First look: WSU looks to build on historic upset with matchup against Northern Colorado

PULLMAN – Here is a first look at Washington State’s home matchup with Northern Colorado on Saturday afternoon.

What is it? Washington State, fresh off an upset of Wisconsin last weekend, wraps up its nonconference slate with a home game against Northern Colorado, which competes in the Big Sky Conference.

Where is it? Gesa Field at Martin Stadium in Pullman.

When is it? Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. local time.

Where can I watch it? Pac-12 Network will broadcast the game.

Who is favored? No betting lines were available as of Monday afternoon.

How did the Cougars fare last week? Washington State is coming off a big win, a 31-22 upset of Wisconsin that earned the Cougars a spot in this week’s AP Top 25 poll, at No. 23. WSU leaped ahead 24-6 when edge rusher Brennan Jackson recovered a fumble in the end zone, off a strip sack from fellow edge Ron Stone Jr., and while the Badgers rallied to draw to within two points, the Cougs held on and pulled away.

Outside of that third quarter, when Wisconsin scored two touchdowns, it’s hard to find much fault in Washington State’s showing. The Cougars’ defense limited star running back Braelon Allen to 20 yards on seven carries, and thanks to a fumble forced by Jaden Hicks and recovered by Jackson Lataimua, Wisconsin didn’t have many places to turn on offense.

That became clear when Jackson and Stone (who earned Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors on Monday) began to change the game. They didn’t just combine for a strip-sack and fumble recovery for a touchdown. They did the same a series prior, and while their offense couldn’t turn it into points, the play underscored just how drastically Washington State’s defense was making a splash.

“Putting that stake in the ground, I think you get to build a lot of equity with your team,” WSU head coach Jake Dickert said on Monday. “Just really proud of these guys (for) staying the course and trusting the process, because it’s so hard these days for young people to just keep getting better and working your craft. We always knew as we’ve kind of gone through our journey, they were two special guys, two very different skill sets, very elite mindsets, and they can have big impacts on our team.”

On offense, Washington State got creative to secure this win. On one occasion near the goal line, quarterback Cameron Ward signaled receiver Kyle Williams to come in motion across the formation – except Williams sold the fake exceptionally well, springing back the way he came, where he was wide open for a four-yard touchdown pass.

New WSU offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle didn’t stop there. Later in the first quarter, he diagrammed a double pass from Ward to senior receiver Lincoln Victor, who lobbed it downfield to tight end Cooper Mathers, who hauled it in at the 1. The Cougs cashed in with a screen pass to Victor for a touchdown.

While Washington State liked what it saw from its offense, perhaps too much of that involved Ward and the passing attack. For the second straight week, Ward led the Cougs in rushing, which Dickert does not want. WSU’s featured running backs Nakia Watson and Jaylen Jenkins combined for 26 yards on 14 carries in Week 1. In the Cougars’ win over the Badgers, those numbers marginally increased to 36 yards on 13 attempts.

Even with those rushing numbers, the Cougars have still moved the ball easily. Their Air Raid offense has flourished in each of their first two games. The question then: Can WSU live with a lackluster running game so long as its passing attack is humming?

“I think eventually through that tough Pac-12 slate that we talked about, you cannot be one- dimensional ,” Dickert said. “So while we’ve had some early success, it will not lead to long-term success not being able to run the ball, period. So not OK with it.

“And that’s not a bad way to say it, because I think Coach Arbuckle has done a good job of taking advantage of what we’ve had. But at the same time, especially when things are struggling against really good competition, you gotta be able to go out there and get a tough five yards, and that’ll be a focus as we continue to go.”

Scouting Northern Colorado

Northern Colorado, under first-year head coach Ed Lamb, has opened the season with two straight losses: A 31-11 road loss to Abilene Christian in Week 1, then a 42-7 home setback to Incarnate Word last weekend.

The Bears, picked to finish 10th of 12 teams in the Big Sky preseason media poll, won three games last season, which brought an end to the head coach Ed McCaffrey era. In two seasons, McCaffrey led UNC to a 6-16 overall record.

Lamb, the former assistant head coach and special teams coordinator at Brigham Young, has endured a forgettable first two games at the helm of the Bears’ program. Northern Colorado’s two losses have come to solid FCS competition – Abilene Christian received votes in the latest Top 25 poll, and No. 10 Incarnate Word made last year’s playoff semifinals – but on Saturday, Lamb benched starting quarterback Jacob Sirmon for backup Hank Gibbs.

Gibbs, a Wyoming transfer, used a 43-yard touchdown pass to give UNC its only score in that loss to Incarnate Word. The Bears struggled mightily otherwise, yielding 616 yards of total offense to the Cardinals, who torched UNC’s offense for 382 passing yards.

Still, on Saturday, we can likely expect Northern Colorado to start Sirmon. A former Washington player, Sirmon played sparingly for the Huskies, and he transferred to Central Michigan for the 2021 season. After that year, in which he completed 61% of his passes for 734 yards, he bolted for UNC.

Northern Colorado’s starting running back is David Afari, a Miami (Ohio) transfer who has totaled 99 yards rushing this season. The team’s wide receivers include Blake Haggerty (four catches for 57 yards and a score last week) and Ty Arrington (four receptions for 62 yards this season).

“We’re gonna respect Northern Colorado to come in here, and they wanna get the win, and we’ve gotta go show who we are – and do it for 60 minutes,” said Dickert.

What happened last time?

The only previous meeting between WSU and Northern Colorado came in 2019, also in Pullman. In that game, WSU quarterback Anthony Gordon racked up 464 passing yards in a 59-17 win. Wideouts Brandon Arcanado and Easop Winston Jr. each cleared the 100-yard mark in receiving as the Cougs cruised to an easy win.