For those who don’t want to read all of this, here’s the “too long didn’t read” recap: WSU’s offense spends the game sputtering, failing to get any sort of run game going, and the defense bails them out repeatedly with fast, sound tackling. But with the game tied late 10-10, the Cougar offense finally did just enough to get in field goal range for a game winner to escape 13-10.
The Cougars’ lone touchdown drive in the second quarter was the only drive WSU looked truly successful in. Their first of two field goals came after the defense forced a fumble inside the Idaho 20. Outside of that, it was a whole lot of three-and-outs and forcing your defense right back out on the field. The dam nearly broke when Idaho had all the momentum and a chance to take the lead with the ball inside the WSU five. The defense played hero to keep Idaho from taking the lead, a theme all throughout this one.
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Idaho began the game with the ball, just to delay the quarterback speculation a little longer, but punted after going nine plays and only 28 yards.
After months of speculation, it was #5 Jaxon Potter who trotted out on the field to lead the Cougar offense. His first two drives started in the shadow of the Cougar Football Complex, at the WSU 10 and 3 yard lines. On both drives, WSU looked lost. Missed blocking assignments led to open gaps for Idaho’s defense to shoot right through, holding WSU to just eight rushing yards on their first five attempts. On the other side of the ball, WSU’s defense was tasked with limiting Idaho’s offense that began with tremendous field position. A partially blocked punt set Idaho up at the WSU 38 for the Vandals’ second drive of the game. The Vandals couldn’t recover from a 2nd down holding penalty, having to punt. Their third drive looked promising, starting at the 50, with the first two plays going for 19 yards to the WSU 31. Idaho would only go four yards further and settle for a 44-yard field goal attempt that was pushed wide left.
As the game rolled into the second quarter, WSU’s defense would be rewarded for their heroic efforts thanks to Potter’s arm. Potter worked some wizardry, completing four straight passes to put WSU in Idaho territory for the first time. Faced with a 4th and 3 at the Idaho six-yard line, Jimmy Rogers left the offense on the field. Potter rolled out to the left on a bootleg and hit Meredith near the front pylon for WSU’s first touchdown of the year.
On Idaho’s second play on the following drive, quarterback Joshua Wood found open room to scramble, but while trying to fight off a pair of Cougar defenders, big Malaki Ta’Ase punched the ball out and right into the arms of linebacker Raam Stevenson for a WSU takeaway.
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Potter nearly had the chance to turn that into at least a big gain when Meredith slipped uncovered into the open, but Potter sailed it just too high for an incompletion. Two plays later, on 4th down, Rogers kept the offense out on the field looking to be going for a 4th and 8 from the Idaho 43, but Potter backed up and punted the ball himself, which pinned an unsuspecting Idaho defense back at their own three-yard line.
Idaho slowly grinded their way downfield, fighting off a late hit by their own quarterback, Wood, to eat up nearly all of the second half clock. Inside of WSU territory, Idaho nearly found their first explosive play with a 36-yard pass to Michael Graves. After making a leaping catch and surviving a hit, Graves put the ball on the turf, and Tucker Large came out of the pile with the football for what seemed like WSU’s second takeaway of the game. Upon review, however, Graves never had possession of the ball, making it an incompletion and Idaho retaining possession. An incompletion on 2nd down and a run for a three-yard loss finally pushed Idaho’s offense off the field after over eight minutes of possession.
Potter’s chance to work his first one-minute drive started off with 10-yard, five-yard, and 15-yard completions. A 3rd down completion for nine yards was followed by a quick sneak by Potter on fourth down to keep the drive alive. Two plays later, Potter threw a completion to Jeremiah Noga, wrestling it away from Jhamell Blenman. Upon another replay review, Potter was ruled to be across the line of scrimmage, resulting in an illegal forward pass. The penalty came with a 10-second run-off, which took the game to halftime at 7-0 WSU.
WSU’s offense ended the first half with 10 total rushing yards on nine rushing attempts. Halftime couldn’t even fix the running game, as Angel Johnson’s first carry couldn’t get around the edge, resulting in a six-yard loss and an eventual three and out. Idaho’s second offense looked much sharper, netting 18 yards on their first two plays. Idaho’s quarterback yet again stirred controversy after a play, stepping over Caleb Francl, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct. Now faced with 3rd and 24, Idaho settled with a draw play for 11 yards and punted it back to WSU.
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Yet again WSU lived in the shadow of the Cougar Football Complex, with a pair of false starts and another negative run play. On 2nd and 18 from their own two, the WSU run game finally broke through with a 12-yard rush by Kirby Vorhees to make 3rd down more manageable. Potter rolled that momentum into back-to-back first-down completions to Tony Freeman and Trey Leckner, but WSU could go no further than their own 38, punting it right back to Idaho.
WSU’s offense finally got their chance to put up some points after Matthew Durrance forced an Idaho fumble, setting the Cougs up at the Idaho 18. Looking to shake things up on offense, Julian Dugger trotted out in relief at quarterback. Dugger showcased his speed with three straight keepers, including one to the outside he nearly housed if he didn’t get tripped up. The Cougs would finally get points, though, kicking a 30-yarder to go up 10-0.
To begin the fourth quarter, Idaho converted a 4th and short to keep the drive alive. The Vandals slowly marched their way down the field, getting deep into WSU territory and eventually making their first trip to the redzone. Idaho punched in their first score of the game on a 3-yard draw to make it 10-7 with 7:25 to play.
A muff on the squib kick was only a sign of bad things to come for the Cougs. With Idaho’s fans roaring in the west endzone, WSU began their crucial drive with a snap over Dugger’s head that he was very fortunate to recover at WSU’s own two-yard line. A rush for no gain and an incompletion forced WSU to punt yet again.
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The gassed Cougar defense had been bailing out their pathetic offense all game and had to pull off one last miracle. Idaho’s quest to snap their 10-game losing streak began at the WSU 46. A four-yard rush and pass breakup by Tucker Large set up a pivotal 3rd and 6. As the Cougar fans rose to their feet to try and encourage one more stop. A beautifully designed stunt generated enough pressure to force Idaho’s screen pass just a bit too early, allowing the second line of defense to clean it up for a four-yard loss. Idaho elected to punt it away, pinning WSU’s offense back at their own seven-yard line.
Potter returned to the game in yet another massive drive for the flailing Cougar offense. Finally, they looked to have some life with a screen pass to Freeman for a first down and a run to make Idaho start using timeouts. But just as quickly as WSU had life, they had death. A big hit by Matyus McLain on Angel Johnson popped the ball clean out, and Donovan Parahm jumped right on it. The takeaway and opportunity the Vandals had been waiting 25 years for.
The Cougar defense stepped up yet again, perfectly covering Idaho’s 3rd and 4 bootleg to the left. Idaho opted not to go for the kill, kicking a 21-yard field goal to not only tie the game at 10, but force WSU’s offense to beat them.
Potter got things going with a short pass to Freeman, who did damage by making multiple Vandals miss for a quick 19-yard gain. He followed it up with a six-yard catch to push WSU near midfield. Vorhees took the torch from there, racking up four straight catches to put WSU just inside the Idaho 35. Leo Pulalalsi put WSU firmly in field goal range with a 14-yard reception to the Idaho 15. After a spike to stop the clock at eight seconds and a timeout to think it over, Rogers sent Jack Stevens out for a 32-yarder to get the win.
The offense looked atrocious, but the defense looks very good. Cougars will have a lot to fix offensively as they prepare to welcome in San Diego State next Saturday.
