Happy Monday and Happy Game Week, Cougs! That’s right, folks. Fall Camp is officially over. This afternoon when Coach Wulff and his crew get to work they’ll be focusing only on the game THIS SATURDAY!! I’ve openly said or subtly referenced multiple times that I think this is the season that the bowl drought ends and today I’m going to break down the season game by game to figure out just how it is the Cougs will get to 6-6. I plan on spending the remainder of the season backtracking on everything you’re about to read. Just kidding. I hope. In reality, I just want to give a general idea of where I think our team stands relative to our opponents looking at things today. Obviously, predcitions can change for various reasons over the course of the season. Let’s make some picks…
Idaho State
There is no way around it. If the Cougs really are a bowl caliber team, this game should be a blow out. I think it will get there, but probably start out a little more shakily than we all would like. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but WSU hasn’t exactly been known for fast starts in the Paul Wulff era. I expect to see some jitters early, but once things settle in, there should be more than enough talent in snazzy new crimson and gray jerseys to overwhelm the Bengals. On a personal note, it will be a little troubling for me to root against a team called the Bengals, but as a lifelong fan of the NFL version, I’m certainly conditioned emotionally to watch a team bearing such a name to lose, and lose big. My prediction: WSU 41 – ISU 14 (Sorry to all the gamblers out there)
UNLV
Channeling my best Rick Pitino impression, all I can say about this one is, “Randall Cunningham is not walking through that door, UNLV fans”. As bad as things have been around Pullman, the butt kickings were at least happening in a BCS conference. UNLV was 2-11 last year and the combined score in the 11 losses was 490-152. I’m sure their fans are feeling about like ours and have various reasons to think the dark days are over, but the Cougs are a little farther along and playing at home. WSU should be favored by a couple touchdowns and take care of business. My prediction: WSU 31 – UNLV 17
San Diego State
I’ve spent this offseason outing myself as a shameless homer and locking myself into an epic triple threat grudge match with Tommy and Longball to see who is the biggest optimist at the blog, but even I can’t trick my mind into penciling in a win for this game. On the road, against a good team, with a prolific offense, I just don’t see us walking out of Jack Murphy/Qualcomm victorious. Unless…..nope, can’t do it. My prediction: SDSU 35 – WSU 20
Colorado/UCLA
It must look a little weird that I’m pairing two games together so let me explain. WSU will win one of these games and lose the other. Unfortunately, I don’t know which one is which. The trip to Pasadena will either result in a let-down after a nice win or a solid bounce-back after a tough loss. My predictions: How the hell would I know the scores? I can’t even figure out which team is going to win. Either way, Wazzu is coming out of this stretch 3-2.
Stanford
I’m not getting cute here. Stanford is a top 10 team with a quarterback who is being touted as the best prospect to head to the NFL in decades. They have been bringing in stellar recruiting classes for the last five years or so. WSU is better, but not on that level. These are the facts and they are indisputable. My prediction: Stanford 45 – WSU 21
Oregon State
At 3-3 and playing in Seattle again after a year hiatus, CenturyLink (are we going with “The Clink”? Is that a thing?) had better be packed with Cougar fans. You hear me, Cougar Nation?! Packed! And loud! A little noise wouldn’t hurt! Let’s go! OK, I’m done. My prediction: WSU 27 – OSU 21
Oregon
I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s just call it a loss and move on. Thank you.
California
Football in a baseball stadium. I sincerely hope it works out better than this. Assuming the sight of a giant baseball glove looming over the field doesn’t cause any necessary confusion, this should be a heckuva ballgame. I like the Cougs in this match-up, but expect it to be extremely close. In the end, I like this to be a real star-making game for Jeff Tuel; one of those “willed the team to victory” types of situations. My prediction: WSU 27-Cal 24
Arizona State
I’m not an Arizona State believer relative to the expectations that “experts” generally have for them, but I do believe they’re pretty good. I also believe it’s tough to lose 42-0 to a team one year, then come back with roughly the same cast of characters and flip that into a win. I do like that the game is in Pullman in November, but this is another situation where I feel that as much as we love our guys and think they are world-beaters, they aren’t quite ready to be winning this much just yet. My prediction: ASU 34 – WSU 17
Utah
On the cusp of bowl eligibility, with a Pac 12 debutante (soccer term! Wee!) coming to town, this seems like the perfect time to lock in win number 6. It’s seemingly a reasonable pick considering it’s a home game and it’s late in Utah’s first season dealing with the grind of being in a BCS conference. At this early stage, I’m leaning ever so closely to a win, but I’m not quite there. I keep reminding myself that regardless of conference, Utah is really good and has been for quite a while. Also, my scenario makes the Apple Cup infinitely more interesting. My prediction: Utah 42 – WSU 35. Shootout!!
Washington
See, I told you this was an interesting scenario! WSU returns to The Clink to face their hated rivals with the chance to go to a bowl for the first time in nearly a decade on the line. Throw out the records in this one. It’s going to be an Apple Cup for the ages. My prediction: WSU 36 – UW 35 (Am I saying that the Cougs will win on a last minute two point conversion? Maybe I am, maybe I’m not.)
So there you have it, followers. In my heart of hearts, I think WSU will go 6-6 this season and be eligible for an ever-elusive bowl game. Which bowl you ask? The three contenders are the New Mexico Bowl (AKA the Beggars Can’t Be Choosers Bowl), The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (AKA the “We Already Played in AT&T Park, What Else Ya Got?” Bowl) and the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas (AKA the weekend when thousands of Cougs arrive in Vegas and save its struggling economy on alcohol sales alone). I think you know where I’m leaning. Vegas, baby.
Go Cougs.
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