Washington State football looks to carry momentum into Nick Rolovich era

Offense begins life without Mike Leach air raid

With Mike Leach’s departure, the air-raid era in Pullman is now over. Instead, the Cougars will transition into Nick Rolovich’s run-and-shoot offense that last year saw his Rainbow Warriors throw the ball on 63 percent of their plays as opposed to the 80 percent Washington State accounted for.

That means there will be more touches for Washington State’s star running back Max Borghi who is one of the nation’s most dynamic weapons. He is often compared to former Pac-12 star Christian McCaffrey given his ability to take over a game both as a runner and receiver.

Last season, Borghi ran for 835 yards and 11 touchdowns while adding 86 catches for 597 yards and five scores. He will likely see more touches as a runner in the Cougars’ new-look offense but given his ability to stretch the field in the passing game will still likely get plenty of targets.

The question will be who is throwing him the ball? With Gordon gone, WSU will likely hold a quarterback competition between redshirt sophomore Cammon Cooper, redshirt freshman Gunner Cruz and incoming freshman Jayden de Laura.

None of these quarterbacks have made their college debut but have high expectations from their fan base. Cooper was a four-star prospect out of high school who was ranked by 247Sports as the 15th ranked pro-style quarterback in 2018. Cruz was ranked the 28th pro-style quarterback in 2018 and is known to have a cannon for an arm while de Laura is a Hawaii native who in high school ran Rolovich’s run and shoot offense.

Whoever wins the job, will be counting on Borghi as the team will be without their three leading receivers in Easop Winston, Brandon Arconado, Dezmon Patmon all finished their college careers last season.

The Cougars do bring back receivers Renard Bell, who made 54 catches for 579 yards and six touchdowns and Travell Harris who hauled in 47 catches for 536 yards and five scores.

With a new system and much of Washington State’s offensive personal from a year ago gone, it’s hard to expect to replicate their 2019 success that saw them finish seventh in the nation in total offense by averaging 505.2 yards per game, but with Borghi back, the unit will still be one that makes every drive exciting to watch.