5 Takeaways from Washington State Cougars 21-17 loss to Utah
The Washington State Cougars went head-to-head with 14th-ranked Utah at Martin Stadium on Thursday night. Ultimately they fell short 21-17.
It was Thursday Night Lights in Pullman as the Washington State Cougars hosted #14 Utah. The Cougs hung tough with a good team but lost 21-17.
WSU had plenty of opportunities to pull off an upset. Mistakes and penalties cost them in the end. Here are our five takeaways.
Ward up
Looking at the stat sheet, Cougars’ quarterback Cameron Ward had a good game. He was an efficient 27 of 31 for 222 yards and a touchdown. That Includes 12 straight completions to start the game.
He continues to spread the ball around effectively. This week 9 different receivers caught passes. Fans are left to wonder what could have been if Renard Bell were healthy.
Ward down
The Washington State Cougars signal caller has to do a better job of holding on to the ball. For the second game in a row, Ward coughed up the pigskin twice.
Unlike last week, the opponent recovered one of the loose balls. Granted, it was on a fourth down when Van Fillinger strip-sacked Ward.
Utah got the ball on their own 44-yard line. That play was part of an unfortunate series of events (we will go into later) that led to a Utes touchdown.
Good and Bad at Martin Stadium
The Washington State Cougars faithful at Martin Stadium were fantastic and a credit to school spirit. There just weren’t enough of them. Only 21,179 attended the game, the lowest turnout of the year.
People had plenty of excuses; it was a weeknight, it was cold in Pullman on Thursday, etc. The bottom line is that WSU is in a precarious position as college football re-aligns.
This game was an opportunity against a ranked opponent, in primetime, on national television for Cougs fans to show they belong with the big boys. Unfortunately, there were too many empty seats.
Grounded
Once again, the Washington State Cougars’ running game failed them. Two weeks ago, they managed a scant 23 yards on 20 carries.
It didn’t get much better this week. Jaylen Jenkins had 4 carries for 7 yards and was mostly absent during the game.
Against Utah, WSU picked up 42 rushing yards on 19 attempts. Performances like that won’t get it done in the Pac-12.
An Unfortunate Series of Events
In the second quarter, with the game tied 7-7, Ward connected on a 20-yard pass play to wide-open De’Zhaun Stribling on Utah’s 13-yard-line for a first down deep in Utes’ territory.
What fans didn’t see until the replay was that Stribling stepped out of bounds on his route and was an ineligible receiver. Instead of 1st down at the 13, It was 2nd-and-10 from the 33. That mental mistake started an avalanche.
Three plays later came 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 hit 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 second quarter to punch it in and take a 14-7 lead.
On that drive, Washington State stopped Utah on 3rd down-and-2 from the 3 yard line. Cougs’ defensive end Brennan Jackson broke through the line almost untouched, nailing running back Jaylon Glover for a two-yard loss and forcing Utah to attempt a field goal.
Not so fast. The refs called targeting on Jackson. It was a football play, but by the letter of the rule, this call was correct.
Not only did Utah get a new set of downs and score a touchdown two plays later, but Jackson was also ejected for the remainder of the game.
Next week, the Washington State Cougars look to snap their three-game losing streak at Stanford.