Scrimmage Report: Gordon 'the best' QB two weeks from opener

Washington State held its second scrimmage of the fall Saturday afternoon in Martin Stadium, and if you weren’t convinced Mike Leach has narrowed the quarterback competition to two, you should be now.

Anthony Gordon led the way by completing 15-of-22 passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns while Gage Gubrud went 16-of-27 for 144 yards and four touchdowns. Together, they combined for 49 pass attempts. The other three quarterbacks to see action (Cammon Cooper, Trey Tinsley and Gunner Cruz) combined for just 18 pass attempts.

Between Gordon and Gubrud, which quarterback stood out?

“I thought Gordon played the best,” Mike Leach said after the scrimmage. “He moved the offense and they scored. Gage did some good things and he moved the ball too. I thought he did a lot of good things, to be honest with you.”

Leach has historically been reluctant to play two quarterbacks, essentially making the competition between Gordon and Gubrud winner-take-all.

"All fall camp I’ve been feeling pretty good," Gordon said. "I’ve been playing with a lot of confidence and it just kind of rolled throughout today.”

Tinsley, once a contender for the starting job, was 3-of-5 for 32 yards.

The Cougar offense combined for eight passing touchdowns while the defense tallied five sacks and two takeaways.

Cammon Cooper also went 6-of-8 for 72 yards including a 27-yard touchdown pass to Zion Sorani. Running back Cole Dubots tallied a three-yard touchdown run and quarterback Gunner Cruz scored on an eight-yard scramble.

For the second straight scrimmage, Rodrick Fisher led the wideouts with five catches for 68 yards and a pair of touchdown grabs (25, 16). Easop Winston Jr. added four catches including a three-yard touchdown and Dezmon Patmon collected four catches for 54 yards.

Fisher, one of the fastest players on the team, continued his surge over the past week or so in his quest to break into the rotation at outside receiver.

“It started about two weeks ago,” Leach said. “He’s explosive, he’s gotten more decisive and he’s gotten more consistent. He’s on an upswing, for sure.”

Fisher caught a 25-yard TD pass and a 16-yard TD pass from Gubrud. He was the only receiver with multiple scoring receptions.

“Rod’s came a long way since I’ve gotten here,” Calvin Jackson Jr. said. “He’s gotten a lot quicker, a lot more confident in his hands and catching a lot more balls than usual. I’m happy for him. He, Tay and I are all competing for the spot. It’s not just the two of us. Rod has stepped it up a lot.”

Jackson Jr. had four catches for 50 yards including a 10-yard touchdown and Tay Martin also had four catches for 24 yards including a two-yard scoring catch. Renard Bell and Deon McIntosh each caught touchdowns.

Jackson caught his score from Gubrud,

“Both quarterbacks came out hot, Jackson said. “Coach Leach has a tough decision to make within the next few days or the next couple of weeks. Gordon was slinging it and so was Gage. There was a little bit of separation (between Gordon and Gubrud), but Gage makes good checks and check-downs and all that stuff.”

Brian Greene, the presumptive backup center to Fred Mauigoa, played nearly every snap at center on Saturday.

“He’s already played in games and he’s gotten better and better,” Leach said. “Not only has he improved, he’s pretty resilient and has pretty good endurance out there. It was good for him to get a bunch of work.”

Defensively, JUCO transfer defensive back Shahman Moore and linebacker Rocky Katoanga each recorded four tackles while RUSH linebacker Fa’avae also made four stops including 2.5 for sacks.

RUSH linebacker Willie Taylor III added a sack, as did linebacker Hank Pladson. Defensive lineman Brennan Jackson split a sack with Fa’avae. Linebacker Justus Rogers started the day with a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown and later in the day linebacker Sky Stefonic forced a fumble that safety Chad Davis Jr. corralled and returned 50 yards for a score.

“It was a good play call (Cover 3) by the defense,” Rogers said describing his Pick-6, the first TD of the scrimmage. “We were clicking that series. We didn’t have the best of days (on Friday), so we made sure we brought the energy. We had a lot of good communication t get into that position. The quarterback (Gubrud) rolled out and the ball came my way. I just took it.”

Rogers is battling Dillon Sherman for the starting MIKE LB job.

“Rogers has done a good job. He has a knack for turnovers,” Leach said. “He’s gotten quite a few turnovers in camp. Justus plays the ball pretty well.”

The first-team WSU defensive line got plenty of push when they were on the field.

“When they play all their games (tricks) with the slants and the twists and the blitzes, and they’re synchronized, they’re very tough,” Leach said. “Part of it is the speed they have.”

In the kicking game, Blake Mazza connected on three-of four attempts, hitting from 40, 46 and 50 but missed from 52 yards. Jack Crane was good from 40 and 50 yards but missed from 46 and 42 yards. Freshman kicker Dean Janikowski capped the scrimmage with a 40-yard field goal.

“Overall, I thought it was a good scrimmage,” Leach said. “(I’m happy with the progress since the first scrimmage) but not satisfied. You always have to try to achieve more. We’ve made progress. I don’t think we’ve digressed in many practices, if any.”

The Cougars will practice Sunday at 8 p.m. before taking Monday off.