The pick: Why No. 25 Washington State will beat Oregon State

In recent road games, No. 25 Washington State has hardly produced reasons for optimism around its offense. The Cougars have won two of their past three road games, but in all three, it has been fair to wonder what happened to their offense in the second half.

Away from home this season, WSU has been outscored 41-10 in the third quarter, a troubling trend . They Cougars have found ways to win, beating Fresno State and San Diego State, but they flew too close to the sun last week in a loss to New Mexico.

But on Saturday, facing an Oregon State team that has lost five straight, WSU may not need its A-game to escape with a win. Here’s predicting the Cougars may flounder on offense later in the game, but they’ll earn their ninth win of the season against a Beavers defense allowing 183 rushing yards per game, No. 104 nationally.

But WSU’s real challenge will come on defense. The Cougars will have to stop one of three quarterbacks: Gevani McCoy, Ben Gulbranson or Gabarri Johnson. McCoy started the first eight games, then got benched for Gulbranson, whose injury led to more action for Johnson. It’s unclear who the Beavers will start under center on Saturday.

Even with their issues on defense, which WSU coach Jake Dickert will try to remedy by involving himself more on that side of the ball this weekend, the Cougars are the better team. They may well show many of the issues that led to their loss last week, but their penchant for takeaways will come in handy against a depleted Beavers squad.

The pick: Washington State 30, Oregon State 23