DE Ben Beatty making noise as WSU gets ready for first scrimmage of fall camp

Aug. 14—PULLMAN — At this point, Linus Zunk and Matyus McLain have gotten all the headlines, all the publicity. They're shoo-ins to start at defensive end for Washington State, two transfers who figure to wreak all kinds of havoc in opposing backfields this fall, and they've been covered accordingly. Which makes this question interesting: In Zunk's eyes, which defensive ends should be getting a little more attention than they have so far? "Well, by now he should be talked about, but Ben Beatty," Zunk said. "100%. He is the perfect guy for this defense. He's been showing it every day. He's a ball player, and we're gonna see him show up on that stat sheet a lot. He's gonna get a lot of plays, he's gonna make a lot of plays. So he's someone that I'm very excited about." A third-year sophomore from Utah, Beatty looks ready for his first meaningful role at WSU. He walked on ahead of the 2024 season and redshirted the same year. Last season, he played mostly on special teams in the final 11 games and generated just one sack. Seven practices into fall camp, all signs are pointing toward Beatty playing a more vital role for the Cougars defense. Listed at 6-foot-2 and 265 pounds, Beatty has been repping with the Cougs' second-team defense, surging in for simulated sacks and tackles for loss with regularity. When Zunk or McLain need a breather this year, look for Beatty to come jogging in off the bench, as well as Michael Hughes, who has missed the last pair of practices. Beatty will get an even bigger chance to show he's earned that kind of opportunity on Saturday, when WSU hosts its first of two fall camp scrimmages, set for 11 a.m. It marks the eighth day of action for the Cougars, who didn't practice in earnest on Friday, only going through a walk-through to get the hang of gameday operations. For WSU, there's a lot to look for in the scrimmage, which will be the team's first time tackling live all fall camp. All eyes will be on the Cougars' quarterback battle, a three-man race between UC Davis transfer Caden Pinnick and returners Owen Eshelman and Julian Dugger. If any have pulled away meaningfully, coaches have been reticent to indicate as much, keeping details in-house and portraying the battle as a true three-player competition. But are all three still in contention? It's hard to say. In Thursday's practice, Pinnick was on the wrong end of a pick-six, making him the third quarterback to throw an interception in 11-on-11 sessions. Eshelman and Dugger tossed one apiece in previous practices. Outside of those mistakes, all three have done well to avoid critical mistakes, which is another reason why it's tricky to evaluate who may be pulling ahead or falling behind. Still, if rotations are any indication, Pinnick may be the Week 1 starter. In Wednesday and Thursday's practices, he was the first QB to take the field, often running with other first teamers on offense. When practices have shifted over to Gesa Field, where the team has repped end-of-half and redzone scenarios, Pinnick has often been the first quarterback to jog out onto the field. He has also turned in some encouraging practices , another reason to keep an eye on him in Saturday's scrimmage . How does he handle live action, real pressure in the pocket, with something on the line? It's likely WSU's quarterbacks won't be able to be tackled — a reversal from last year's policy under former coach Jimmy Rogers, who wanted to test QBs' wherewithals with real tacklers coming after them — but still, it'll be the first test for all three. "Keep it simple. Execute. Guys play fast," WSU coach Kirby Moore said, referring to what he'd like to see unfold in Saturday's scrimmage. "Big thing is alignment assignment technique. Fundamentals showing up. Situational football. Guys learning from, hopefully, the situations that happen during the week, and those carrying over to Saturday. Just letting the guys play. We gotta keep it simple on offense and defense, and see who shows up."