PULLMAN — A sea of phone flashlights illuminated the face of Jaxon Potter, who floated from teammate to teammate in the Washington State huddle, preparing to take the field for the fourth quarter. He wore a wide grin as he talked to tackle Ashton Tripp, a pep in his step as he jogged closer to the sideline to throw a few warmup passes.
With their phones out, the Cougar fans who had stuck around for the final frame of their team’s homecoming game against San Diego State serenaded players with a rendition of “Sweet Caroline,” ringing the lyrics around the lower bowl of Gesa Field.
Good times never seemed so good. So good! So good!
In WSU’s 36-13 win over SDSU, Potter made sure of that by turning in his best game in his second career start, tossing a trio of touchdowns to lead the Cougars to a 2-0 start to the season. A week after looking sluggish in a close win, WSU earned this victory by roaring to life on offense, scoring 29 unanswered points in a far more cushiony triumph.
At the heart of the effort was Potter, who completed 28 of 42 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns, including two to tight end Trey Leckner and one to veteran receiver Leon Neal Jr. for his first career score. Seven days after producing just three yards, the Cougs’ rushing offense also responded to the tune of 139 yards on 36 carries, including 67 from Kirby Vorhees, 30 from Leo Pulalasi and six from quarterback Julian Dugger, who came off the bench for his first career touchdown in the fourth frame.
WSU’s offense was hardly perfect in this game — the unit opened with back-to-back three-and-outs, then followed with two more in the second half, and that doesn’t even mention the group’s eight penalties for 55 yards — but it was a much more inspired performance than a one-touchdown showing last week against FCS Idaho. Senior wideout Josh Meredith set a career-high with eight catches, fellow receiver Tony Freeman followed with six and perhaps most importantly, the Cougs’ offensive line looked sharp in both run and pass blocking.
That was noticeable on several occasions: In the third quarter, when Potter had time to laser an 18-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Neal. In the second, when Potter had space to find Leckner in the back of the end zone, good for a 19-7 lead. That came moments after WSU defensive end Isaac Terrell surged into the end zone and sacked SDSU QB Jayden Denegal for a safety, the program’s first in four years.
With those final two plays, the Cougs secured nine points in less than a minute, using a lightning-quick flourish to head into halftime with a 19-7 lead. With two field goals on the night from kicker Jack Stevens, who has opened his WSU career by making all four of his field goal attempts, the hosts had all the scoring they needed.
For that, the Cougars can also credit their defense, which held SDSU to just a 2-for-13 effort on third downs and 1-for-4 on fourth downs. The Cougs also tallied three sacks: One from Terrell, one shared by Terrell and fellow defensive end Buddha Peleti and one from defensive tackle Max Baloun, who capped his group’s sterling outing with a takedown late in the fourth quarter.
On the night, WSU’s defense forced SDSU’s offense into four three-and-outs, which came all in a row in the first and second quarters. On defense, the Cougars registered seven tackles for loss, including two from Terrell and one apiece from Baloun, defensive tackle Michael Hughes and linebacker Jack Ellison.
The Cougs’ two-game homestand to open the season is now over. WSU’s next game is a road date with North Texas, coached by Eric Morris, who worked as the Cougars’ offensive coordinator three years ago. He has the Mean Green off to a 2-0 start to the season, including an overtime win over Western Michigan on Saturday.