Arizona Football travels to Pullman for showdown with Wazzu

Following a tough loss to Utah, Arizona Football (1-9, 1-6) returns to action to take on the Washington State Cougars (5-5, 4-3) in Pullman. 

Arizona Football is quickly wrapping up the 2021 season and with just two games left on the year, Washington State is the team standing in the way of the Wildcats this week.

Coming in, Arizona is fresh off a tough loss to Utah, and even though the Wildcats battled and persisted for four quarters last weekend, unfortunately, they came up short against the Utes.

Arizona enters this week 1-9 (1-6) and will hope to get the same version of Will Plummer that has shown up the past couple of weeks at quarterback as they look for the upset and their first Pac-12 road win in over two years.

The Wildcats will have a huge challenge on their hands this week as the Cougars are a tough football team and also sit in second place in the Pac-12 North standings. Either way, I am sure Arizona will be ready to compete.

Getting to Know the details with Arizona Football’s matchup against the Washington State Cougars

Team: Washington State Cougars 

Conference: Pac-12

2021 Record: 5-5 (4-3)

2020 Record: Finishing with a 1-3 (1-3) record in the abbreviated Covid season. Despite beginning the year 1-0, Wazzu ended the year with three straight losses, including a 45-28 drubbing at the hands of Utah.

Head Coach: Jake Dickert is the current interim head coach at Washington State after previous head coach Nick Rolovich was fired midseason due to not adhering to the Vaccine mandate. The former defensive coordinator is 1-2 (1-1) with the Cougars and has Wazzu sitting in second place in the Pac-12 North.

Key Returners/ Starters:

Offense

This is an offensive group that isn’t elite by any means, but is still pretty solid overall, averaging 25.7 points per game which ranks 85th out of 130 teams.

In part led by their signal-caller Jayden De Laura, the sophomore quarterback has put together a rather respectable season, throwing for 2,253 yards with 19 touchdowns nine interceptions while 180 of 287 passes (62.7 percent).

He also has a bit of wiggle in the backfield having rushed for 70 yards and three touchdowns on 36 carries.

Lastly, De Laura likes to spread the field, using a few different receivers, however, it is Calvin Jackson, Jr., Travell Harris, and De’Zhaun Stribling that have gotten the majority of the production as they have combined for 148 receptions, 1,820 yards, and 16 touchdowns.

Unlike previous Wazzu teams, this is also a team that possesses incredible balance on offense, as they have a couple of talented running backs to choose from with Max Borghi and Deon McIntosh carrying substantial loads for the Cougars.

Defense

On defense, this is a pretty competitive and talented group as they have held opponents to just 26.0 points per game (65th overall), and just 221.3 yards passing per game.

Largely led by linebackers Jahad Woods and Justus Rogers, the two have had respectable years totaling 84 tackles (42 solo) with 4.5 tackles for loss and 60 tackles (34 solo) on the year with 4.0 tackles for loss, one interception, and four pass deflections respectively.

Outside of them, the Cougars have two excellent pass rushers in Ron Stone, Jr. and Brennan Jackson that have totaled 52 tackles (28 solo) with 10.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks and 36 tackles (16 solo) with 5.5 tackles for loss with 4.5 sacks respectively.

Lastly, the Cougars are active in the defensive secondary, possessing a few solid playmakers that have great length and athleticism that do a great job in disrupting passing lanes and providing good coverage.

Key Injuries/Absences: 

Washington State

• DB/S – Renard Bell (Knee) – Bell will miss the rest of 2021 with an ACL tear.

Arizona 

• LB – Jabar Triplett (Knee) – Still recovering from offseason knee surgery.
• QB – Jordan McCloud (Leg/Knee) – Suffered a leg injury against UCLA and is the rest of the year.
• QB – Gunner Cruz (Thumb) – Suffered a hand injury against Colorado and will miss the rest of the 2021 season.
• DL – JB Brown (Opt-Out) – JB has decided to sit out the rest of the 2021 season.
• LB – Treshaun Hayward (Personal) – Treshaun is once again out due to personal reasons.

Game Information: 

When: Friday, November 19th, 2021

Time: 7:00 PM MST (Arizona Time)

Watch: Pac-12, FuboTV 

Listen: 1290AM or 107.5FM (Tucson Radio)

Spread: +14.0 Arizona (Also, don’t forget to use WynnBet to enhance your betting experience)

Where: Martin Stadium / Gesa Field – Pullman, WA (32,952)

Overall Series Record: 27-17 Arizona. The Wildcats own a 10-game lead over the Cougars, however, Wazzu has seen some recent success, having won four of the last six matchups.

Last Meeting vs. Arizona: The last time these two teams met was in 2018, where Wazzu came away with the 69-28 victory over the Wildcats in Pullman.

My Prediction: Wazzu 27 Arizona 20 – Arizona competed well against Utah, and I see their fight carrying over into this week, however, playing in Pullman is no easy task and with the Cougars having the slight edge in talent, I got Wazzu just edging past the Wildcats in this one.