Sometimes it seems like the schedule is written by a screenwriter with a flair for the dramatic. Ten days after the Cardinal escaped Tempe with a road win that satisfied some in the fan base but mortified others due to David Shaw's conservative tendencies (see my earlier piece for a deeper dive into this), the Cardinal heads into a matchup with Bizarro Shaw, Mike Leach. In his six-plus years at Washington State, Leach has compiled a 44-39 record while dancing on the edge of razor blade with an offensive philosophy that could not possibly be more different than Shaw's. There have been prolific offenses and conference records set under his watch, but there have also been examples of defeats snatched from the jaws of certain victory. If Shaw is the tortoise, Leach is the hare, and both will share the same fable on Saturday evening.
The Cougars, of course, are coming off possibly their greatest win under Leach, a decisive victory over Oregon, a game so big that the College Game Day crew made the pilgrimage to the Paloose and the resulting crush of fans was enough that the city of Pullman actually declared a state of emergency to help deal with the unprecedented situation. The result, of course, was predictable. Washington State rode that emotional wave to a thoroughly dominant first half, then hung on for the win.
There's an obvious danger that the Cougs could arrive in Palo Alto a touch flat, but the magnitude of this game will probably help them stay focused. Stanford and Washington State are essentially tied with Washington atop the Pac-12 North with one loss each, and the winner of this game will take the inside lane in the race for the conference championship game. I assure you that Leach and his Cougars are no longer thinking of Oregon; their focus will rightly be on the Cardinal.
So what will this game bring? I think the matchup is not as problematic for the Stanford defense as it might appear at first glance. The two weaknesses of that unit have been rushing the quarterback and stopping the run. Thankfully, I suppose, neither of those two areas are as important against Washington State as they might be against other teams. With an offense designed to get the ball out of the quarterback's hand in just a second or two, graduate transfer Gardner Minshew has rarely been pressured by anyone. Stanford's success against him won't be determined by how often he's hit, but by how the defense manages the short passing game. Tackling will be key. If the Cardinal can limit Washington State's yards after the catch, they'll be successful. And while this edition of the Cougars tends to run the ball more often than in years past, I don't think we have to worry about another 200-yard rushing game from this group.
Offensively, questions remain. The offensive line seems to be slowly getting healthier, and Bryce Love will be back on the field. Even so, this has been the least consistent offense we've seen on the Farm in ages. (Well, at least since 2012.) I still maintain that the potential is there for greatness. If the team reaches that potential on Saturday evening, the Cardinal will win. And win they will! It'll be close, but I'm going with the Cardinal, 24-21.
For a look at the Cougars, I reached out to an old friend of the site and pulled him out of blog retirement, kind of like Al Pacino in Godfather III. So I'll get out of the way so the legendary Coug-A-Sutra can drop some knowledge.
GMC:
My first question has to be about Game Day last weekend. You can answer this question in one word or a thousand — what was it like?
Coug-A-Sutra:
College Game Day (CGD) was absolutely incredible last week. My kid and I both flew to Pullman on Friday morning from Tuscaloosa (via Nashville) for the game and we really had a blast. Both of us had “Waved the Flag” for WSU at three different CGD’s in Tuscaloosa, and it was really remarkable about how much different it was. For example, CGD is set up with two giant big screens on either side of the main broadcast tent. Each big screen is framed by one helluva set of speakers that blare out the broadcast to the folks in attendance. We got there at about 5:20, and the first thing we noticed was that you couldn’t hear the broadcast. And honestly, with the exception of a few features here and there where the crowd quieted to listen, we couldn’t hear the broadcast for the duration of the three hour show. And when you factor in that most folks got there before 5:00am, well, the place was seriously rocking for the better part of five hours. Beyond that, the scene was remarkable. All of us were struck by what it looked like to have all of those flags present and waving in tandem. In addition, ESPN absolutely crushed it with their production. The stories were great, and the engagement of the show’s stars with the crowd was stellar. I think Rece Davis best summed it up with the message he delivered to the crowd one minute before the show started. He said, “Pullman, I have two words for you: Holy Shit!!!!!”
GMC:
After the emotional high of that win over Oregon, how concerned are you that the Cougars could come out flat against Stanford?
Honestly, I am not concerned at all. Stanford is the defending divisional champs, it’s a road game, and a Stanford win provides the Trees with the inside track to the division (again). One of the things that has been lost in the 2018 version of the WSU surprise story is that the kids in this program have been in a division race every year that they’ve been at WSU. So, while the Cougs have yet to break through and win the darn thing, the bottom line is that they’ve been down this road before. They may lose the game, but I don’t think it will be because of an Oregon hangover.
GMC:
Statistically speaking, the Cougs have the best passing offense in the nation, averaging just a tick over 400 yards per game, and all this with a graduate transfer at quarterback. After two decent years at East Carolina, Gardner Minshew will likely more than double his career totals in this one year at Washington State. How does he compare to previous Washington State quarterbacks, and how long before everyone in Pullman is sporting a Minshew ‘stache?
