Washington State Football: 2022 Year in Review

[TuscanSota]

 

Shamelessly stealing this from both Indiana and Utah.

 

In 2022, Coach TuscanSota took the Washington State program to new heights both on the field and in recruiting. After a year where the Cougs went 3-9 (2-7) in conference, the Cougs rallied to a 6-8 season where the Cougs went to the Pac 12 Championship game and went to a bowl game. Despite losing to UCLA in the Pac 12 Championship, losing to Syracuse in the Holiday, and losing to an uncoached UW Huskies in the Apple Cup, fans see this season as an improvement. There's still opportunity for the Cougs to go higher, but 2022 marks a step in the right direction for Washington State.

 

I. The Season

 

Week	Opponent	Result	Score
1	Bye
2	Baylor	L	17-31
3	@ Oklahoma State	L	7-48
4	Utah	W	20-0
5	@USC	L	14-45
6	California	W	24-9
7	Bye
8	@Stanford	L	3-49
9	@BYU	L	14-30
10	@Arizona	W	34-17
11	Oregon	W	38-7
12	@Oregon State	W	31-20
13	Arizona State	W	21-7
14	Washington	L	19-21
15	UCLA (Pac 12 Championship	L	3-24
18	Syracuse (Holiday Bowl)	L	10-35

 

Up until Week 10, fans would see this season as even worse than last year's. A home loss to an eventually-playoff-bound Baylor team, a road loss to a coachless Oklahoma State, a loss at USC, Stanford, and BYU made this season bleak. Baylor showed up in Pullman rightfully so, but the identity of the Cougars offense and defense was nowhere at the very start. Adjustments made during the season managed to give the Cougars decent wins such as the 20-0 shutout against Utah and the surprising win against California. It wouldn't be until Week 10 when the Cougars would win in Tucson would the team see a huge turn of events. A near blowout win to Oregon in Week 11 restored morale to the program, which carried on to the Corvallis match against Oregon State and a home game against Arizona State. Washington State would sputter out against Washington, but would still go to the Pac 12 Championship due to their wins against Arizona, California, and Oregon.

 

After getting mauled by the Bruins in the Pac 12 Championship, the Cougars would take a participation trophy prize disguised as a trip to the Holiday Bowl, where they would be blown out in a loss agains the Syracuse Orange.

 

Largest Win: vs Oregon (38-7)

Stat-wise, the Cougars did better against Arizona; but what makes this game significant is not only the versatility of the Cougars offense but the outstanding performance by the Cougars' defense. Oregon QB Nathan Frazier Jr. was held to 88 passing yards with only 5 completions of 22, and RB Jerry Lawson rushed for 84 yards on 26 attempts (and a TD). Cougs defensive CB Hoby Watt would garner 1 Interception; but the rest of the defense did not have as many highlights save for starting DE Leonard Turay with 1 TFL and 1 Sack.

 

The Cougars Run game was led by Chris Tilson with 137 rushing yards and 2 TD with an avg of 6.23 yards per attempt. FB Conor Kobernus rushed for 61 yards on 15 attempts, and backup TJ Suggs would rush for 28 yards with 1 TD.

 

Largest Loss: at Stanford (3-49)

If I could wipe this game from memory along with the Oklahoma State game, I would do it in a heartbeat. The Cougs could not get anything on the ground and their OLine was ruthlessly torn asunder by Stanford's top linebacker, AJ Jennings.

 

Most Important Win: @Arizona (34-17)

Were it not for this win right here, the Cougars would not have begun their late season win streak nor make any appearance in the post-season. Chris Tilson rushed for 186 yards, but FB Conor Kobernus found ground on 119 yards and reached the end zone twice. QB Kevin Miller was even decent in the pass game with almost a hundred yards, with TE James Mathis and Jeff Reed being reliable in the pass game. The miracle performance in Arizona solidifies this season for the program in 2022.

 

Post Season

We lost to UCLA, plain and simple. Hiram Maronde was too good and rightfully deserved to be in the Playoffs. Washington State could not pull off the upset.

The Holiday Bowl performance is perhaps the worse tragedy. The Cougars managed to pick off Syracuse QB Elijah Barea three times, but could not convert on downs, nor could they take advantage of the turnovers. Syracuse run game led by RB Julius Fernandez would tear through the Cougs defense for 3 scores, joined alongside QB Elijah Barea for one, and Equanimeous Palmer for another. Washington State was not prepared for the match up. While there are some frustrations, fans have pointed to the development of SimBBA as being part of the reason why the Cougs could not properly prepare. This theory is two-sided, because on one hand, we lost; but on the other, Cougars basketball appears to be good.

 

Accolades

All-PAC-12 First Team

OG Chris Butera, SR

CB Hoby Watt, SO

P David Ross, FR

 

All-PAC-12 2nd Team

RB Chris Tilson, SR

 

All-PAC-12 Third Team

OT Niuman Dahl, SR

DT Alfredo Joe, JR

 

II. The Recruits

2022 for recruiting was a step up from 2021. After all, the Cougar's top signee of the year was not a punter (which some may disagree, because last year's Punter was David Fucking Ross).

 

The Cougars lost several battles in key positions from QB to RB to CB and even DT. A crazed fan in his man cave even recorded a tally on the number of lost battles that Washington State had from the season: approximately 8 recruiting battles for key positions were lost. In spite of this, the Cougars signed 22 recruits and reload at key positions including OLB, ILB, OT, FS, and C.

 

Washington State recruits by How Awesome each Recruit is

	Not Awesome	Awesome
5-star	0	1
4-star	0	7
3-star	0	10
2-star	0	3
1-star	0	0

 

III. The Future

On the field, Washington State is going to have a few new faces on their offense. TJ Suggs is expected to start at RB, while the QB position is currently in a heated battle between 4 QBs and a Punter. The Cougs will also need to replace three of their top offensive linemen as Niuman Dahl, Chris Butera, and Adam Mahinmi are all leaving. FB Jeremy Allen, who redshirted, is expected to take a huge step with the offense next season as well as the potential starting FB.

 

In recruiting, it's become apparent that the Cougars will need to be more aggressive on certain positions. It's no hidden secret that Coach TuscanSota will be recruiting heavily for a QB, RB, DT, CB, and OG next season, but some in the room have also mentioned that Washington State could not sign a single WR this off-season; and that cannot go unnoticed.

 

Key Battles

QB

Anfernee Rutledge, JR (B/C+) | Pat Niang, (Fr) (C/B) | Vontae Karras (So) (C/B) | Luis Curry So (Current Redshirt) (C/B) | Meyers Ramirez, Fr (Current Redshirt) (C/A-)

P David Ross, FR (B/A)

 

Anfernee could get the nod; but some fans on the internet have been pulling for David Ross into taking snaps at practice. While that is indeed happening, it's an open race for the QB position next season.

 

FB

Francisley Cota, JR (B/B) | Jeremy Allen, Fr (Current Redshirt) (C/B+)

Cota could get the nod, though it may not be a scheme fit for the Cougs. Giving Jeremy Allen the starting nod would be a risky move but give the the FB ample time to develop and improve.

 

OLB

Keyle Cecchini, (Fr) (C/B-) | Aaron Nolin, (Fr) (C/C+) | Tony Crowley, HS (B/C)

The LOLB position will be up for grabs next season. Cecchini was the backup at ROLB this season; but Crowley is currently being targeted as the potential starter. Aaron Nolin did not see the field last season but will likely be a backup at either ROLB or LOLB.

 

Captains

P David Ross

RB TJ Suggs

DB Hoby Watt

 

More updates for the Washington Cougs will be provided next season. Take care y'all!