Washington State's current run of incompetence is reaching historic proportions. The Cougars have lost at least eight games in each of the past five seasons, a stretch spanning Paul Wulff's entire career at the helm with the program and former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach's debut, a 3-9 opening complete with a last-place finish in the Pac-12 North and a rather embarrassing loss to Colorado. With the only highlight of last season being a dramatic finale win over cross state rival, Washington Huskies in the Apple Cup, momentum has seemed to finally find itself into the beginning of the 2013 season. "I was there in Pullman for the Apple Cup last year and it was the most exciting game I have ever seen. I am real excited to be a part of the Cougar family this year and to finally sit with the students at the games," said freshman Katie Wiley.
College
football seasons are not the easiest to predict, especially when the majority
of the fans do not see their team for the first time until their regular season
opener. With that said, this is a
different circumstance. With the kickoff of the 2013 college football season
already underway, we have a 2013 outlook of the best-case scenario for the
Cougs this season.
The offense
welcomes back seven starters from a unit that put up just 20.4 points per game
last year. Leach’s Air Raid offense didn’t take flight in its first season, but
it should be much more efficient in the second year of the new system. QB
Connor Halliday returns along with four starters along the offensive line and
five of the top six receivers. Most offensive starters should have a much
better grasp on the system now, which should lead to a more successful season
offensively. “As long as we stay confident and keep our heads up, do not get
down on ourselves at any point during the season and finish out our games
strong, there is no doubt in my mind that we will have a strong season this
year,” said WSU student Cameron Kalahar when asked about his outlook of the
season. I have been watching Cougar football ever since I was a little kid and
this is one of the most exciting seasons I have ever looked forward to, he
adds.
On the
other side of the ball, the defense allowed 33.7 points per game last season and
must improve. That should not be a problem considering nine starters and six of
the top seven tacklers are back. However, the Cougars lose arguably their best
player on this side of the ball in Travis Long due to the NFL, but leading the
way for the team will be FS Deone Bucannon (106 tackles, 4 INT) and LB Darryl
Monroe (80 tackles, 8.5 for loss).
The Cougars
opened up with a tough game on the road in SEC environment at Auburn. Although
they may be at the very bottom of the pack in the SEC, do not fall asleep on
this newly revamped team under new head coach Gus Malzahn. If I were to make a
pick before the season began, I would have taken the Cougs over the Tigers in a
tough match that came down to the Cougar defense frustrating new QB Nick
Marshall all night. Cougars win 27-17. Leach and company will have fire in
their eyes as they head to “The Coliseum” for the Cougs’ second week matchup.
There is no doubt that the Cougs will be focused and ready to go coming off
that tough loss. This is a much-improved team that has shown they have the
potential to matchup with the Trojans. If you are like me and watched the
Trojans last week versus Hawaii, then you definitely have to think upset alert.
If our defense can contain Trojan star WR Marqise Lee and Halliday can find his
rhythm early, this game has potential to go in the favor of the Cougs. Cougs
win 21-17. Heading back home to Pullman, the Cougars take on Southern Utah and
fellow neighbor Idaho Vandals to round out the non-conference schedule. Cougs
take out both those teams easily in an orderly fashion and start the season hot
with a 4-0 record.
Week 5’s
matchup takes place in Seattle for all the Coug fans on the west side of the
state. The Cougs battle powerhouse Stanford that comes into Washington highly
ranked in the BCS top 25 poll. This one gets away from the Cougs early and the
Cardinal send them back to Pullman with a grueling 37-17 loss. The Cougs bounce
back from a tough loss and travel down to California for an interesting matchup
the following week. In a breakout game by sophomore WR Gabe Marks who goes for
over 125 yards and 2 touchdowns, the Cougs whip California 28-14. Week 7 goes
back to Pullman for a competitive and entertaining game versus Oregon State for
Dad’s Weekend. It’s a back and forth game all night with senior kicker Andrew
Furney nailing a deep field goal for the win at the closing seconds. The Cougs
win a thriller 31-28. On the road once again for week 8, this time in Autzen
Stadium versus the high powered offense of the Oregon Ducks. Speed and
quickness kill the Cougs defense early and Oregon runs away with an easy win
behind Heisman hopeful RB De’Anthony Thomas who goes for over 150 yards on the
ground and 3 touchdowns including a punt return for a score. Cougs fall 42-21.
Week 9
brings a real quiet but talented Arizona State team into the Palouse. Keys to
this game will certainly be how our defense handles QB Tyler Kelly. I predict
that our defense plays exceptionally well with the help of the hometown crowd
and bounces back to limit the Sun Devil offense to only a few scores and some
huge stops late. Cougs win this one 28-21. Week 10 is the trip to Arizona to
take on the Wildcats. This is another challenging game for the Cougs because of
Arizona’s All-American RB Ka’deem Carey. The Cougs’ struggle to stop the run
all season shows in this game as the Wildcats pounce the Cougars 28-10. Going
back home for the Cougs’ arguably easiest conference game of the season, facing
the Utes of Utah. This game comes easy for Connor Halliday as he finds numerous
downfield strikes versus the weak Utes secondary. Cougs prevail 34-17.
The Apple
Cup, the last game of the regular season versus cross-state rival Washington
Huskies. Remember what happened last year against this squad? Of course you
remember. The game this year is going to have the same outcome. With the game
taking place in Seattle, plenty of Cougar fans will still be there to cheer on
a consecutive Coug win over UW. Connor Halliday leads this 8-3 WSU team strong
throughout the whole game throwing for over 300 yards and multiple TD’s with
zero interceptions. UW hangs close alongside talented QB Keith Price but can’t
get it done in the closing minutes of the game. The most thrilling game of
every season ends in the Cougars favor, 28-24.
Finishing
the regular season with an astonishing 9-3 record and placing third in the
Pac-12 standings leads us into the post season Holiday Bowl game versus our own
Coach Leach’s former team, the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Two high-powered passing
attacks go head to head with high scores being posted on the board. I have the
Cougs winning 35-28. The first bowl game won since 2003!
This is our
season best-case scenario season preview for the Cougs this year. Stay tuned
for more stories regarding the WSU Football team and remember, GO COUGS!
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