The Cougars travelled to Corvallis to take on the Oregon State Beavers, which is the only team alongside WSU in the Pac-12. The Beavers had a disastrous season coming into the game with multiple firings coming to their coaching staff. 

The Cougars were favorites to win against the Beavers, with the only win in OSU’s season coming against FCS school Lafayette. The Beavers defense was enough to get the best of WSU, winning the first matchup of the season 10-7 between the two programs. 

Redshirt senior Zevi Eckhaus and the offense could not gain any ground through the air or the ground, with multiple three-and-outs in consecutive drives. In the first half, the Cougars offense seemed to have the upperhand, driving down field with a solid run game from Kirby Voorhees and Angel Johnson. The only problem for the Cougars was that Zevi Eckhaus could not throw the ball accurately more than ten yards down the field. Eckhaus has had a promising season using his running ability to combine with making impromptu plays that help the Cougars win. 

Unfortunately for the Cougars, Interim head coach Robb Akey for the Beavers had his defense ready for Eckhaus. The Beavers coming into the game had struggles all over their team, with their defensive line being their weaker units. With smart execution from their 4-2-5 scheme the Beavers shut down the Cougars everywhere on the edge, which meant Zevi could not use his running ability the way he wanted to.

The uncomfortability in the pocket and good pass rush led to Eckhaus throwing the ball away. Two of which were intercepted by junior safety Jaheim Patterson who had a career day. Patterson first intercepted Eckhaus in the first quarter after an attempted deep pass to freshman wide receiver Carter Pabst gave the Beavers the ball back. The second interception came in the second quarter when the Cougars were in the redzone, and Eckhaus felt pressure forcing him to throw it down the middle blindly where Patterson caught it in stride taking the return for 36 yards. Both interceptions prevented big plays that could have won the Cougars the game and in hindsight are missed opportunities. 

The Cougars defense held strong for most of the game, bending but not breaking multiple times in the first half but eventually giving the offense the ball back. The defense held star senior running back Anthony Hankerson to only 33 yards in the first half, forcing inexperienced sophomore quarterback Gabarri Johnson to throw the ball down the field. The Cougars secondary also played well, only giving up 60 passing yards on the day. Multiple sacks and tight coverage caused Johnson to panic and not move the ball well. 

The only score for the Beavers in the first half was a field goal by junior Caleb Ojeda after an unsportsmanlike penalty gave the Beavers the ball in the redzone. It was one of two unsportsmanlike penalties from the Cougars, which ended up being a chippy game with lots of trash-talk. Senior defensive lineman Soni Finau was the first Cougar to get the penalty, setting the Beavers up for their field goal that ended up being the determining points in the game. 

The offense, now down by three, had urgency getting to the end of the first half. Eckhaus and sophomore running back Kirby Voorhees combined for 35 rushing yards and, after some penalty help from the Beavers, got their only score of the game, taking a four point lead late in the first half. Voorhees punched a three yard score at the goal line after Eckhaus used his legs to break off a 20 yard scramble getting Voorhees an easy opportunity to score.

The issues really showed in the second half for the offense, not able to get the ball down the field at all. This eventually led to the defense breaking as well, with Hankerson breaking out with 101 rushing yards in the second half. 

The WSU offense had five straight three-and-outs from the beginning of the second quarter getting to the end of the game. They had fewer first downs than three-and-outs in the second half, only mustering four in the half and two turnovers on downs to lose the game. The Cougars went away from running the ball and that ended up being their downfall. Eckhaus had multiple drives stall early due to inaccurate throws to wide receivers that were open. 

Because of the offensive struggles, the Beavers offense was able to change up their schemes on the other side. Johnson was taken out of the game with two minutes left in the third quarter due to his struggles. Junior quarterback Maalik Murphy came into the game where all he had to do was hand off the football to Hankerson. Hankerson’s burst of speed and strength was too much on one drive for the Cougars, where he broke off a large run of 37 yards into the goal line of the Cougars, where Hankerson scored the game winning one yard touchdown for the Beavers. 

The Cougars offense had multiple opportunities to either tie or take the lead in the final minutes, but turnover on downs and an uncharacteristic missed field goal from redshirt freshman kicker Jack Stevens sealed the fate for the Cougars, having them lose by three to conference rival Oregon State Beavers. 

The Cougars will take the bye week to bounce back from this loss, and secure a bowl game with three games ahead of them. If WSU can get two wins out of those three they punch their ticket to go bowling. 

The Cougars next game is back home in Pullman at 7 p.m against Louisiana Tech. Looking further down the line, the Pac-12 Championship game will be on Nov. 29 at 3:30 against the Beavers.