While the loss of Gardner Minshew’s dynamism has inevitably not helped WSU this year, the real cause of their step back has quite clearly been the defense. After all, Anthony Gordon might not have Minshew’s flair and improv-ability, but he’s still pretty darn good in Mike Leach’s system and is, just like always, leading the country in touchdown passes — plus has surpassed Minshew, Falk, Halliday, and Ryan Leaf as the Cougars’ record-holder for season passing touchdowns. No, the Cougs’ rebuild has definitely been on the defense.
WSU’s streak of success (sans Apple Cups, anyway) from 2015 on has similarly really been on the backs of the defense; this year, that defense has regressed to 31.