Cougs show good and bad at scrimmage

Aug. 13—PULLMAN — Saturday's scrimmage marked 112 days since Washington State's Crimson and Gray spring football game. There will be a second scrimmage on Aug. 19 ahead of the Cougars' season-opener against Colorado State on Sept. 3. But Saturday was the best showing since spring at what the Cougars look like in a game format.

There was a lot of good and a bit of bad for WSU to take away from the scrimmage.

Here's some of both.

Key players held out

With several key depth players and starters out, coach Jake Dickert chose to limit or hold out more key starters from the scrimmage — including running back Nakia Watson.

"Nakia's a workhorse — he's ready to go," Dickert said. "We don't need to bang him up. We have to save his hits. He only has so many hits left in the tank."

Other players who didn't compete in the scrimmage were Sam Lockett ­— who's still nursing a broken hand — Christian Hilborn, and wide receivers Leyton Smithson, Tsion Nunnally and Orion Peters. Defensive line starters Ron Stone Jr. and Brennan Jackson only played a few drives before their day ended.

The ground game from the WSU offense shined on Saturday despite missing several offensive linemen and the bell cow back.

Some strong running

Djouvensky Schlenbaker and Leo Pulalasi both had a solid day in the backfield.

Pulalasi finished the scrimmage with 95 total yards — 56 rushing and 39 receiving — and had two touchdowns, one on the ground and one from the air.

Schlenbaker finished the day with 42 yards on 11 carries for a touchdown.

Jaylen Jenkins had only a handful of snaps before watching the rest of the scrimmage on the sideline.

The strong running of Schlenbaker and Pulalasi is an encouraging sight to see after injuries ravaged the position group last season.

"The (running backs), we're always proud of each other no matter what," Schlenbaker said. "We're always going to be telling each other 'keep going.' We were running short today, but no matter what, we're always going to keep telling each other 'keep going.' (We) got to keep pushing for each other, got to win for our brothers."

Good and bad all around

Both the offense and defense had things they can point to as good and bad.

The defense forced three turnovers: two fumbles and one interception. The No. 1 defense's starting nickel back Kapena Gushiken got the pick off quarterback Cam Ward after the pass to Jenkins in the flat bounced off the running back's hands.

The second turnover was a fumble by Schlenbaker and the third was a fumble by tight end Trey Leckner that was recovered by Aslan Fraser.

The defense also added five total sacks — two from Raam Stevenson Jr., two from Michael Hughes and a fifth from Lawrence Falatea. One of those sacks from Stevenson counted as a safety.

But the defense also let up several big plays through the air — something Dickert said needs to improve.

The four WSU quarterbacks finished with a combined 39-of-67 passing for 475 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. Ward finished 9-of-18 for 111 yards, one touchdown and one interception, John Mateer finished 12-of-21 for 108 yards and a touchdown, Jaxon Potter finished 7-of-11 for 127 yards and a touchdown and Emmett Brown finished 11-of-17 for 129 yards.

Brandon Hills led the Cougars in receiving with six catches for 77 yards, Lincoln Victor had five catches for 55 yards, Carlos Hernandez also added 55 yards and DT Sheffield, another player who was limited in action, made the most of his reps with three snags for 48 yards.

"We just took what the defense gave us," Victor said. "We have to protect the ball a little bit better, but we were fortunate to get out there and make some plays. Wasn't where we wanted to be as an offense, but at the end of the day, we had guys step up and I think the quarterbacks did a great job of just responding every single play."

Juice Players of the Day

The daily award went to the special teams for Saturday's scrimmage.

Kickers Dean Janikowski and Colton Theaker, and punter Nick Haberer all received the Juice Player of the Day awards. Haberer had several punts in the scrimmage that, in a game setting, would've set the opposing offense with a long field, Janikowski made four field goals on four attempts and Theaker drilled a 57-yard field goal.

Kowatsch can be contacted at 208-848-2268, tkowatsch@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @Teren_Kowatsch.