Cougars have postseason fate in hands

Washington State has seen its fortitude tested time and again over the course of the 10 games already played this season. Nearly every time, it has shown a mettle and toughness that propelled it forward.

Today, the Cougars get one more test. If they pass it, they’ll almost certainly have their ticket punched to postseason play by the time the final gun sounds.

WSU (6-4, 4-3 Pac-10) could have wrapped things up last week with a victory against lowly Arizona, but in failing to take care of business at home the Cougars have left themselves in bad need of a win at 6 p.m. today on the road at Arizona State (5-4, 2-4).

The pressure facing WSU this week is new to this team. Never have these Cougars faced a game with such immediate and obvious postseason consequences. A loss today would leave them in limbo for a second week, and most likely it would leave them in need of an Apple Cup win to avoid the embarrassment of blowing what should have been an easy November run to the bowl season.

Multiple people around the WSU program took note of the focus and determination in practice this week, and coaches have commented in the past that this team’s practice habits during the week tend to be a good predictor of its play Saturdays.

If there is another positive sign for the Cougars, it might come in their distance from the friendly confines of Martin Stadium. WSU hasn’t lost a conference road game in more than a year, winning last year’s Apple Cup in Seattle and all three road games against Pac-10 foes this year (at Stanford, Oregon State and UCLA).

Few have been able to hazard much of a guess as to why this team seems to fare better away from home, but 10 games into the season it appears to be a fair conclusion.

“We’ve won on the road, but I don’t know if we’ve played any better or if the teams we’ve played haven’t played very well,” head coach Bill Doba said. “I really don’t know.”

Doba may not have the answer for that question, but everyone knows just what one more response to the adversity, one more good performance on the road will mean – a winning season and a bowl game.