​Oct. 20—PULLMAN — In the aftermath of quarterback Owen Eshelman’s first start, an electric showing in his Washington State group’s fourth straight loss over the weekend, the reactions came showering in like a tsunami.He’s actually airing it out!He looks poised in the pocket!Look how sharp the Cougs’ offense looks!Indeed, Eshelman guided WSU to 30 offensive points, the team’s most all season. That wasn’t enough to prevent the Cougs from falling short again, this time to the tune of a 48-30 final margin, but Eshelman looked accurate. He was willing to look for the deep ball. He executed a couple really well.For the Cougars, that represented a firm step in the right direction, an indication that head coach Kirby Moore made the right call pivoting away from Caden Pinnick and swapping in Eshelman. Should coaches have made that move sooner in the season? Probably, and that conversation has been fleshed out in all kinds of ways.”We’re not looking in the rearview mirror,” Moore said after Saturday’s game on that topic. “We gotta keep building on where we’re at right now.”What isn’t as immediately obvious at first blush is how different the Cougs’ passing attack was with Eshelman at the controls. He aired it out, sure, but how much of a change did that represent for WSU? How did his accuracy bolster the offense? And how did he navigate the pocket?As Washington State prepares for its homecoming game, a home showdown with first-place Boise State this weekend, those questions are worth exploring. Do the Cougs have a shot at pulling the upset? They might be 12.5-point underdogs, but Eshelman and the life he brings to his offense could be reason to believe the answer might be yes.1. Eshelman looked to push the ball downfieldPerhaps the most striking part of Eshelman’s performance, the development that might have made you say “wow” right away, came in his readiness to stretch the field vertically. Pinnick wasn’t just shaky at this in his six starts; he wasn’t even willing to do it.Think about this: In WSU’s loss to Utah State earlier this month, Pinnick attempted only six passes 10 yards or further downfield, according to PFF. That included zero passes 20 yards or deeper. It was clear that he wasn’t comfortable in the pocket. He didn’t trust his eyes, didn’t trust his arm.Think about it this way: In the country, 61 QBs have dropped back at least 200 times. Among that group, Pinnick is the only one to attempt fewer than 20 passes of at least 20 yards downfield. His official numbers on those types of throws: 2-for-16 for 78 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.On Saturday, Eshelman tried 16 passes at least 10 yards downfield, connecting on six of them. That isn’t a great completion rate — just 38% — but his willingness to try those opened up a lot for the Cougars’ offense. On one play in the first half, Eshelman lofted one downfield for receiver Branden Ganashamoorthy, who hauled it in for a 40-yard touchdown pass.”It was a great look,” Eshelman s