Coug-A-Sutra:
People are already busting out the Minshew stache at games […] the student newspaper “The Evergreen” had a moustache cut-out last week for folks to wear at the game. In terms of comparisons to past WSU quarterbacks, Minshew seems pretty well poised to have one of the best/most memorable seasons in the history of the school. At the start of the season, many Coug fans were concerned about him based on his numbers at East Carolina. But, it turns out that WSU is a really nice fit for his skill set (he played in the Air Raid in high school). He’s pretty accurate—especially to the sidelines. He has great pocket presence, and he is able to move around in a way that WSU hasn’t seen since Jeff Tuel several years ago. In other words, he has the ability to extend plays. But beyond that, he has a moxie that the school hasn’t seen for quite some time. In short, he’s got a brashness about him that is reminiscent of both Baker Mayfield and Ryan Leaf. He has the feel of a guy that can take a Cinderella like WSU to the Promised Land, and it helps that he won a national title as a JUCO quarterback. All in all, if I was to comp him to a past WSU great, I would say that he reminds me the most of Tim Rosenbach.
GMC:
Give me your all-time favorite Mike Leach story. (My favorite is from Pac-12 Media Day this summer when he explained that enjoyed being flipped off while driving in traffic.)
I’ll let your readers check this out for themselves, but this story about him tracking a raccoon was pretty great.
GMC:
As usual, the Cougars have quite a fleet of receivers. Do any of them stand out? Does it matter?
Coug-A-Sutra:
While many Coug fans had serious questions about this team coming into the year, the one position group that we all felt good about was the wide receiver group—a group which is deeper and more talented than any in school history. The outside receiving group is led by Tay Martin (#1) who leads the team in yards in spite of the fact that he’s doubled in every game. Tay has struggled at times with that, I think, but when he’s left one-on-one he’s absolutely lights out. At the other outside wide receiver spot, the Cougs feature a pretty diverse and electric tandem of Easop Winston and Desmond Patmon. Winston is a little guy, but has the hands the size of someone who is about 7 feet tall (no kidding). He’s great on the outside and especially on endzone fades. Patmon might be the best pro prospect of the bunch (maybe even more than Tay Martin). He’s big (6'4"), strong, and pretty fast—just a huge target. He was the one that made the game winning TD against Oregon on Saturday.
On the inside, the Cougs rotate four guys—Bell and Harris at the H position and Sweet and Calvin at the Y. All of those guys are quick and sure handed, although Minshew has thrown significantly more to the H position than the Y. Moreover, out of the entire wide receiver group, everyone is back except for Kyle Sweet. So, that group is improving week to week. I expect Stanford to really have their hands full with them on Saturday.
GMC:
The defensive effort against Oregon was quite impressive. Who are the stars on that side of the ball, and how do you expect that unit to match up against Stanford?
Coug-A-Sutra:
I remain somewhat skeptical about our defense even though the statistics indicate that perhaps I shouldn’t be. The defense is built on speed, and they have developed a nice little two-deep rotation that enables them to stay fresh for most of the game. The group is led by principally by two guys: Peyton Pelluer and Jaylen Thompson. Pelluer is a sixth-year senior middle linebacker who has played lights out all year. Jaylen Thompson is a junior free safety that has NFL written all over him. He played great last week after having one of the worst games of his career in our loss to USC.
Overall, the group’s Achilles heel is that they lack a consistent playmaker on the line, a la Hercules Mata’afa, and that has left our corners on an island against better competition where they haven’t fared very well. So, the key to this game will be whether our outside rush guys—specifically Dominic Silvels (#20) and Willie Taylor (#27) are able to pressure Costello consistently. If they can’t, then I fully expect our corners to struggle, especially since Sean Harper, a 6'2" corner who I expected to match up with Arcega-Whiteside, didn’t even suit up last week.
GMC:
Finally, give me a prediction. Who’s going to win this critical matchup? Give me a final score and your best explanation as to how we get there.
Coug-A-Sutra:
Honestly, I think this game is decided in the first quarter or so. The key to the game for the Trees is to get out to a quick lead (14-0, 17-0?), make the Cougs chase, and keep WSU’s smaller defense on the field. If they can do that, then I think that Stanford has the type of playmakers to win a 31-24/34-24 type game.
But if Stanford cannot get out to an early lead, then I think the Trees are in trouble. WSU continues to have a death-by-1,000 cuts offense that features 10-15 play scoring drives that wear defenses out and keep ours off of the field. Beyond Minshew, the big difference between this year and last year is the offensive line and the running game. To this point, the offensive line has been lights out, yielding only 5 sacks all year. In addition, the running game has been quietly effective. James “Boobie” Williams is a dynamic, multi-purpose guy, and then WSU has freshman Max Borghi—who almost signed with Stanford and is a Christian McCaffrey clone—who is already really good. Both of those guys can be real difference makers against a Stanford team that doesn’t allow many touchdowns through the air.
Ultimately, I think Stanford jumps out to a small lead (10-3) to start the game before WSU settles in. I think it will be a bit on the high scoring side at half (maybe 20-17) before WSU pulls away in the second. I’m going to go with WSU 38, Stanford 27 in what should be a very entertaining and physical football game.