Oct. 20—PULLMAN — In the aftermath of quarterback Owen Eshelman's first start, an electric showing in his Washington State group's fourth straight loss over the weekend, the reactions came showering in like a tsunami.
He's actually airing it out!
He looks poised in the pocket!
Look how sharp the Cougs' offense looks!
Indeed, Eshelman guided WSU to 30 offensive points, the team's most all season. That wasn't enough to prevent the Cougs from falling short again, this time to the tune of a 48-30 final margin, but Eshelman looked accurate. He was willing to look for the deep ball. He executed a couple really well.
For the Cougars, that represented a firm step in the right direction, an indication that head coach Kirby Moore made the right call pivoting away from Caden Pinnick and swapping in Eshelman. Should coaches have made that move sooner in the season? Probably, and that conversation has been fleshed out in all kinds of ways.
"We're not looking in the rearview mirror," Moore said after Saturday's game on that topic. "We gotta keep building on where we're at right now."
What isn't as immediately obvious at first blush is how different the Cougs' passing attack was with Eshelman at the controls. He aired it out, sure, but how much of a change did that represent for WSU? How did his accuracy bolster the offense? And how did he navigate the pocket?
As Washington State prepares for its homecoming game, a home showdown with first-place Boise State this weekend, those questions are worth exploring. Do the Cougs have a shot at pulling the upset? They might be 12.5-point underdogs, but Eshelman and the life he brings to his offense could be reason to believe the answer might be yes.
1. Eshelman looked to push the ball downfield
Perhaps the most striking part of Eshelman's performance, the development that might have made you say "wow" right away, came in his readiness to stretch the field vertically. Pinnick wasn't just shaky at this in his six starts; he wasn't even willing to do it.
Think about this: In WSU's loss to Utah State earlier this month, Pinnick attempted only six passes 10 yards or further downfield, according to PFF. That included zero passes 20 yards or deeper. It was clear that he wasn't comfortable in the pocket. He didn't trust his eyes, didn't trust his arm.
Think about it this way: In the country, 61 QBs have dropped back at least 200 times. Among that group, Pinnick is the only one to attempt fewer than 20 passes of at least 20 yards downfield. His official numbers on those types of throws: 2-for-16 for 78 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
On Saturday, Eshelman tried 16 passes at least 10 yards downfield, connecting on six of them. That isn't a great completion rate — just 38% — but his willingness to try those opened up a lot for the Cougars' offense. On one play in the first half, Eshelman lofted one downfield for receiver Branden Ganashamoorthy, who hauled it in for a 40-yard touchdown pass.
"It was a great look," Eshelman said after the game about the touchdown pass. "Had a couple different options there, and he ended up popping and was really excited for him on that touchdown, and just the offense was clicking well."
Outside of Pinnick's one FBS touchdown toss, a 46-yard completion to Ganashamoorthy on which an Arizona defender fell down in coverage, that was the Cougars' longest passing scoring play all season. Eshelman showed great touch on that pass, as well as a layered 24-yard throw, also to Ganashamoorthy. It was obvious he felt confident letting throws like that fly.
On another play in Saturday's game, a first-and-10 near the redzone, Eshelman showed the same willingness. He dropped back and spotted an open receiver in Daniel Blood, so Eshelman reared back and put the same kind of nice touch on this pass, finding Blood for a 23-yard gain. Four plays later, QB Julian Dugger came in for a short touchdown plunge.
2. Eshelman's pocket presence stood out in a big way
One of the central problems facing Pinnick, especially in his last handful of starts, was his pocket presence. He often ran himself into sacks. He held onto the ball too long. He didn't throw it away when he had the opportunity, leading to even more sacks. Sometimes he was too indecisive to avoid a rusher headed right for him.
Even with one fewer game under his belt, Pinnick is still tied for the nationwide lead in QB-fault sacks with 11, according to PFF.
Contrast that with the one game of Eshelman, who took just one sack of that variety, according to PFF. He was sacked on two other occasions, which were the fault of the Cougars' offensive line, which played without injured left tackle Ashton Tripp.
In fact, some of Eshelman's best plays came on the ground, when he identified pressure and bailed at the right times. He recorded three rushes of 20-plus yards: a 22-yard scramble, a 41-yard burst and a 19-yard read option, which he took 20 yards into the end zone for his first career rushing touchdown at the college level.
"Obviously there's a lot of situational stuff with that, and knowing when it's OK to punt, knowing when you might need to take a shot," Eshelman said. "There were definitely some missed opportunities tonight, some times that I thought I did a good job, and we'll keep working on that and growing in it."
3. He didn't let a slow start bog him down
How many times did we see this kind of situation unfold with Pinnick at the controls? He'd slog through something of a slow start, which is normal for any quarterback, and that kind of uneven beginning would follow him around the rest of the game.
At least from an outsider's perspective, it seemed easy for Pinnick to let slow starts color the rest of his outing, never letting him find a rhythm later in the game.
Eshelman was hardly perfect in Saturday's game. He missed on each of his first three passes, costing his team early chances, which was one of the ways Oregon State mounted an early 17-0 lead. He targeted Ganashamoorthy on each of his first three throws, all of which sailed wide of the mark, including a third-down throw that led to a punt.
But Eshelman didn't let that throw him off for the rest of the game. He went on to complete 8 of his next 10 passes, including the aforementioned 24-yarder to Ganashamoorthy and a 14-yard toss to tight end Jack Pedersen.
Also in that stretch, he showed nice patience in the pocket, taking the shorter throws when they were there. That was another part of Eshleman's game that stood out, to which he even alluded after the game: He seemed to understand when it's OK to throw checkdowns and shorter passes.
That kept the Cougars' offense moving.