On a dark and rainy Saturday afternoon, Cougar football held their first scrimmage of the spring at Martin Stadium.

The game turned out to be a high-spirited affair between the offense and the defense, but Head Coach Mike Leach was disappointed in the effort he saw from the wide receivers.

“I thought our receivers were remarkably soft,” Leach said. “I don’t know if someone of them think they accomplished something, or achieved something and think that we need to read their press clippings or something. I haven’t read any of them, so clearly I’m not informed on how great they think they are, but now they’re going to do a little skill building after every practice.”

Redshirt senior quarterback Anthony Gordon opened up the day for the Cougars, but the defense would set the tone for a big day on the first drive as they stymied Gordon and the rest of the WSU offense.

However, Gordon would be able to find his groove over the course of the scrimmage throwing for four touchdowns, the first to redshirt senior wide receiver Easop Winston Jr. on a 5-yard pass and the second on a 15-yard connection with senior wide receiver Dezmon Patmon. He would find redshirt junior wide receiver Renard Bell for a pair of touchdowns.

Gordon finished with 138 passing yards on the day completing 14 of 23 passes.

One of Gordon’s challengers for the starting quarterback spot, redshirt-senior Trey Tinsley, had a good day as well. The highlight of his outing was when he found senior wide receiver Calvin Jackson Jr. who made a diving catch on the sidelines for a 35-yard completion.

Tinsley passed for 127 yards, tossed one interception and had no touchdowns and converted 11 of his 19 passes.

One quarterback that took advantage of his opportunity was redshirt sophomore John Bledsoe. Bledsoe went 6-6 for 53 yards and two touchdowns on the afternoon.

Redshirt senior wide receiver Brandon Arconado caught both of Bledsoe’s touchdown passes and brought in seven passes for 121 yards and three touchdowns in the scrimmage.

“I just try to do what I do in practice,” Arconado said. “I’m trying to make the most of it, just be the best teammate I can be, this is my last year so let’s get it done.”

Despite some big plays from the offense, it seemed as though the defense won the day as they made some key plays and brought a lot of energy to the field at Martin Stadium.

The defense forced three-and-out’s on the offense’s first three drives and had five sacks on the day but was only able to force one turnover.

“We wanted to get out there and play fast and do it live … for the most part, I thought we played pretty hard up front,” Leach said. “Defensively, we were tough in the red zone and I thought at times we ran the ball hard.”

Redshirt freshman quarterback Cammon Cooper went 5-11 for 85 yards and one touchdown and sophomore running back Max Borghi carried the ball seven times for 59 yards and a touchdown.

The team will get back to work 3 p.m. Tuesday for their next spring practice.