Washington State Football: 5 Reasons Stanford Cardinal Should Be On “Upset Alert” Against WSU This Week

Oct. 13, 2012; Pullman, WA, USA; Washington State Cougars running back Leon Brooks (23) runs for a first down as California Golden Bears linebacker Chris McCain (40) chases during the second half at Martin Stadium. The Golden Bears won 31-17. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-US PRESSWIRE

1: Arizona set blueprint?:

Stanford apparently has a really good defense a lot of the time, but Arizona lit them up with a similar style of offense as Wazzu will present next week. Not that our offense is anywhere near UA’s in efficiency at this point in time, but let the point ride. The Spread attack concept works well against Stanford because they lack good nickel and dime cover backs. The team is built to stop the run and play base defense, but hopefully they will feel out of their comfort zone running around all day.

2: The combined Mike Leach/Trap Game Factor?:

A bye week for the Cougs while the Cardinal are coming off of 4 back to back super emotional and physical games, looking for 2 off weeks against WSU and Colorado. Never underestimate a desperate Mike Leach coached team coming in with 2 weeks to prepare. If Stanford isn’t ready to play, they could find themselves in a real dog fight.

3: Belief in the impossible?:

Hey, check it out. Almost to a man the Cougs still believe they are in the bowl picture. 4 out of 5 isn’t looking very doable, but after hanging around with Oregon and beating themselves by not executing in the redzone the past two weeks, this team believes they are merely a few plays away from victories, at least that’s what they’re saying in their interviews. Any team that believes that can be something of a pain in the butt for teams they aren’t supposed to beat.

4: Cougs catch matchup break?:

Say what you will, the speed matchups in this game give Wazzu a chance defensively. The Cardinal can score in bunches, but truly they’re not scary offensively. Stanford doesn’t possess the speed on the outside that has absolutely flattened WSU throughout the season. If WSU could stop Taylor and the running backs a decent amount, and not allow a whole flock of long tds, they could be right there. The TE’s are basically incredible, but Nunes hasn’t been, consistently. Hopefully that trend continues for one more week. The Cougs make a lot of qbs look pretty Heisman-esque though and here’s more bad news: Colorado and UNLV also had the Cougs excited about speed matchups, except they are a small sample of the talent compared to what Stanford has. But those are also the games in which the Cougar defense had the most success, so…..

5: Cougar offense is due?:

Hopefully the Cougar offense is due to put it all together soon. They’ve been so incredibly close to taking control of games, but for whatever reason they just haven’t seized the moment when it’s been presented. Then it all goes downhill from there when they try and press their way back. If the Cougs could put up a couple early touchdowns some way, somehow, they could be in the driver’s seat for an upset special. They have the players to do it, but the inconsistency factor has to be overcome.