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Good Saturday morning, Coug fans. Our Washington State Cougars are in Corvallis to take on the Oregon State Beavers, and I’m reminded that I’ve never had a bad time in Corvallis. Sure, I’ve only been once, but man it was a great time. It was 2014 and Luke Falk was making his first career start. It was family weekend in Corvallis, and me and my fellow Cougs got some good, friendly ribbing from some Beaver dads the night before. Good times.
Let’s hope Coug fans who made the trek to Corvallis today have just as good of a time. This version of the Beavers isn’t impressive, but they do have Jonathan Smith at the helm. You’ll remember Smith as the guy whose offense has dominated WSU the past five years.
The Oregon State offense has had its flashes, but its defense.....yeesh. It’s not good, and we all know what WSU’s offense is capable of.
Let’s review this week’s lead up to tonight’s game:
- PJ looked back at some semi-recent WSU-OSU battles. I’m still trying to figure out that 2010 game.
- Michael says James Williams and Max Borghi are WSU’s most important players, given OSU’s horrific run defense.
- If OSU puts up some points tonight, don’t say Jesse didn’t warn you.
I know OSU’s rush defense is awful. But Mike Leach is Mike Leach and I can’t see him deviating from his traditional offensive philosophy. As Michael pointed out on Twitter, it wouldn’t be farfetched to think the Beavers’ defense will mirror that of Montana State’s last year:
Between runs and passes, the running backs touched the ball 40 times. FORTY.
— Michael Preston (@RM_Preston) October 5, 2018
Jeff Choate admitted after the game they were selling out to stop the pass. Oregon State may very well do this so, even if it's not straight hand offs, the RBs will probably touch the ball A LOT.
I still want Gardner Minshew to tear it up. Let’s set some records.
Three Bold Predictions
Still looking for my first W with these. Will it happen tonight? Doubtful!
- Tay Martin will score four touchdowns.
- WSU will have five takeaways.
- Gardner Minshew will throw for more than 600 yards.
As you can see, I’m high on the Air Raid attack.
Football
Pac-12 picks: Mike Leach is a master against the spread | San Jose Mercury News
The Washington State coach is 5-0 against the spread this season and has covered 69 percent of the time since the start of 2015. No other coach in the Pac-12 can touch that.
Two-minute drill: Keys to victory for Washington State against Oregon State | The Spokesman-Review
Keys to a potential Washington State victory Saturday against Oregon State at Reser Stadium.
The untold 1999 Texas-Oklahoma story of Mike Leach's fake play script
In 1999, the Sooners' offensive coordinator left a play sheet on the field to be discovered by the Longhorns, causing "pandemonium" and nearly engineering an upset.
College Football
I don’t know if any of you follow 506sports.com, but it’s a great reference for college football schedules, as well as the NFL and MLB. The site posts the week’s schedule each Wednesday and includes the TV crew working each game. Here’s this week’s TV schedule, all times Eastern:
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College football: Why Oklahoma, LSU will lose in October | SI.com
Entering Week 6, there are 14 FBS teams that are still undefeated. Here's why we predict half of them to suffer their first loss in October.
Questions the CFP committee can get answers to this weekend | ESPN.com
There are 11 undefeated Power 5 teams left in college football, but which ones have staying power? Saturday should start to answer that and several other questions facing each conference.
Indexing the most talented rosters in college football: Alabama no longer the cream of the crop - CBSSports.com
The 247Sports Team Talent Composite ranks college football's most talented rosters.
2018 College Football Hot Seat Rankings: Urban Meyer, Jim Harbaugh head in different directions - CBSSports.com
Who is trending up and down after one month? We reevaluate our hot seat through Week 5 of the season.
The Six Pack: Texas-Oklahoma, Florida State-Miami among the best college football picks in Week 6 - CBSSports.com
Trust the Process with some picks from the biggest games in college football this week.
College football resume rankings: Notre Dame gets big boost with victory over Stanford - CBSSports.com
Sometimes simple is better, and that's our aim with these college football resume rankings.
Why the college football to WWE pipeline continues to grow – The Athletic
Going pro in wrestling provides an alternative career path for a handful of college football players, especially defensive linemen.
UCLA’s recruiting so far under Chip Kelly is bad - SBNation.com
Only three Power 5 teams rank lower than UCLA in recruiting.
Klay Thompson
“Once a Coug, always a Coug.” -Klay Thompson on support from @WSUCougars. He says he spent some of his best years in Washington. pic.twitter.com/DEuR6lYTrY
— Janie McCauley (@JanieMcCAP) October 6, 2018
Volleyball
COUGS WIN! WSU downs Arizona State on the road for the third straight victory! #GoCougs #RiseAgain pic.twitter.com/GzaHKe7a4c
— Cougar Volleyball (@wsuvolleyball) October 6, 2018
Woodford Leads WSU Offense Over Sun Devils - Washington State University
Cougars earn third win in a row in Pac-12 play.