First look: No. 25 Washington State visits Oregon State in matchup of only current Pac-12 members
PULLMAN – Here is a first look at No. 25 Washington State’s road game against Oregon State on Saturday evening.
What is it?
Coming off a narrow loss to New Mexico, Washington State will visit Oregon State in a meeting of the Pac-12’s only active teams . Allies off the field, the Cougars and Beavers will put their friendship aside for this one.
Where is it?
Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon.
When is it?
Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.
Where can I watch it?
KSKN (CW Network) will broadcast the game.
Who is favored?
Washington State was around a 121/2-point favorite in most sportsbooks as of Monday morning.
How did the Cougars fare last week?
In a 38-35 road loss to New Mexico, WSU took a 28-14 lead into halftime, only for it to unravel when UNM rattled off 21 straight points, taking a three-point lead with a short field goal late in the fourth quarter. The Cougars responded with seven points, scoring on a long touchdown pass from quarterback John Mateer to senior receiver Kyle Williams, but the Lobos responded with a long touchdown drive that left only 21 seconds on the clock.
After the game and on Monday, WSU coach Jake Dickert said he regretted how he handled the situation. He confirmed his use of a decision-making book from Championship Analytics, which advises not using timeouts when the opponent is inside the 10-yard line like in Saturday’s game, but he said he would have done things differently with a second chance.
After the second-to-last play of that drive, before New Mexico QB Devon Dampier surged in for the winning score, WSU linebacker Buddah Al-Uqdah went down with an injury. In situations like those, the other team gets the option of a 10-second runoff, which UNM coach Bronco Mendenhall declined. That meant Dickert didn’t get a chance to call a timeout.
“At the end of the day, I (put a) lot (on) myself. I told the guys that,” Dickert said. “I look in the mirror a lot. Game management, I take really seriously. I study the hell out of that. Once you’re under two minutes in that type of situation, where it’s a high scoring game – this isn’t the Apple Cup, it’s not 21-19 – looking back on it, whatever quarterback had the ball last is probably winning. And I’ve gotta do a better job getting John (Mateer) the ball so we can go down and win a football game.”
That situation aside, WSU struggled mightily on defense, yielding 360 rushing yards to New Mexico. Dampier and running back Eli Sanders combined for 301 of those, including four touchdowns, three from Dampier. Most of the Lobos’ offense revolved around keepers by Dampier, especially on their final drive, and the Cougs couldn’t find ways to slow them.
“I thought we were too static on Saturday,” Dickert said. “Obviously, the QB run game, you gotta flatten out your defense. You got to play quarters. You gotta crack (blockers and) replace. But they did a good job of making our safeties from depth come down and make plays. Eventually you gotta keep adjusting and use the defensive line in different capacities, which I thought that’s what looking back on the film, we needed to do quicker.”
It was the latest installment of a trend for WSU, which has been outscored 41-10 in third quarters away from home this fall. Their offense, electric in the first half Saturday, all but disappeared in the second half.
Scouting Oregon State …
Oregon State is 4-6 this season, coming off a 28-0 blowout loss to Air Force on the road. The Beavers have lost five straight, dating back to mid-October, and their ineffective quarterback play has been at the heart of everything. Idaho transfer Gevani McCoy has started eight of nine games, but he has more interceptions (six) than touchdowns (three), and he was benched early Saturday against Air Force.
So in came freshman Gabarri Johnson, who completed 9 of 19 passes for 106 yards and one touchdown, taking four sacks. Also in the Oregon State QB mix has been junior Ben Gulbranson, who has appeared in one game and started another. For the season, the Beavers have thrown only four touchdown passes – with nine interceptions.
In OSU’s 44-7 loss to Cal last month, McCoy was benched for Gulbranson, who finished the game and started the Beavers’ next contest, a loss to San Jose State. But Gulbranson sustained an injury since. Against Air Force, McCoy started again, but after one series, he was pulled for Johnson.
“It’s hard to get a beat and a pulse on them,” Dickert said. “I’m sure that’s what they’re feeling a little bit offensively too, as well, and who gives them the best chance of winning. We’ll prepare for all three. Obviously last week’s challenge is completely different than this week’s challenge.”
Because of that, Dickert is expecting a healthy dose of OSU running back Anthony Hankerson, who has collected 889 yards and 14 touchdowns on 198 carries, good for an average rush of 4.5 yards. Against San Jose State, Hankerson piled up 121 rushing yards and one touchdown on 30 carries, but against Air Force, his numbers dipped to just six carries, which he turned into 19 yards.
Oregon State’s wins this season have come over FCS Idaho State, San Diego State, Purdue and a double-overtime win over Colorado State in early October. But McCoy couldn’t reach 200 yards passing in any of those contests, leaving the offensive load to the Beavers’ rushing attack, which has buoyed their offense.
On defense, OSU is yielding 28 points per game, No. 96 nationally. Their top playmakers include safety Skyler Thomas (one interception, six pass breakups), edge Nikko Taylor (20 pressures, three sacks) and linebacker Isaiah Chisom, who is second on the team with 43 tackles. The Beavers had trouble slowing the Falcons’ triple-option offense last weekend, allowing 271 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
“I’ve never gotten into the ‘they’re our buddy,’ ” WSU coach Jake Dickert said of the Cougs’ and Beavs’ off-field alliance in the changing Pac-12. “Oregon State is not our buddy. They would have left us as fast as we would have left them. Just is what it is. It’s one of our biggest rivals now – that’s the way I’ve looked at it. That’s not bulletin board material. I hope they would say it the same way. Let’s go compete. We’ve been waiting to compete with these guys.”
What happened last time?
WSU and OSU’s last meeting came last season, when the Cougars pulled out a 38-35 win in Pullman, where former QB Cam Ward completed 28 of 34 passes for 404 yards and four touchdowns. Up 38-21 in the fourth, the Cougs permitted back-to-back touchdowns to the Beavs, who couldn’t complete the comeback.