are still left to ponder what could have been if Renard Bell were being nutritious.
Ward down
The Washington Condition Cougars sign caller has to do a better occupation of keeping on to the ball. For the second game in a row, Ward coughed up the pigskin two times.
Contrary to last 7 days, the opponent recovered one of the unfastened balls. Granted, it was on a fourth down when Van Fillinger strip-sacked Ward.
Utah got the ball on their individual 44-lawn line. That participate in was element of an regrettable sequence of activities (we will go into later) that led to a Utes landing.
Superior and Bad at Martin Stadium
The Washington State Cougars devoted at Martin Stadium had been superb and a credit score to college spirit. There just weren’t ample of them. Only 21,179 attended the game, the least expensive turnout of the year.
People today had a good deal of excuses it was a weeknight, it was chilly in Pullman on Thursday, and so on. The bottom line is that WSU is in a precarious placement as school soccer re-aligns.
This game was an chance in opposition to a ranked opponent, in primetime, on national television for Cougs enthusiasts to demonstrate they belong with the huge boys. Sad to say, there have been also several empty seats.
Grounded
When yet again, the Washington Condition Cougars’ functioning activity unsuccessful them. Two months in the past, they managed a scant 23 yards on 20 carries.
It did not get considerably greater this week. Jaylen Jenkins had 4 carries for 7 yards and was mainly absent all through the video game.
Against Utah, WSU picked up 42 dashing yards on 19 attempts. Performances like that will not get it done in the Pac-12.
An Regrettable Sequence of Situations
In the 2nd quarter, with the game tied 7-7, Ward related on a 20-lawn pass play to broad-open De’Zhaun Stribling on Utah’s 13-garden-line for a first down deep in Utes’ territory.
What enthusiasts did not see till the replay was that Stribling stepped out of bounds on his route and was an ineligible receiver. Rather of 1st down at the 13, It was 2nd-and-10 from the 33. That psychological oversight started out an avalanche.
3 plays later arrived Ward’s fumble. And it went downhill from there.
Washington State’s defense admirably stepped up, forcing Utah into a three-and-out. They punted, the ball strike returner Robert Ferrel‘s leg, and the Utes recovered on Wazzu’s 25-yard line.
Utah took 2:20 off the final 2:45 of the 2nd quarter to punch it in and take a 14-7 direct.
On that drive, Washington State stopped Utah on 3rd down-and-2 from the 3 yard line. Cougs’ defensive end Brennan Jackson broke as a result of the line nearly untouched, nailing functioning back Jaylon Glover for a two-garden decline and forcing Utah to endeavor a discipline intention.
Not so rapid. The refs referred to as concentrating on on Jackson. It was a soccer enjoy, but by the letter of the rule, this contact was proper.
Not only did Utah get a new set of downs and rating a touchdown two performs later, but Jackson was also ejected for the remainder of the video game.
Next week, the Washington State Cougars glimpse to snap their a few-video game shedding streak at Stanford.
