Good afternoon, Cougar football fans.
It’s Homecoming weekend on the Palouse, and the Washington State Cougars face off with the No. 21 Boise State Broncos.
WSU (1-6, 0-3 in Pac-12) began the second half of the 2026 season down in Corvallis, Oregon against the Oregon State Beavers last week and lost their fourth straight game, 48-30. In that game, WSU started a different quarterback, redshirt freshman Owen Eschelman. In his collegiate debut, Eschelman provided the Cougar offense a jolt that they desperately needed. In the last three prior games, WSU had scored just three offensive touchdowns. Against OSU, Eschelman had three himself. Two through the air and one rushing. He finished the game 32 for 49 in pass attempts for 289 passing yards and one interception that came very late in the game. He also had 15 total rushing attempts for another 136 yards. He will again get the start today.
BSU (5-1, 2-0) is riding high off five straight wins and is off a bye week. In their last game two weeks ago, the Broncos defeated the Fresno State Bulldogs 38-31 in Fresno, California, to bring the Milk Can back to Boise for the first time since 2022.
If WSU is going to pull off the upset, they will need Eschelman to continue to elevate the offense like he did last week. They will also need to find a way to efficiently run the football. Last week, Cougar running backs had 13 rushing attempts for 26 yards. That’s not going to cut it. Boise State’s run defense is vulnerable, though. The Broncos are giving up five yards per rush attempt on the season. What isn’t very vulnerable for the blue and orange has been their incredibly efficient offense. The Bronco offense won’t beat you over the top with many explosive plays, but they will grind their way down the field. They rank in the top 30 in success rate, power success, and stuff rate. The most telling stat for this Bronco offense is their time of possession. The Broncos lead FBS in time of possession percentage at 60.23%. WSU’s defense is going to have to find their way off the field early in Bronco possession, not just to prevent them from scoring, but to make sure they are too fatigued late in the game.
Kickoff is at 3:00 p.m. and it couldn’t be a more perfect day for Cougar football in Pullman. It should be about a crisp 54 degrees at kickoff with very few clouds in sight and some slight wind.
Go Cougs!