Takeaways From WSU Football's Win over U of I

WSU pulled out a 13-10 win over the University of Idaho last night. The game never felt comfortable for WSU but WSU did what needed to be done to start the season 1-0 and avoid an embarrassing loss to an FCS school to start the season. There were a lot of different takeaways from the battle of the palouse, we will talk about some of them here. 


Quarterback  

Perhaps the most surprising thing from game number one was the fact that Jaxon Potter got the start at quarterback for WSU. Zevi Eckhaus was believed by many to be the frontrunner heading into the season, so there was some surprise when Jaxon Potter ran out to take the first offensive snap of the season for WSU. 


Potter had a rough first two drives of the game but seemed to settle into the game after that. Potter ended the game completing 23/30 passes for 208 yards and one touchdown. Most importantly Potter had zero turnovers which is something that defensive minded head coach Jimmy Rogers will really appreciate.  


Potter wasn't the only quarterback to see the field in this one. Late in the third quarter Julian Dugger was put into the game for two drives. Dugger ended with a statline of -14 rushing yards and went 0/1 on throws. Dugger did almost have a third down run for a touchdown but he was tripped up before that could happen. 

Pass/Throw 

In WSUs first game without the air raid in decades the pass/run split was 32 passes and 22 runs. That breaks out to 60% throw and 40% run, I would have been surprised if you gave me this number before the game, but considering how the run game looked this is not as surprising. 


WSU rushed for a total of just 3 yards and it looked like the offensive line struggled to move the University of Idaho D-line all game. The run felt too predictable at times and this is an area that I am sure OC Danny Freund will be very focused on heading into a battle with SDSU next week. I am really hoping to see more from running back Angel Johnson next week who was very quiet against U of I. 


Defense 

The defense was the star of the show last night. Holding U of I to 10 points while being on the field the majority of the game and working with short fields. The defense rallied to the ball well all night long and the tackling looked better than it did last year. U of I rushed the ball 45 (!) times but wasn't really able to break off a big run, they averaged 4.2 yards per carry. The defense held the University of Idaho to just 1.7 yards per passing attempt. 

The one thing I would like to see the defense improve on next week is getting SDSU into more 3rd and long situations. This would allow the Cougs to really get in there and rush the QB and get off the field more quickly. WSU finished this game with no sacks. 


Special Teams 

The special teams were a mixed bag. Kicker Jack Stevens nailed both of his field goals and his extra point, kicking in the game winning field goal with just 3 seconds left. WSU averaged 36.3 yards per punt over its 6 punts and just one of those was downed inside the 20 yard line. Punting will definitely need to be an area of focus heading into next week. 


Punt returns were also an area of improvement. On the first punt, WSU called for a fair catch at the 7 yard line and then on the next punt called for a fair catch at the 3 yard line. Just two mistakes you can't make against better teams. Luckily there were no fumbles or turnovers on punt returns so that is a positive takeaway. 


Conclusion 

I would rather the team learn and watch film this week being 1-0 than 0-1. We have seen plenty of WSU teams start the season off with bad performances against FCS schools and even lose to FCS teams and still have good seasons. I think that this team still has the opportunity to make a bowl game and have a good season but we're going to need to see some improvements starting next week against SDSU.


Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 31, 2025 at 7:32 PM

    Angel Johnson had more carries than any other Coug back with 10 for negative 4 yards. He also fumbled deep in WSU territory, leading to an Idaho field goal in the 4th quarter. I'm not sure what you mean by "see more of him," but personally, I was not impressed. I'd like to see Leo Pulalasi get a chance to carry the ball. It feels like Rogers chose his own guys, ignoring Cougar veterans who've put in their time here and ended up watching the game from the bench. Kirby Vorhees looked better, but he didn't really do much at all until the last drive of the game.

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