PULLMAN, Wash. - Washington State defeated Colorado State 73-7 at Gesa Field Saturday evening. Check out the postgame notes from the win.
PLAYER NOTES
• WSU Game Captains: Kaden Beatty, Keith Brown, Linus Zunk, Ashton Tripp
• Owen Eshelman recorded a four-yard rushing touchdown and a nine-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter and a one-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter…it is the fourth, fifth and sixth rushing touchdowns of his career and his first career game with three rushing TD’s
o Eshelman’s second consecutive and second career multi-rushing TD game … went 13-of-14 for 135 yards and one passing touchdown (third career passing TD).
o Eshelman also rushed for 81 yards on 13 carries.
o His .929% completion percentage (min. 10 att.) is the highest completion percentage in a game by a WSU quarterback (prev: .914%, Luke Falk, 32-25 vs. Arizona, Nov. 5, 2016).
o His three rushing touchdowns are tied for the most in a game by a WSU quarterback (six different QB’s) and the most by a WSU QB since Timm Rosenbach (Sept. 3, 1988 at Illinois).
o with four total touchdowns.
• Kirby Vorhees recorded a career-high in rushing yards (197) and rushing touchdowns (4).
o His 197 rushing yards are the most by a Coug since John Mateer’s 197 rushing yards (Sept. 7, 2024 vs. Texas Tech) and his four rushing touchdowns are the most by a Coug since John Tippens (Oct. 18, 2001 vs. Montana State)…it is the eighth time in school history a player has recorded four or more touchdowns in a game.
o Vorhees had a 98-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter, the longest rushing touchdown in Washington State history, the longest rushing touchdown in the country this season and tied for the longest in Pac-12 history (also: Mark Malone-ASU vs. Utah State, 1979 and Bill Powell-CAL vs. Oregon State, 1996)
o His 98-yard rushing touchdown surpassed Chuck Morrell (Nov. 15, 1958 vs. Pacific) and Frank Madu (Sept. 11, 1993 vs. Nebraska)
o Vorhees also had a three-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter, recording his fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth rushing touchdowns of the season, he now has 13 as a Coug and 21 rushing touchdowns in his career.
o It is Vorhees’ third straight game with a rushing touchdown, second time in his Cougar career he has done so (Oct. 25-Nov. 11, 2025).
o It is also his second 2+ touchdown game this season (also: Sept. 19 vs. Duquesne) and his second game as a Cougs with 100+ rushing yards (also: Sept. 19 vs. Duquesne).
It is just the second 3+ rushing touchdown game of his career (w/South Dakota State, Sept. 21, 2024 at Southeastern Louisiana).
• Maxwell Woods recorded 108 rushing yards on a team-high 15 carries and one rushing touchdown for his third career 100+ yard rushing game (last: Sept. 19 vs. Duquesne) and second career rushing touchdown (first as a Coug).
• Branden Ganashamoorthy’s 30-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter was his fourth receiving touchdown of the season and fifth of his career.
• Jaylen Thomas recorded his fourth career interception and his second straight game with an INT.
o Thomas’ four interceptions are the most by a WSU player since Ethan O’Connor (4 INT in 2024).
• Matyus McLain recovered his first career fumble in the second quarter.
• Michael Hughes recorded his first career sack in the second quarter and second career TFL (also: Sept. 6, 2025 vs. San Diego State).
• Jamarey Smith recorded his sixth and seventh PBU of the season (seventh and eighth career), and his first career game with multiple PBU’s.
• Jalil Tucker recorded his first career sack in the third quarter.
• Josh Wedel recorded his third career TFL and a TFL in his second straight game.
• Jack Stevens made his 10th field goal of the season with a 33-yarder to end the first half and has made nine of his last 11 field goals.
TEAM NOTES
• WSU recorded the 73-7 win over CSU, recording their most points in a conference game in WSU history and tied for the fifth-most points scored all time.
• The Cougars recorded a program record 535 yards rushing on 58 carries with four different players recording a rushing touchdown (Vorhees 4, Eshelman 3, Woods 1, Dugger 1).
o Their 674 total yards of offense (535 rushing, 139 passing) is the seventh-most yards in a game in program history and their most since 718 total yards against Northern Colorado on Sept. 16, 2023.
• Washington State leads the all-time series with Colorado State 4-1 after posting a 20-3 win in Fort Collins last season. The Cougars won the only previous meeting in Pullman, 38-7 in 2022.
• The Cougars recorded nine rushing touchdowns, their second-most team rushing touchdowns recorded in a game (10 rushing TD’s vs. Idaho, Nov. 15, 1975).
• WSU recorded a touchdown on their first five drives of the game (all rushing TD’s) and recorded a score on their first 11 drives of the game (10 TD’s, one FG).
• The Cougars scored 38 first half points, their 10th-most points scored in the first half and their most in the first half since 49 points against Portland State (Aug. 31, 2024).
• Washington State scored first with a Kirby Vorhees rushing touchdown on their first possession, their fourth time scoring first this season (third time at home).
• It was the second time the Cougs had scored a touchdown on their opening drive (also: Sept. 26 vs. Arizona).
• WSU’s defense allowed their fewest points allowed in a conference game since 2022 and held CSU 170 yards below their season total average of 444 yards per game, and allowed just 2.5 yards per carry compared to CSU’s 5.4 yards per carry…CSU ran for 61 total yards tonight after averaging 169.3 rushing yards per game prior to tonight’s game
• Washington State recovered their third fumble of the season (also: Oct. 3 vs. Fresno State and Oct. 9 at Utah State) and their fifth interception of the season.
o It is their second game with two takeaways this season (Sept. 12, 2 INT’s at Kansas State) and the first game this season with fumble recovery and an interception in the same game.