Washington State Cougars: 4 takeaways from 38-28 win over OSU
Saturday night, the Washington State Cougars beat Oregon State 38-28 in the 2020 season opener. These are our four biggest takeaways from the game.
The 2020 Washington State football season, as well as the Nick Rolovich era, got off to a fantastic start with a 38-28 win over Oregon State.
While many were expecting a repeat of last season’s 54-53 barn burner, this one was quite different. Each team punted on their first two possessions of the game. Wazzu got on the scoreboard first when true freshman quarterback Jayden de Laura found receiver Travell Harris down the left sideline for a 29-yard scoring strike with 3:50 left in the first quarter.
Both teams found the end zone in the second quarter as Washington State took a 14-7 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Cougs were red hot after the break. They scored on their first three possessions and four of five in the half to seal the victory.
Here are our four biggest takeaways from Washington State’s first win of the season.
Run and Shoot vs Air Raid
Even though it’s a relatively small sample size, Cougars fans had to like what they saw from Rolovich’s run and shoot offense. There were things Wazzu hadn’t done offensively in years.
It was shocking to see a Washington State running back gain 147 rushing yards let alone stay in to block on a pass play. That’s exactly what senior Deon McIntosh did. As a consequence de Laura didn’t take the number of hits Wazzu quarterbacks have over the last several years.
All kidding aside, the Cougars moved the football. It doesn’t matter if their yards came via the rush or pass. They moved the ball and more importantly punched it into the end zone.
Defense for 60
While some things remained the same (456 yards of offense), some things remained the same (451 yards allowed). Saturday night, the Cougars defense had their moments, but their overall performance was lacking. Oregon State running back Jermar Jefferson is destined to play on Sundays next year. He’ll get his yards.
Quarterback Tristan Gebbia, on the other hand, looked like a serviceable passer against Wazzu’s defense. In the Cougs remaining six games, almost every QB they play will be head and shoulders better than Gebbia was on Saturday.
The Wonder Kid
The biggest question entering the night was how would Washington State’s quarterback Jayden de Laura perform in his NCAA debut. The true freshman from St. Louis High School in Honolulu looked every bit the part of a major college quarterback.
Of course, de Laura had some struggles. Due to his inexperience and lack of practice time with his teammates, that was to be expected. For the game, de Laura completed 18-of-33 passes for 227 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. His feet weren’t bad either. The frosh ran eight times for 43 yards and another TD. As of now, it looks like the Washington State offense is in good hands.
Weapon X
Over his first two seasons in Pullman, Travell Harris proved himself as a dangerous kickoff and punt returner. In 2019, he was a larger part of the offense than he was as a freshman, catching 47 passes for 536 yards and five touchdowns. If his first game of 2020 is any indication, Harris has worked his way up to triple threat.
Saturday night he had 139 total yards and three touchdowns, two receiving and one rushing. Further, he looked explosive at times running downfield and breaking tackles. Getting the ball into Harris’ hands as much as possible should be a big Washington State goal going forward.
Harris may be listed as the H-receiver on the depth chart, however, he may be the team’s biggest X-factor.
A win is a win. At times the Cougars looked very good in their season opener. Even so, was Wazzu successful because they were good, or was it because Oregon State that bad? Hopefully, it’s the former and not the latter. Cougar fans will find out more next week when WSU faces 11th ranked Oregon