What the WSU Cougars learned from self-scouting during bye week

The WSU Cougars will return from their lone bye week of the season looking to stop a six-game skid when they host Colorado State in a Pac-12 matchup at 7:30 p.m. Saturday night.

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With no game last weekend, the Cougars were able to put in some time self-scouting their team. Head coach Kirby Moore shared what they learned on the latest edition of Cougs Weekly on Seattle Sports.

On the positive end is what redshirt freshman quarterback Owen Eshelman has done since taking over as the starter three games ago.

“From what Owen has done from a completion percentage standpoint, I think that’s one thing he’s done is be really efficient,” Moore said, “and making good decisions in some of the RPO (run-pass option) game and some of the quick game.”

Eshelman has completed 83 of 131 pass attempts for a rate of 63.4%. In addition to 779 passing yards in his three games as the starter, he has rushed for 203 yards and three touchdowns on 54 attempts, including 136 yards on 15 attempts in his first start on Oct. 17 at Oregon State.

When it comes to making an improvement on offense, Moore pointed at the team’s struggles when on third down with 3 yards or less to go and in field goal range.

“We can’t go backwards. That’s the thing these last couple of games – you get to the 20, you get to the 25, you’re right on the fringe, (and) the worst thing we can do is go backwards,” he said. “We can always stay there, attempt a field goal. We can’t take a sack, and so we gotta make sure we prevent the negative plays in that situation from an offensive standpoint.”

On defense, Moore is looking for the Cougs to get a better handle on opposing running backs.

“We’ve shown in spurts that we can stop the run, but we’ve got to really improve our tackling. You look at the last couple of games, we’ve played some good backs as well. Give Boise credit, give San Diego State credit. And these next couple of games, we’re gonna face some good players as well. So we’ve got to win our one-on-one matchups.”

Radio coverage of Saturday’s game between WSU and Colorado State will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Seattle Sports with the pregame show.

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