3 things Owen Eshelman showed Washington State in his first career start

Nobody - coach, player or fan - likes it when his or her football team sits with a 1-6 record and is going nowhere fast.

The Washington State Cougars are in that position following their 48-30 loss at Oregon State University on Saturday in Corvallis, Oregon.

One consensus good thing did come to the surface for WSU during that game in the debut performance of redshirt freshman Owen Eshelman, who accounted for 425 yards of total offense, leading the team to a season-best in points.

His 136 rushing yards are the second-most in a single game in school history behind John Mateer’s 197 yards against Texas Tech in the 2024 season opener.

“We had a much better rhythm (on offense),” first-year WSU coach Kirby Moore said. “I thought there were some tempo elements to the offense, and we’ve got to keep building on that.”

Looking back at some of the WSU game highlights, here are three positives to take away from Eshelman’s play:

1. Eshelman's convincing ball fakes keep defenders guessing

This one stood out throughout the game. It was difficult to see who had the football on some of Eshelman’s run-pass option (RPO) reads - whether it was handing the football off to any of the Cougars’ three running backs or keeping it himself.

And it showed up early and often.

WSU’s series at the end of the first quarter was a display of those fakes as he started to either pull it and run, or roll out for easy intermediate completions.

On second and 4 from the Cougars’ 31, Eshelman feigned a handoff to Maxwell Woods and looked to scramble to his right. As a defensive back waited in the flat, the Oklahoma product used a slight pump-fake with the ball to freeze the defender, which gave him a split second more time to keep an open crease for a 7-yard gain.

On the next play, Eshelman sold the handoff fake and rolled out to his right to find an easy 14-yard completion with tight end Jack Pedersen.

And, of course, the best one of all came on a fake handoff with 90 seconds remaining that froze the defense. He ran untouched up the right seam for a 20-yard touchdown - WSU’s final score of the game.

2. He shows both velocity and touch as a passer

Given what coaches were saying during the week, Eshelman’s passing accuracy Saturday was hit-or-miss. He admitted afterward that there was an adjustment period to the pace of game action - something he hadn’t seen in nearly two years.

But when Eshelman wanted to push the ball downfield, he did it on a string.

And when it was time to take pace off - or when it required touch on long passes - Eshelman showed he could do that as well.

In the first half, Eshelman’s first real downfield completion was to Branden Ganashamoorthy in the middle of the zone for a 24-yard completion.

On the play, Eshelman took two steps forward in the pocket and let it rip with velocity. It was a little behind the receiver, but it was enough to get it on target for the first down.

And on fourth and 1 from the WSU 47, Eshelman rolled out to his right, saw Ganashamoorthy back near the middle of the field and threw a touch pass against his body for a 13-yard connection.

On the first play after the two-minute warning, Eshelman saw Ganashamoorthy shake loose down the left seam. The quarterback put enough air on his pass that when it came down, it almost dropped nose-down in the receiver’s hands for a 40-yard touchdown - the first passing score of his college career.

3. His awareness helps him escape pressure

This might be his most impressive trait, in all honesty.

On a play from midfield late in the third quarter, two Oregon State defensive linemen won their one-on-one pass-rushing matchups and came in from converging directions.

Up came a spying linebacker toward Eshelman to add another layer of pressure.

But Eshelman never lost sight of what was going on - and who was coming at him. He darted forward and cut outside the linebacker on a scramble and sprinted up the right seam for a 23-yard gain.

Early in the fourth quarter, on third and 10 from the Cougars’ 25, linebacker Aiden Sullivan came around on a stunt and had a clean lane to sack the quarterback. 

Eshelman immediately spotted him five yards away, tucked it and ducked inside enough to break Sullivan’s arm tackle. He took off in open space, cutting over to the right sideline for a 40-yard gain - his longest run of the afternoon.