Hello Cougar Nation and the mighty Ball Hater (BH) Army. Hope you all are having a great week.
As for me, well, its been a wild one. After all, I’ve been med free all week! And that can only mean one thing: Its getting REALLY close to crash time!
So, if you want to check out my hot prediction (plus keys to the game) for Saturday night’s tilt against ASU, you better click on that jumperoo real quick.
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Nation, I know that last week was a bit crazy, but I was still a bit surprised by everyone’s reaction last Saturday. I mean, don’t you all read this here blog?
After all, I TOLD YOU that we were going to get blasted last week. So, why act like the sky is falling afterward?
Anyhow, just like last week had “BAD LOSS” written all over it in neon lights, this one feels quite a bit different. So, here are the key issues-as-questions that should be posted on your liviing room walls as we head toward game time.
1) Road Warriors?
While the Washington State Cougars have played on the road 14 times in our past 9 games, Arizona State has played on the road four times this season. Their record in those games? A whopping 1-3.
What’s more, while ASU looks like a balanced offensive juggernaut at home, their offensive performances on the road have been considerably more modest. And the reason? They just haven’t been that efficient once they get into enemy territory. So, while we are playing a team that is better than we are top to bottom, it also is important to recognize that outside of a blow-out win against Utah (when the Utes’ wheels were falling off), this team has not been a good road team.
And even though we don’t have much of a home field advantage from a won-loss standpoint, Pullman is also not an easy place to play. Which leads me to question numero two:
2) Cold Devils?
The bad news for us is that the Big O heralds from Montana and has a bit of experience with the cold stuff. At the same time, the weather portends to be a huge factor in this one. Simply put, one team has been practicing in the cold wintry night for the past two weeks while another has done the exact opposite. And as we all know, ASU has historically underperformed in Pullman, generally, and in November in particular.
So, we should all be VERY interested in the first 10 minutes of this one. Will ASU warm up properly and come out rearing to go? Will they take a step back if they get hit in the mouth? Will they overcompensate for the cold and overpursue on defense?
It also bears noting that the Devils are sitting right at the cusp of a total collapse–the kind of which we haven’t seen since, well, Arizona last year. So, as the game progresses, keep in mind that bandit type teams fold down the stretch all the time. After all, we’ve seen it recently with CAL which has made a living of turning 6-1 starts into 7-5 finishes, and we’ve also seen it with a few Oregon teams from years back, as well as our 89 Cougars who went from 6-1 to 6-5 before we could even say “collapse.” Simply put, if UCLA beats Utah on Saturday and ASU slips against us, UCLA will be a win against Colorado away from the South Title. In other words, there is a LOT riding on this game, and Burfict and company have been known to turn on each other….
3) Throw a Cold Shoulder?
Arguably, the biggest reason for all of the talk concerning Paul Wulff and the coaching staff has to do with the periodic dissapearance of the offense. And while there has been a lot of talk about taking a cold Halliday this weekend, our fortunes rest on three players: Marshall Lobster, Ricky Galvin, and Carl Winston. In the case of Marshall, we’re going to need him to be accurate and we’re going to need him to be quick. And where Ricky and Carl are concerned, they are going to need to be punishing as well as quick. You want to send the Devils on their heels? Punish them with the running game and keep them guessing with an efficient, quick passing game. And yes, for us to win, either Barton or Wilson needs to get behind the secondary and Marshall needs to thread the needle.
4) Rushtafarians
The reason why I knew that we would get blown out last week was because ALL OF CAL’S struggles came against teams that put pressure on Zach Maynard. And, as we’ve all seen for four years now, our defense has not been able to mount a consistent pass rush under the “leadership” of the worst defensive coordinator in the country, Chris Ball.
Now, will this game be different? Answer: Probably not. But, I suggest to you all that our pass rush doesn’t need to be there between the 20’s, for this week, it needs to be there inside the 20’s. In other words, if you’ve ever wanted to see a bend, bend, bend, bend, bend effort, this is the one. And the reason: I think we’re going to have a hard time scoring. So, we’re going to need to move the football consistently (a couple first downs per drive) and we need to keep the game in front of us. We cannot afford to allow them to score quickly or in bunches.
And finally?
5) Will We Be Kicking Ourselves in the End?
And really, that’s the big question. Those of you who have played in the cold know that the football weights about 3,000 lbs when it gets near freezing. Moreover, our boys have been kicking frozen balls for the past two weeks. What’s more, while Furney can’t hit the broadside of a barn from inside 30 yards, he can nail them from 35+. And their guy? He’s a terrible kicker from beyond 35 and that’s when the weather is good.
So, what we need to be shooting for his making them kick field goals. And we need to be making them try for them late as the pressure mounts on their once promising season. Do that, and we might just be in a position to steal one.
Final Prediction:
This one is one of the hardest games of the season to call. On one hand, we all know that ASU is better than us, but we also know that they tend to underperform in Pullman. And where we are concerned, well, there’s a high amount of suspision that this team has given up. But we all know that this team still has a chance to become bowl eligible–so why would they be quitting at this point?????
In the end, I am stuck on what is going to happen in the first 20 minutes of this game. Are they going to punch us in the mouth, strike early, and send a Dad’s weekend crowd to an early exit? Or, are we going to be the aggressors and tone setters early on?
Ultimately, I think we’re going to stick around and make it interesting. And while I fear that this group has once again forgot what it takes to win, this feels like a week to throw caution to the wind. So, while we very well might lose this one 40-14, I’m predicting not only a win, but a low scoring game.
Cougs win a squeeker 24-23 as a Dad’s day crowd carriers Andrew Furney out of the stadium…
All for now. Go Cougs.
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