Washington State Football Week 5: This Week the Trend
By Caleb Davis
Sept. 22, 2012; Pullman, WA, USA; Washington State Cougars wide receiver Gabe Marks (84) makes a catch against the Colorado Buffaloes during the first half at Martin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-US PRESSWIRE
Week 5 of the college football season sets the stage for upsets on upsets. The top 6 teams are facing some very low competetion but as we’ve seen before there is a reason they play the game. We’ve seen some great upsets already this year (including UW getting Stanford last night on ESPN) but nothing really shocking… This weekend we have the chance to see such an upset.
This week our very own Cougars are taking on their first ranked opponent this season and oh yeah, they’re the #2 Oregon Ducks. Lets take a look at what this match up should look like.
What Oregon Brings:
Well where do I start? Oregon is the most explosive team in the Nation and well, last week they looked beyond unstoppable, they straight up looked untouchable. They’ve got a great freshman Quarterback who plays with much more experience and talent than most freshman in the Nation. They also have the Nation’s best playmaker in De’Anthony Thomas and if you’ve ever seen this guy play, I don’t need to explain why. They have fast, explosive receivers who are sure to expose any defense. Speaking of defense, the line is fast, the line backers are fast and the secondary is even more fast. #2, need I say more?
So what is the Cougar Trend in week 4?:
For starters lets talk about the obvious. Every time our defense touches the field, you have to be worried that these ducks are going to score a touchdown, and fast. What we have to do is just slow them down a little. Don’t let them score EVERY play and maybe force a field goal here and there? I know it seems like a lot but I really think we can do that.
Now for the offense. Connor Halliday needs some big… BIG numbers against these ducks. I suspect at least 2 interceptions but he’s gotta let it fly. Marquess needs to make plays and Gabe needs another big game with contributions from Ratliff and Myers. Our offense needs to play a complete game and stop taking drives off, we need to continuously move the ball and my biggest hope is a shootout in which we are still in the game late. Not saying we could win in that style but hopefully that could put us close late in the game.
The biggest key to this week is to take positives away from this game. Don’t go to Seattle and get shut out. We need to build confidence with plenty of positive plays and just playing good, smart football. We are looking at this season like we might not win another game. If we compete with the Ducks that could change our entire outlook. I don’t think we can beat them but we do need positives to take from this game and we have an opportunity to build confidence and change the way we look at the rest of the season. I think there are only 2 games left on our schedule that I think for sure we wont lose, but if we play good football and don’t get blown out I think we can continue to compete and pull out even a couple more games this Season. And even though I don’t THINK we can win, there’s a reason they play the game folks. I’ll be interested to see how we react this week to last week and am looking forward to this matchup.
Keep watching, Keep supporting and as always GO COUGS!