Washington State Football: Ranking the Cougs Away Games in 2014

November 3, 2012; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Utes wide receivers Kenneth Scott (2) and Luke Matthews (11) celebrate with running back John White (15) after White

#1 Utah Utes

The reason Utah gets the No. 1 spot on my list is this; it’s a game that could vault the Cougs into the spotlight of the Pac-12 for the remainder of the season. Assuming WSU takes care of the non-conference bit (no simple task but certainly a doable one), then assuming Oregon does their thing here in Pullman, the Cougs would be 3-1 heading into this Utah contest. If they were to beat the Utes for the second year in a row they could conceivably be 5-1 after beating Cal in week 6.

Now, WSU probably won’t find an answer for Dres Anderson, who is perhaps the best returning receiver in the Pac-12. But unless the Utes found an elite cover-corner or two in their recruiting cycle (and trust me they didn’t), they still have nobody on the outside who can compete with what the Cougs will field either, so this will be another field day against an inferior defense for Connor Halliday and the Coug receivers.

I would expect a very similar game and outcome to what happened in 2013, where the Utes put up plenty of points and yet fall short. If that happens Coug-nation will really begin to buzz.