WSU vs. Idaho: Game thread

The WSU Cougars will take on the Idaho Vandals at 11 a.m. in what should be a nice respite from a week of embarrassing off field news, of which there is no need to recap here. (But you can get the rundown here if you somehow missed it.)

The Cougs are supposed to be able to blow out the Vandals, who are roundly considered to be one of the worst teams in FBS (F/+ ranking: 118) and are on their way to the FCS level after years of uncompetitiveness.

That said, this was expected to be Paul Petrino’s best team, and there’s certainly more talent here than the last time these two team’s faced off, a 42-0 whipping by WSU back in 2013.

Of course, the Cougars are supposed to be more talented than they were back then, as well ... despite the fact that it hasn’t shown up in the first two games, both of which were inconsistent, ragged affairs, both resulting in losses.

Given all that has happened this week, it’s going to be highly interesting to see how the Cougs come out of the gate in this one. Slow starts are historically the norm for WSU under Mike Leach, and if there ever was a week to come out with its collective hair on fire, this would seem to be the game.

I suppose we’ll learn a lot about the direction of this season from today’s game. Come out with a purpose and destroy Idaho, and it probably feels like this is a group that can deal with the chaos of the season so far. Take a week off, get ready to give Oregon your very best game at Martin Stadium.

Come out and struggle before pulling away? That raises some serious questions.

Come out and lose?

Let’s not think about that. Go Cougs. Have fun discussing the game in the space below.