⚡ CFB Dashboard

PULLMAN -- Today's scrimmage at Washington State is the final one before the Crimson and Gray game next week, and likely the final time the team will be in full pads until then. It also means the final week of spring football is about to begin. There are still position battles and depth chart questions, although some of those may not become clear without a clean bill of health, something we may not end up seeing throughout the rest of the spring. Here are three key storylines we've got our eye on today: How the quarterbacks perform remains the biggest question; and will be the subject of a separate article coming soon. But all eyes Saturday will be on Caden Pinnick, Julian Dugger and Owen Eshelman. Who rips the long ball best? Who makes the best decisions? What about the intangibles? And ultimately, does one stand out above the others in the scrimmage setting and if so, how so? 1. CAN THE OFFENSE GET ITS MOJO BACK? Ever since the practice in Spokane two weeks ago, the defense has been rolling. They've been getting pressure on the quarterbacks, limiting big plays, and carrying themselves with an impressive level of confidence.  But some of the offensive issues have been self-inflicted. Missed throws, bobbled snaps, poor blitz recognition and so on have hindered the offense over the last few days. They've been short-handed, with a few offensive linemen and receivers unavailable. But the team still can show more than what it has over the last few days.  Related: Dissecting the revolving door that is the WSU OL rotation this spring 2. HOW MUCH CONTACT IS THERE? Last week, it was still a brief period of contact, with only 10 or 15 minutes involving actual physicality. Is that the blueprint again this week? Or will we seen an uptick in the contact and the hitting? That's a big question.  Without extended full contact, it's still hard to get a complete feel for the ground game. As Cougfan.com said last week, some of Maxwell Woods' breakaways runs could have been stopped with live tackling and on the flip side, Leo Pulalasi and Kirby Vorhees' physicality hasn't been on full display without the ability to truck through defenders. 3. WHAT IS THE HEALTH OF THE TEAM LOOKING LIKE? Tony Freeman, Maximus McCree, Kyle Peterson, Ike Okafor, Trey Leckner, Kalolo Ta'aga, Nathaniel Salmon, Sone Falealo, Darrius Clemons, Ryan McKendry, Jonny Lester, Nick Bakken, Kaden Beatty, Jamarey Smith, Jordan Dees and Jaylin Caldwell were all out or limited on Thursday, which naturally created some issues for the offense, who were without four receivers and six offensive linemen. We know that Peterson, Ta'aga, Leckner, and Caldwell won't be back at all this spring. And with how long Freeman and Clemons have been limited, it seems highly likely WSU may be choosing to rest the two veterans.  But if McCree, Bakken, Lester, and Falealo all remain out, the offensive line will continue to be a grab bag of bodies. And it would be good to see Okafor back to get a feel for how the DT rotation will look with a healthy Balaam Miller. Caden Pinnick (Photo: Whittney Thornton/Cougfan.com)