WSU defense steals the show at annual Crimson & Gray game, underscoring story of Cougars' spring slate

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Apr. 25—PULLMAN — For the majority of Washington State's spring practice slate, the Cougars' defensive unit commanded many of the headlines. Their defensive line surged into the backfield for sacks. Their secondary picked off a bevy of passes. And their linebackers showed a little more depth than expected, underscoring the theme of their first 14 practices.

Which is why the conclusion to the Cougars' 15th, the annual Crimson and Gray game that unfolded Saturday afternoon at Gesa Field, unfolded in such poetic fashion.

It came courtesy of redshirt freshman defensive tackle Malachi Wrice, whose defensive unit needed one stop to win the final portion of the scrimmage — which coaches termed "redzone lockout" — and earn a victory in the spring game. So shortly after WSU quarterback Caden Pinnick took a shotgun snap and dropped back, Wrice did the same, falling into coverage.

Pinnick tried to lace a pass over the middle. Wrice beat him to the spot. He snagged the ball with two hands, a scrimmage-sealing interception that sent his teammates into delirium. Wrice took off down the field, likely whistled down by touch-tackle after 10 or 20 yards, but he finished his jog to the opposite end zone all the same.

"That fires you up more than anyone else," WSU defensive tackle Kaden Beatty said. "You see another defensive lineman, one of our brothers up front, making that type of play? Incredible."

It was a fitting end to the spring slate for the Cougs, whose defense was the story of the past month. Transfer defensive ends Matyus McLain and Linus Zunk combined for a sack on Saturday, one of the many they tallied over the past four weeks. Linebacker Isaiah Hung surged into the backfield for a tackle-for-loss, ending his standout spring with an exclamation mark. Transfer safety Jeremiah Bernard also snagged an interception, this one at the expense of quarterback Owen Eshleman, one of the three QBs fighting for the starting job this fall.

For their parts, WSU's offensive unit supplied some highlights. The top one belonged to Pinnick, who dropped back and found a wide-open receiver in Branden Ganashamoorthy, who waltzed untouched into the end zone for a 44-yard touchdown connection. The Cougs' other touchdown came from walk-on running back transfer Beau Phillips, who used a short two-yard rushing score to help his group draw within two points late in the contest.

But with a chance to help his offensive counterparts walk things off, Pinnick lost track of Wrice, an incoming redshirt sophomore who did the honors himself.

"A lot of versatility with those edge guys," WSU head coach Kirby Moore said. "That was not on my bingo card for the lockout or for the spring game to end that way. But incredible play by Malachi Wrice. He's got a lot of length and did a really good job playing the quarterback's eyes, and so you gotta give him a lot of credit on that play."

If you're keeping score at home, that means that both Pinnick and Eshelman threw interceptions in Saturday's spring game. The only quarterback to avoid putting it in the defense's hands was returner Julian Dugger, who completed 4 of 5 passes for 33 yards, including a nice 17-yard completion to running back Leo Pulalasi. But it's also true that Dugger didn't let it fly as many times as Pinnick and Eshleman did.

Part of that was because of the opportunities each quarterback got. Perhaps most notably: Coaches dedicated two drives to simulating end-of-game situations where the offense had to march down the field in crunch time. Pinnick and Eshleman quarterbacked those drives. Dugger got no such opportunity.

It's not the first time that has happened. In Tuesday's practice, the Cougars migrated from Rogers Field to Gesa Field for two similar drives. Pinnick and Eshelman took the reins of those. Dugger took the helm of the offense's first drive upon returning to the practice field.

WSU coaches have been reticent to detail their evaluations of the quarterback battle, which Moore indicated will drag into fall camp. But taken together, their decisions to give key practice drives to Pinnick and Eshelman amounted to their strongest indications yet that those two QBs may be inching ahead of Dugger.

Here was the final tally of the quarterbacks' stats, which are not official.

Pinnick: 8/13, 71 yards, TD, INT

Eshelman: 4/8, 31 yards, INT

Dugger: 4/5, 33 yards

Dugger also took two sacks, one from linebacker Nylan Brown and one from walk-on defensive tackle Sione Pasi, a transfer from Montana Western.

"That's gonna continue through the summer," Moore said of his team's QB battle. "And then get into fall camp there. The team will decide who the quarterback is in terms of what happens on the field. I thought there were some good things out there. There was some situational football where we've gotta do a better job probably taking care of the football and making sure we're staying on schedule."

As with recent practices, WSU wasn't at full strength for Saturday's spring game. Linebacker DJ Warner made a surprise return from an apparent injury that limited him in the previous two practices, but others were out, including offensive lineman Noah Dunham, tight end Cash Landau, cornerback Khamari Terrell and wide receivers Ryan McKendry and Jordan Dees.

A few other notes from Saturday's spring game…

—WSU kickers Jack Stevens and Miguel Arenas were perfect, with Stevens going 2-for-2 and Arenas doing the same, including hitting a 50-yarder

—Wideout Tony Freeman, who missed almost the entirety of spring ball with an injury, returned to catch a couple punts, but didn't take part on offense

—Offensive lineman Nick Bakken filled in for Dunham, making him a clear-cut No. 2 up front

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