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The Washington State Cougars are coming off consecutive Pac-12 wins, a rare feat for the program in recent years, and WSU will look to make it a third-straight victory against Arizona on Saturday (1 p.m PT, Pac-12 Networks). But before Pac-12 play began, expectations for the game would have been much different.
Wazzu's shaky start is well documented, while Arizona was rolled through a weak non-conference slate. Since then, both teams have crushed Oregon State, but the Wildcats have been on the other end of the beating against UCLA and Stanford. With those recent results in mind, this game now looks like a toss-up.
Key to Wazzu's success will be exploiting Arizona's inexperienced secondary. Quarterback Luke Falk has shown a preference for taking the shorter routes, which has led to plenty of successful plays. As Brian Anderson points out, WSU is 11th annually in passing success rate, while Arizona is 83rd in passing success rate defense.
Arizona's own offense presents plenty of challenges for the Cougs. The Wildcats run the ball well, and are especially adept at picking up large chunks of yardage at a time on the ground. WSU's own run defense has been far from effective this season.
This has all the makings of a high-scoring, closely contested affair.
Game time: 1 p.m. PT
TV Channel: Pac-12 Networks
Stream: Pac-12 Live (log-in required)
Radio: WSU IMG Sports Network on TuneIn (embedded below)