Defenders make plays, offense pushes tempo on Day 2 of WSU fall camp

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Aug. 7—PULLMAN — The loudest cries of the latest Washington State football practice, the Cougars' second day of fall camp on Friday morning, were directed toward a defender whose potential has gone a tad understated since his arrival on campus.

Eduwa Okundaye, a third-year sophomore defensive end, may have gone a little overboard. A few days before the Cougs start practicing with pads, which will happen on Wednesday, the Arizona transfer put his shoulder into a ballcarrier with some force. Technically speaking, the hit was too much — it's strictly two-hand touch tackles at the moment — but it did speak to a couple themes.

One: Okundaye might be ready to make an impact sooner than later. Two: WSU's defense has made a habit out of stacking up runs across the first two days of fall camp.

"We want to make sure we get a lot of speed on the field on defense," Cougar coach Kirby Moore said after practice.

Two days may be a small sample size, but WSU's defenders have taken advantage just the same. Highlights from Friday's practice included a simulated sack defensive end Ben Beatty, a pass breakup from sophomore safety Trey Ridley, a hard hit from transfer safety Jeremiah Bernard and a near interception from cornerback CJ Solis Lumar, who came inches away from picking off quarterback Caden Pinnick.

Some context is important here. WSU is still installing its offense. "It's just a totally different playbook, totally different scheme, so that's my biggest thing I need to work on right now," running back Kirby Vorhees said after Friday's practice. That's why many of the plays WSU is running in team periods don't go for a bunch of yards: a check down here, a short pass there, a run up the middle or angled to the right.

On Friday, Pinnick, one of three quarterbacks competing for the starting job this fall, aired it a few times , including a deep ball to receiver Jordan Dees, who had a chance to haul it in but couldn't make the over-the-shoulder catch. More often, Pinnick and fellow QBs Owen Eshleman and Julian Dugger have scrambled or completed shorter passes. By next week, look for the Cougs' offense to look a little closer to what Moore and offensive coordinator Matt Miller have envisioned for this season.

Still, one thing has tied much of the Cougs' offense together these first two days: tempo. In 11-on-11 sessions, which remain so jumbled that it's not clear which players are repping with which groups, quarterbacks are rushing their guys to the line of scrimmage as soon as plays wrap up.

"We wanna be able to dictate it. We don't want to do the same thing ever," Moore said. "We want to have a variety of tempos on offense, and then on defense, we should be prepared for that as well. I think that's one thing that's changed in college football. It's not like someone always is stepping on the gas. They want to find their spots where they can go tempo, huddle, look to the sideline. There's a lot of variety of operations now in college football."

"It's not much of an adjustment for me because I feel like as a running back room, we keep the standard pretty high," Vorhees added, "and the fact that we run from every drill to drill. Sometimes me and Max (Woods), we race to the drill so we can see who's better at that."

One note from Friday's practice: Offensive lineman Max McCree, a likely starter at right tackle was present, but he didn't participate. Afterwards, Moore said McCree "came in this morning, wasn't feeling well. He'll be back, I think, here shortly."

Five Cougars land on Pac-12 Preseason Impact ListFive WSU players were listed on the Pac-12's Preseason Impact List, released Friday, which is described as highlighting five players from each team in the conference. Each team has a minimum of two offensive players, two defensive players and a flex spot, according to the conference.

The Cougars recognized are offensive tackle Ashton Tripp, safety Jaylen Thomas, running back Kirby Vorhees, defensive end Matyus McLain and receiver Tony Freeman.

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