Gameday vs. Arizona

Good morning, Cougar fans!

To those in Pullman, hope you survived Friday night of Dad’s Weekend; I know I barely did.

TODAY (and not tonight..woot woot!) the #25 Cougars (6-2, 5-0) host the struggling Arizona Wildcats (2-6, 0-5) at 1 p.m. in Martin Stadium as Wazzu continues its path towards the Pac-12 Championship game, sitting in first place in the Pac-12 North Standings.

The Wildcats have struggled this year...there’s no way to candy-coat how b-a-d they’ve been this season. Their only two wins have come against a Hawaii (a team that has to travel at least six hours to every away game) and Grambling State (a team who was leading for the majority of the game before ‘Zona pulled away). So, suffice to say the ‘Cats are over-matched here.

However, the one thing Arizona can do decently is running the ball with its quarterbacks. Running backs Nick Wilson and J.J. Taylor are both out and wide receiver Samajie Grant converted to running back last week, a position he’ll be at today as well, but both Brandon Dawkins and Anu Solomon can beat you with the read option. In fact, Dawkins is Arizona’s leading rusher with 549 yards on the ground on 80 carries this year.

Besides having a mobile quarterback, Arizona otherwise looks to be in for a world of trouble this afternoon. Credit to Rich Rodriguez, however, because he’s similar to Mike Leach in the aspect of both coaches are going to do whatever the hell they want and not apologize for it.

Well, that’s it for me. I hope you’re reading this while tailgating and if you’re not in Pullman, make sure you’re pulled up in front of your TV at 1 p.m. sharp. If all goes as planned, that #25 next to Washington State should move up a few spots come Tuesday’s newest CFP rankings.

GO COUGS.

Football:

What No. 25 WSU Cougars have to do to beat Arizona | The Seattle Times
What the 25th ranked WSU Cougars have to do to beat Arizona on Saturday

Gabe Marks, WSU football players, come to Robert Barber’s defense at WSU’s public comment meeting | The Seattle Times
Gabe Marks says football players are held to an unfair, impossible standard that makes them afraid to interact with other students for fear of getting blamed the minute things go wrong

John Blanchette: Robert Barber not about sports? Don’t kid yourself | The Spokesman-Review
This really shouldn’t be on the sports page, you know. Because it has nothing to do with football.

RichRod, Leach can pit resumes against any coach in country | | tucson.com
Mike Leach and Rich Rodriguez have long been an interesting contrast as offensive-minded head coaches.

Arizona Wildcats football: On Wood's blocking, preaching Mike Leach, coaches' legacies | Arizona Wildcats | tucson.com
Four storylines to prepare you for Arizona's game against No. 25 Washington State on Saturday.