The pick: Why No. 19 Wisconsin will beat Washington State

PULLMAN – Washington State’s season may only be one game old, but the Cougars have seen a lot during the past several seasons.

Their best edge rushers have been in the program for six years each.

Their best receiver is playing his third season.

Their head coach is in his second full season, and their best secondary players have been around for multiple years.

What WSU hasn’t seen, though, is the offensive attack No. 19 Wisconsin is bringing to town on Saturday.

The Badgers will roll out an Air Raid attack that also features a running back tandem to match up with any in the country – returning starter Braelon Allen, a preseason All-Big Ten pick, and Chez Mellusi, a fifth-year veteran who totaled 157 yards rushing last week.

“I’m not sure there’s a better two tailbacks on the same team in the country,” Washington State coach Jake Dickert said, “than what Wisconsin has.”

Around this time last year, the Cougars arrived in Madison with the players to limit Allen. That season, they used star linebacker Daiyan Henley, who went on to get drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers, and Francisco Mauigoa, who transferred to Miami after the season.

It’s one thing that WSU no longer has those players, who figured prominently in their team’s ability to stop the run. It’s another that Wisconsin has squeezed something extra out of Mellusi, developing a tailback duo that can challenge any team in the country.

The Cougars who will bear the brunt of stopping Allen and Mellusi are edges Ron Stone Jr. and Brennan Jackson, both of whom appeared in last season’s matchup, but that’s about where the meaningful experience ends. Interior linemen David Gusta and Nusi Malani will also be pressed into bigger roles, as will Devin Richardson and Kyle Thornton, two linebackers who have played sparingly across the past several years of their careers.

Can those guys step up and show the world they’re ready to claim a conference championship? Surely. Will they do so during Saturday’s game? Here’s guessing no.

In the end, a lack of meaningful experience on defense will hurt the Cougars, who just don’t have the personnel who engineered their upset last fall in Madison. As the season rolls along, WSU’s young defenders may well find their footing and blossom , but until they do so, it isn’t fair to expect anything different.

The pick: Wisconsin 24, Washington State 21