After nearly a month on the road and a string of tough ranked matchups, the Cougs returned home to Martin Stadium and took care of business, earning a 28–7 win over the Toledo Rockets.
Here are the biggest takeaways from an excellent game.
Clutch Defense Rules the Day
If you just showed me the box score without the final score, I’d think this game was a toss-up. Total yards: 321 to 299. Two turnovers for us compared to one for them. Six punts for them compared to four for us. On paper, it looks like a pretty even game.
The difference? Toledo had the ball in our territory seven times and scored just once. The Rockets went for it on fourth down four times—and three times, our defense stopped them. Every time Toledo crossed midfield, our defense seemed to have the answer.
Led by Tucker Large (team-high 13 tackles with zero missed tackles) and Parker McKenna (10 tackles and an interception), the Cougar defense has really found its footing since the bye week, turning in four straight impressive performances.
Zevi the Dual Threat!
We’ve known since the first time Zevi stepped on the field that he’s a dual-threat quarterback, but this game might be the clearest reminder yet. On a day when he only completed 10 passes, Zevi still accounted for 233 yards of offense.
Toledo insisted on leaving the middle of the field wide open, and the Cougs countered with quick QB draws. They pressed at the line of scrimmage, and Zevi burned them deep. Two second-half interceptions made the stat line look more erratic than it felt.
Since taking over full time this season, Zevi reminds me a lot of Gardner Minshew in Pullman—not in counting stats (this offense is vastly different from the Mike Leach Air Raid), but in his ability to do whatever the team needs on any given day to win. He’s tough as nails, throws a great ball, and competes every snap. As the season goes on, it’s becoming more and more confounding that he wasn’t the starter from day one.
Carter Pabst: The Next Great WSU Receiver?
A true freshman out of Eisenhower High School in Kansas, Carter Pabst got his first of what I believe could be many touchdowns in the Palouse. At 6’1” and 194 pounds, Pabst is already earning rave reviews from the coaching staff as the best blocking receiver on the team.
To make it even more impressive, his 35-yard touchdown grab came against Toledo’s best cover corner, Andre Fuller, who had allowed just one touchdown in the past three years combined.
Vegas Needs to Reassess the Cougs
I said it in the preview—WSU being home-field underdogs against a MAC team that was winless on the road was absolutely ludicrous.
As the box score showed, this Toledo team may be similar in talent to our Cougs, but this was a matchup between one program whose arrow is pointing up and another whose arrow is pointing down. Four straight weeks of being more than two touchdowns off on the spread—three of those by over 22 points—should make gamblers and viewers alike take notice.
This gritty Cougs team is here to stay for the rest of the season.
Final Thoughts
I feel a bit like a broken record the last couple of weeks, but we shouldn’t become numb to the job Jimmy Rodgers and OC Danny Freund are doing. I had zero expectations coming into this season, and I’ve been blown away by the transformation this team has undergone since the bye week.
It’s no longer, “that was a fluke” or “the opponent was looking past them.” No—this is just a good football team that is very well-coached.
Zevi Eckhaus deserves a ton of credit for leading a much-improved offense since taking over the starting job. Tucker Large has been fantastic all season on defense, with other standouts emerging every week.
Great job, Jimmy Rodgers. For the first time in a couple of years, the future feels bright in Pullman—and oh man, does that feel good.