After the Cougars were utterly humiliated by the University of North Texas last weekend, one thing is clear.

Zevi Eckhaus needs to be the Cougars’ starting quarterback going forward.

Eckhaus proved himself last year against Syracuse in the Holiday Bowl. The fact he was benched and demoted to third string, after choosing to come back and spend his senior year here, never made sense. Eckhaus stayed loyal when many others would not, and his reward was a spot on the bench.

On Saturday, however, Eckhaus proved he could lead the offense effectively. After failing to move the ball and turning it over five times with Jaxon Potter under center, the Cougars finally turned to the fifth-year senior in the second half. Eckhaus led the only drive that resulted in a touchdown and looked most confident of the Cougars’ three quarterbacks.

The team needs to start him going forward.

This is not about developing Potter for the future. Potter might be good someday, but there is no point of playing him when he’s clearly not the answer. WSU scored 13 points against Idaho at home and scored 10 against North Texas. That is simply unacceptable. If Washington comes to Pullman and blows out the Cougars, the season would effectively be ruined.

To avoid that possibility, Eckhaus needs to be given the reins. Eckhaus kept WSU in the game against a ranked team last December, and he can do it again. He keeps the offense rolling and makes WSU a respectable team.

Eckhaus also gives WSU the best chance to win four more games and reach another bowl game. WSU is probably not good enough to secure a spot in a major bowl game like they were in 2024, but they should certainly be able to make a smaller-scale bowl. They need to go 4-5 or better the rest of the way. Eckhaus can do that. Potter might not.

It should be Eckhaus moving forward. Jimmy Rogers, do the right thing.