WSU WR Carlos Hernandez to miss at least one game with injury — and other notes from Day 7 of fall camp

PULLMAN – Washington State is preparing for wide receiver Carlos Hernandez, a returning starter, to miss at least one game with the foot injury he suffered in Saturday’s practice.

That’s the indication from WSU coach Jake Dickert, who said Hernandez will recover from his surgery by wearing a cast on his left foot for the next three to four weeks, which would likely force him to miss the Cougars’ season opener, a home matchup with FCS Portland State on Aug. 31.

WSU’s next game is a showdown with the Big 12’s Texas Tech, set for Sept. 7 in Pullman. If Hernandez gets out of his cast in four weeks, he would do so the first week of September. It’s unclear if he would play in that weekend’s game, but players typically need time to return to game shape even after being cleared to return.

“Carlos will be out for the foreseeable future,” Dickert said after Wednesday’s practice, the Cougars’ seventh of fall camp. “Everything is day-to-day. I want him back tomorrow. He wants to be out there tomorrow.”

Dickert offered no firm timetable on Hernandez’s return, saying the team will evaluate his status when he gets his cast off.

It’s a costly blow for the Cougars, who were counting on Hernandez to build on his promising freshman season last fall. During spring and fall practices, he had earned consistent reps with the first-team units, a signal from coaches that he was in line for a bigger role this season. Hernandez and veteran receiver Kyle Williams are two of WSU’s only returning wideouts with meaningful experience.

In Hernandez’s absence, Dickert said, coaches are shuffling personnel on offense.

Oregon transfer receiver Kris Hutson will take more reps on the outside, and fellow transfers like Kyle Maxwell and Tre Shackelford will accept bigger roles, offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said after Tuesday’s practice.

“We gotta keep moving. I mean, it’s a lesson in football,” Dickert said. “Our guys gotta know whatever your role is, or your perceived role is right now, you never know when your number is gonna be called. Carlos is taking it like a champion. This is day one of rehab, and he’s ready to go.”

Elsewhere in Wednesday’s practice, the Cougars finished by moving from Rogers Practice Field to Gesa Field, where their defense produced a few timely stops to complete the final situational periods.

On one sequence, linebacker Kyle Thornton had his third interception in two practices, picking off quarterback Zevi Eckhaus in the end zone to prevent the offense from scoring in a 1-minute, 54-second scenario in which they needed a touchdown.

A few moments later, WSU’s offense also had trouble in a drill when it had 1:10 (no timeouts) to march down the field and reach field-goal range for returning starting kicker Dean Janikowski.

On the first run-through, the John Mateer-led offense ran out of time before he could spike the ball and stop the clock, resulting in a win for the defense.

The Cougars ran the situation twice more.

On the next series, WSU got its field-goal unit out in time, but Janikowski hit the left upright from around 40 yards out.

The next time, Janikowski also reached the field in time, but he missed wide left from around the same spot.

The Cougars succeeded on their next time running the simulation, with a different kicker. Sophomore Ryan Harris, a transfer from San Diego Mesa College, connected from around the same distance. He’s expected to back up Janikowski as place-kicker.

“We kinda botched that a little bit,” Dickert said. “It’ll be great coaching learns. That should be a center and a spike in field goal, and then we did the last-ditch clutch play. We gotta go out there and make the field goal. So lots of learns.”

A year ago, Janikowski went 15 for 20 on field goals. Four of his five misses came in three games – narrow losses to Cal, Stanford and Washington – and in those situations, he had chances to swing the game in the Cougars’ favor.

With 50 seconds left against Cal, Janikowski misfired from 50 yards. In the opening minutes of the fourth quarter against Stanford, he missed on a go-ahead field goal.

It may be one of the more understated factors that may swing this WSU season, how to improve in late-game situations. Janikowski has a hand in that, but his offense needs to get lined up in time, and quarterbacks Mateer and Eckhaus must avoid turnovers. On that front, it’s still a work in progress.

They still have another 1½ weeks of fall camp, which they’re also using to try offensive linemen at different positions. Everyday right guard Brock Dieu has been taking reps at center, where redshirt junior Devin Kylany plays. Guard Christian Hilborn has been playing some tackle and redshirt sophomore Jonny Lester, a redshirt sophomore expected to play in a backup role this season, has been playing tackle and guard.

That has happened by design, Dickert said, but the team is also finding ways to ensure redshirt freshman Noah Dunham retains a consistent place on the line. Coaches are hoping to lock in those sorts of personnel changes around the time of the team’s second scrimmage, set for Aug. 17, two weeks before the season opener.

“We just need to find the right combination,” Dickert said. “It’s about seeing those guys do different things.”