As the only remaining Pac-12 football team winless in conference play, the Arizona Football team (2-6, 0-5) travel north to the Palouse to take on the No. 25 Washington State Cougars (6-2, 5-0) in hopes of slowing down the newly ranked Cougs.
Location: Martin Stadium, Pullman, WA (32,952)
When: Saturday, November 5th, 2016
Game Time: 1:00 p.m. PST/MST
Television: Pac-12 Network
Radio: Arizona IMG Sports Network (Try TuneIn Radio), Brian Jeffries and Lamont Lovett
Betting line: WSU +17 (Washington St is favored by 17)
Series Lead: Arizona (26-15)
Last Meeting: 2015- Washington St 45—Arizona 42
Arizona Notes:
The last time we saw the Cats take the field, they were dominated in Arizona Stadium on Homecoming by the Stanford Cardinal.
The disheartening loss tallies the sixth defeat the Cats have experienced this season, meaning they would have to win out in order to become bowl eligible. While the very real prospect of missing a bowl game weighs heavily on some players’ minds, the matter at hand is to earn a win this Saturday in Pullman, WA as the Cats take on the Cougs.
Last week’s defeat served as this season’s coming out party for one of the nation’s most talented runners in Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey. This week, the Cats defense will look to contain one of the nation’s best quarterbacks in WSU’s Luke Falk.
RichRod was recently asked about the progress of the Arizona defense under first-year coordinator Marcel Yates, to which he responded “He’s been doing great. I know it’s hard to say that when you’re losing.” RichRod continued by maintaining an optimistic perspective about the defense as his players continue to learn and get better at what they do.
Against this Cougars team, RichRod emphasized the importance of tackling in space. With Mike Leach‘s quick strike air-raid offense, RichRod countered by saying the Cats defensive backs must ‘break on the ball quick’ and recognize the Cougs receivers’ routes.
Even though Mike Leach has always boasted an explosive and fast passing game, this season’s Cougars team has run the ball much more effectively; however, they have also given up the second-most sacks amongst Pac-12 teams. RichRod credited the Cougs’ high sacks-allowed to their inclination of passing the ball often.
Ultimately, RichRod noted that while it is difficult to keep frustration from seeping in, his players have responded well, “Enthusiasm has been the highest it’s been all year, higher than it has been since day one at camp.” RichRod closed by saying his players “Had a good time at practice this week in terms of working and being engaged.”
One player of particular note is sophomore QB Brandon Dawkins. While there will always be significant attention directed towards the starting quarterback, Dawkins presents an intriguing storyline since he had actually beaten out Luke Falk when the two were at Oaks Christian in California. Falk would move to Logan, UT and one could say the rest is history (that is still being written). When asked about
Falk would move to Logan, UT and one could say the rest is history (that is still being written). When asked about Dawkins thoughts on Saturday’s game, the sophomore responded by stating “ Comes down to execution.
I don’t feel like there’s any throw in the book I can’t make. As long as I can execute on my part, I know the receivers will do their part, and the line will do their part.” Regarding his performance against Stanford, Dawkins emphasized his lack of execution. In order to pull off a win against the Cougars who are unbeaten in conference play, Dawkins and the Cats “gotta make sure to physically execute better.”
Washington State Notes:
If someone told the average college football fan that by week ten of this season, the two Washington schools would finally both be ranked at the same time, there would likely be no disagreement. The Cougs have
The Cougs have arrived, they have a 5-0 start in conference play with a 6-2 mark overall, earning them their first ranking all year. Coming in at No. 25 in this season’s first College Football Playoff ranking, the Cougs’ are looking for their first 6-0 start in conference play since 2002.
As good as they’ve been lately, their season has been stained by two early non-conference losses. While there’s no shame in losing to Boise State on the road, the Cougars are definitely kicking themselves for dropping their season opener against their FCS rivals, the Eastern Washington Eagles.
That being said, losing has become a distant memory for the Cougs, especially after pulling off a spirited comeback win in Corvallis against the Oregon State Beavers last week. After falling behind at the half by a score of 24-6, the Cougars rattled off 29 second-half points to maintain their undefeated conference record.
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As mentioned before, much of their success has come from the arm of junior QB Luke Falk. Falk has continued to shred up Pac-12 defenses by dishing the ball out to star receiver Gabe Marks and the ever-reliable River Cracraft.
One wrinkle in this year’s Cougars offense that makes them potentially more dangerous than ever under head coach Mike Leach is the semblance of a running game. The team has averaged 115.8 ypg on the ground, using a versatile running back stable of Jamal Morrow, James Williams and the Cougs’ lone captain, Gerard Wicks.
Given last year’s shootout victory in Tucson, the Cougars have no reason to believe that they will have difficulty moving the ball against this Arizona team on Dad’s Weekend at WSU. However, the Cougs are coming off of a poor defensive effort against OSU in which they yielded 498 yards to the Beavers. If the Cats can get going on the ground, they’ll be able to open up opportunities in the passing game against the Cougs.
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If the Cats can get after Falk, they will certainly give themselves a chance to pull off the upset. The Cougs have let their star-QB take way too many shots, and while he is one of the toughest and most resilient players in college football, Leach can’t be as careless as he has been with his team’s most valuable player.
For what it’s worth, Leach has never beaten the Cats in Pullman. It will take a spirited effort for the Cats to stay in this game, and given this past week of practice, there’s plenty of reason to believe the Cats will come out fighting. Bear Down!