WSU football put on its pads for the first time this spring Tuesday at Martin Stadium.

On a partly cloudy day in Pullman, the coaches got a much better idea of how their team looked when the offense squared off against the defense in what seemed to be the best practice to date so far this spring.

“I thought the team looked good in pads,” Head Coach Mike Leach said. “Usually the execution is not as good as what we had today, so that is good.”

The team opened up practice with some head-to-head drills between offensive and defensive players. After that, the team moved to individual position drills before going to the team drills to close out practice.

“It feels great to put the pads on finally and it was really fun out there today,” redshirt sophomore linebacker Willie Taylor III said.

Even though it was the first time the Cougars had pads on since the Alamo Bowl victory in late December, the players didn’t look rusty. Both sides of the ball were chomping at the bit to hit each other.

Sophomore running back Max Borghi continued his strong start to the spring, breaking off another long run in practice that would have gone for a touchdown if he ran all the way to the end zone.

Of course, all eyes were turned to the quarterbacks in the team drills, as redshirt seniors Trey Tinsley and Anthony Gordon battle for the starting job.

The pair impressed again Tuesday when Tinsley found senior wide receiver Calvin Jackson Jr. for a touchdown and Gordon connected with redshirt senior wide receiver Brandon Arconado in the end zone. However, Tinsley did make an errant throw that led to an interception by redshirt junior defensive back Daniel Isom.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Cammon Cooper also took some snaps with the first team offense for the first time this spring, a sign that he is steadily improving.

“I thought we were a little sloppy, but it was enthusiastic and a good day, which is why we film it and improve from there,” Leach said.

The team returns to Martin Stadium on Thursday for their fourth practice of the spring.