Good evening, Cougar football fans.
Tonight, your 1-8 Washington State Cougars return back home to host the 3-6 Colorado State Rams.
Following a bye week, WSU is back in action and still looking for their first Pac-12 win and first win over an FBS opponent. Of the three games remaining, this one may be their best shot at it.
When we last saw the Cougs, they were in rainy San Diego playing the San Diego State Aztecs. The Cougs fought back in that game and even gave themselves a shot at a game-winning
drive in the game’s final minutes, but they ultimately never crossed midfield, losing 26-20.
As for Colorado State, they lost last week to Boise State 64-38. The 64 points allowed isn’t even the most the Rams have allowed this season. The worst defense by almost every metric in FBS football surrendered 66 to Texas State earlier in the year. They’ve given up 50+ four times in their nine games played. What they lack in defense, they make up for in offense. The Rams are 26th in points per game, 34th in yards per game and rank highly in most offensive advanced metrics. For a more visual image of the disparity between how great Colorado State’s offense is versus how bad their defense is, our great friends from Podcast vs. Everyone showed a spider chart of the Ram offense and defense in their preview episode this week.
You may have to squint, but yes, I can assure you that CSU’s defensive metrics are in that chart on the right.
This puts the pressure on WSU’s offense to generate some sustained success for really the first time this Pac-12 season. If WSU is going to win their first Pac-12 game this season, they are going to have to score more than they have against any Pac-12 opponent so far. And this is the defense to finally find their groove on. They’ve allowed everything and anything. Not only do they have to find it because the defense is bad, but also because CSU is going to score. They have a prolific offense, and the Cougar defense hasn’t been as sharp in recent weeks. WSU is likely going to have to score at least four to five touchdowns to be in this one.
It’s WSU’s first true Pac-12 After Dark game of the season, with kickoff at 7:30 p.m and televised on CBS Sports Network. Go Cougs!
