Scouting Report: Aztecs face Washington State team struggling to run

Opening its season on Thursday night allowed San Diego State players and coaches the opportunity to spend Saturday watching college football games like the rest of us.

It was a particularly good chance for SDSU to get a glimpse of Washington State, the Aztecs’ opponent this week.

The Cougars opened the season Saturday night at home against Idaho, an FCS opponent located just eight miles from the Cougars’ campus in Pullman, Wash.

It was an instructive viewing experience, not only because Washington State was playing for the first time this season but because this is a vastly different team than when Washington State visited San Diego twice last year.

New Cougars coach Jimmy Rogers brought in 75 transfers, including 15 who followed him from South Dakota State. Only three starters return for Washington State, which needed a field goal in the final seconds to escape with a 13-10 win over Idaho.

Oddsmakers list the Aztecs as a 2½-point underdog in Saturday’s game, which kicks off at 7:15 p.m. and will air on The CW.

About the Cougars

Washington State won eight games last season, including a 29-26 comeback victory over SDSU at Snapdragon Stadium.

WSU returned to Snapdragon for the Holiday Bowl, where it lost 52-35 to Syracuse.

The Cougars’ second trip was a chaotic one.

Quarterback John Mateer entered the transfer portal three weeks before the bowl game and landed in Oklahoma. Nine days before the game, coach Jake Dickert left for Wake Forest. More than two dozen other Cougars players left as well.

A day after the Holiday Bowl, Wazzu introduced Rogers as the new head coach.

With the reformation of the Pac-12 a year away, Washington State plays one of the nation’s most unusual schedules.

The Cougars play teams from 10 different conferences, including Ole Miss from the SEC, Virginia from the ACC and in-state rival Washington from the Big Ten. SDSU is one of two current Mountain West opponents and future Pac-12 opponents, along with Colorado State. Oh, and the Cougars have a home-and-home with Pac-12 holdover Oregon State.

The offense

Washington State had four quarterbacks competing for the starting job in fall camp. Graduate Zevi Eckhaus was the most experienced and coming off a 363-yard, four-touchdown performance in the Holiday Bowl.

Rogers didn’t name his starting QB until moments before kickoff against Idaho, during the pregame show for the broadcast.

He went with redshirt sophomore Jaxon Potter, a 6-foot-5 redshirt sophomore from Huntington Beach who was 23-for-30 for 208 yards in his debut.

Rogers lamented a lack of communication and mishaps on the offensive line after a scoreless first quarter which failed even to produce a first down.

Washington State came out in the second quarter and looked like a different team. Potter was 6-for-6 for 75 yards on an 8-play drive that concluded with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Meredith. Then, more struggles.

Potter didn’t do much else until leading a drive in the final two minutes to set up redshirt freshman kicker Jack Stevens’ 32-yard, game-winning field goal.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Julian Dugger, a 6-3 dual-threat Pitt transfer, came in for a couple series, most notably when the Cougars recovered an Idaho fumble at the Vandals’ 18-yard line. WSU managed only a 30-yard field goal on the drive. Dugger was 0-for-1 passing with four carries for minus-14 yards before Potter returned.

And Eckhaus? He watched from the sideline, relegated to third-string QB.

Potter is listed as the starter on this week’s depth chart, with Dugger as the backup.

Meredith, a  Mater Dei Catholic High School grad, finished the Idaho game with two receptions for 31 yards. Wide receivers Tony Freeman (7 catches, 64 yards) and Jeremiah Noga (5 catches, 54 yards) and running back Kirby Vorhees (5 catches, 18 yards) were Potter’s top targets.

Vorhees (6 carries, 19 yards) and running back Angel Johnson (10 carries, 2 yards) led a dismal running game that netted only three yards on 22 carries.

The defense

Washington State’s defense allowed 221 yards of total offense against Idaho, with 188 yards coming on the ground.

The Cougars struggled to contain Idaho quarterback Joshua Wood, who rushed 12 times for 101 yards and was never sacked, and the Vandals’ option attack.

WSU survived by making two key fumble recoveries — in the first half by Raam Stevenson and in the second half by Kyle Peterson — that thwarted legitimate scoring drives.

The Cougars’ defense allowed a late Idaho drive that produced a field goal and a 10-10 tie. WSU then drove and produced a game-winning field goal drive in the waning seconds.

Graduate linebacker Caleb Francl led the Cougars with 11 tackles. Redshirt freshman linebacker Anthony Palano and senior safety Matthew Durrance added nine tackles apiece. Another player to watch is senior Colby Humphrey, a physical cornerback.

The defense includes SDSU transfer Darrion Dalton at defensive tackle. Defensive end Jack Janikowski played at Fallbrook High School.

Did you know?

This is SDSU’s second road trip to play Wazzu, but it’s the first visit to Martin Stadium. The teams played at Qwest Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks, in a 2007 game that Washington State won 45-17.