Washington State becomes bowl eligible with 32-8 win over Oregon State

The Washington State Cougars finished the 2025 regular season by defeating the Oregon State Beavers 32-8, securing bowl eligibility.

It’s only fitting that on the night he became the third coach in WSU (6-6) history to lead the Cougars to a bowl game in his first full season, it was his defense that led the way. OSU (2-1) didn’t reach the red zone until there was 5:55 remaining in the game. They punched in their first and only score on the next play.

The Cougar defense forced three turnovers, held the Beavers to XXX total yards, limited them to just X.X yards per carry, and sacked quarterback Tristan Ti’a X times. Tony Freeman helped set WSU up in positive field position all night with an average of 28 yards per punt return, leading to four of WSU’s 10 offensive drives starting in Beaver territory. His 169 total punt return yards set the program record.

WSU got on the board early, taking the opening drive all the way to the OSU nine-yard line before being held for no gain on a 3rd and 1, forcing Rogers and company to settle for a 26-yard Jack Stevens field goal.

On OSU’s first drive, Ti’a hit an open Trent Walker for an 11-yard gain and a first down, but big Caleb Francl came in and ripped the ball out of Walker’s hands; it was recovered by Parker McKenna for an early takeaway. Zevi Eckhaus led the Cougars back inside the red zone with completions to Ademola Faleye and Tony Freeman. Facing a 4th and 2 at the OSU three-yard line, WSU elected to go for it this time. Eckhaus rolled right and tried to fit in a pass to Josh Meredith, but it was broken up by Nikko Taylor for a turnover on downs. On the offense’s next chance, Kirby Vorhees kicked things off with an eight-yard carry on third down to keep the drive alive before passing the torch to Freeman for a 12-yard catch for another Cougar first down to the OSU 31. The Cougar defense could only get four yards closer before having to trot out Stevens for a 44-yard try that he drilled to give them a 6-0 lead.

After forcing another Beaver punt, Freeman gashed the Beaver special team unit, which had struggled in all facets throughout the season, for a 43-yard return to the OSU 26. It only took three plays for the Cougars to pay it off as Vorhees punched in the touchdown from two yards out.

OSU began their fourth drive of the game on the right foot with an 18-yard completion to Walker and followed it up with a 12-yard reception to Bryce Caufield two plays later. But two plays after that, Ti’a didn’t see the lurking Francl over the middle, who stepped in front of a pass for an interception and his second forced takeaway of the game.

Though WSU couldn’t take advantage of the takeaway, Freeman set WSU up in great field position again as he took OSU’s third punt of the game 24 yards and into OSU territory. Vorhees quickly set WSU up in an even better position as he took a swing pass for 25 yards, weaving between Beaver defenders. Branden Ganashamoorthy nearly scored on his second reception of the season after hauling in a 19-yard reception but was tackled a yard short of the goal line. Eckhaus completed the drive with a play-action bootleg to the right, finding Trey Leckner for the one-yard touchdown pass. The PAT attempt failed after Ryan Harris couldn’t haul in the snap cleanly but nearly made one of the plays of the season. Harris picked the ball up off the turf and shouted “FIRE!” to signify the PAT was botched. He sprinted out wide to the left side of the field and barreled through a Beaver defender and nearly scored two points by himself but ended up about a half-yard short of glory.

Yet again, WSU’s defense completely shut down OSU’s offense, forcing another three-and-out and another opportunity for Freeman. Freeman took advantage as he zoomed past nearly every Beaver defender in sight, except for punter AJ Winsor who ripped the ball out of Freeman’s hands and gave the ball back to OSU. While the Beavers quickly got into WSU territory, their scoring threat was turned away when Isaac “Bobby” Terrell got a 10-yard sack that put OSU out of deep field goal range. Terrell and his friend Buddha Peleti teamed up for one last sack on OSU’s hail mary attempt to end the first half.

The Cougars’ first drive of the second half began like much of their second-half drives this season: three plays and a punt. Their second drive, however, erased any doubts of another second-half lull. After the defense shut down the Beaver offense and Freeman recorded another long punt return, it only took four plays for the Cougars to take a four-possession lead at 25-0. WSU tried to run a “Philly Special” for the two-point conversion but did not convert.

OSU answered with one of their most successful drives of the game to that point. Ti’a used his arms and legs to lead the Beavers to the WSU 30. But on a 2nd and 5, Ti’a tried to float a pass to Eddie Freauff that was batted up in the air, juggled, and finally picked by Colby Humphrey for WSU’s third takeaway of the game.

The Beavers finally got on the board in the back half of the fourth quarter. After a couple big plays and a pass interference penalty set up OSU in the red zone for the first time, Ti’a hit Walker in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown. The WSU offense didn’t take too kindly to losing their four-possession lead. Angel Johnson entered the game and took a 50-yard run all the way to the OSU two-yard line and was subsequently rewarded for his efforts with another handoff for a touchdown.

2025 was not supposed to be WSU’s year. Three trips to the East Coast, no conference schedule yet again, and a complete overhaul of last year’s team. Now, they will begin to prepare for their ninth bowl game in the last 10 full seasons. While the season has been frustrating at points and there have been ample opportunities for WSU to increase their win total, snagging six wins and bowl eligibility is still an accomplishment considering the circumstances.

It wasn’t that long ago that WSU was in the midst of one of the nation’s longest bowl droughts. Now, bowl games are an expectation in Pullman and Rogers has begun his career at WSU meeting that expectation under some of the most unique circumstances in program history.