College Football Preview: After a bye, Cougars host Utah State

PULLMAN — Coming off their second bye week of the season, the Washington State Cougars host Utah State on Saturday to begin the stretch run of the 2024 regular season.

WSU is ranked at No. 20 in the AP Top 25 and No. 21 in the College Football Playoff rankings, the latter of which were released Tuesday. 

“Our team had a heck of a practice, the biggest thing is about just getting healthy and getting ready for this final stretch,” Head Coach Jake Dickert said at a press conference Monday. “That was the focus of the last 10 days, and I thought we did a good job of that.” 

WSU’s most recent outing was a 29-26 win at San Diego State on Oct. 26, where the Cougars came back from down 12 points in the fourth quarter to win their seventh game of the season. 

The win over the Aztecs was WSU’s fourth one-score win of the season; Washington State also defeated Washington 24-19, San Jose State 54-52 and Fresno State 25-17. 

“It’s finding a way to win,” Dickert said. “It's all designed throughout history that at the end of the day, it’s about winning. I think last year’s team on the other side of the state (Washington) proved that. Sometimes it’s ugly, you’ve just got to find a way and that’s what really good teams do, and that’s what we’ve been able to do this year.” 

On Saturday, the Cougars welcome Utah State to Pullman; the Aggies are 2-6 this season, but have been able to put points on the scoreboard. Utah State is 13th in the country with 3,664 total yards this season and has averaged 31 points per game in its last six matchups. What has cost the Aggies this season is turnovers, with 15 through eight games. 

Leading the Aggies is quarterback Spencer Petras, a transfer from Iowa who has thrown for 1,825 yards, 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions in six games played. Running back Rashul Faison paced Utah State with 797 yards and six touchdowns this season, while leading receiver Jalen Royals will miss the remainder of the season. Royals has 55 catches for 834 yards and six touchdowns. 

Dickert noted the Aggie offensive line as the “catalyst” to the Utah State offense this season. 

“I’ve been very impressed with their center, he’s super quick,” he said. “They’ve got a lot of pin-pull schemes, a lot of trap schemes, a lot of counter schemes. Especially to the four-down front, getting guys in gap. It’s really good offensive football, and they can score on you in bunches.” 

Utah State runs a fast-paced offense, getting to the line of scrimmage quickly in between plays. 

“We know that they’re a very fast-tempo team, so we just have to always make sure we’re moving with urgency,” WSU linebacker Taariq Al-Uqdah said at a press conference Tuesday. “Not hesitating to get lined up, even if a play goes bad – no complaining, just set up for the next play." 

The Cougars will face an Aggie defense that has allowed the third-most rushing yards per game this season in the country with an average of 244 yards given up on the ground per game. 

“There’ll be multiple fronts, multiple blitzes, multiple packages which can create some opportunity, but can also get you behind the chains at times,” Dickert said. “We’ve got to be physical at the line of scrimmage, we’ve got to have a want to be able to go and establish it – because when we do that, we’re a pretty dang good offense.” 

Kickoff between the Cougars and Aggies is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Pullman. 

Regional College Football Action 

Eastern Washington (2-7, 1-4 Big Sky) at Northern Colorado (1-8, 1-4 Big Sky) 

After falling 42-28 at home to Montana State last week, where the Eagles were tied at 28 with the No. 2 Bobcats in the fourth quarter, Eastern Washington looks to rebound on the road against Northern Colorado on Saturday.  

The Bears are 1-8 this season, with their lone win coming on the road against Weber State on Oct. 12. It was Northern Colorado’s first win since November 2022. 

Eastern Washington holds a 14-1 advantage against Northern Colorado in matchups against the Bears, including 14 consecutive wins. The most recent win came in the 2022 season finale, when the Eagles won 45-21 in Cheney. 

Kickoff between the Eagles and Bears is at 11 a.m. Saturday. 

Central Washington (6-3, 5-2 LSC) vs Sul Ross State (3-6, 2-5 LSC)  

Coming off a conference loss to Angelo State last week, losing 17-16 to the Rams on the road, the Central Washington Wildcats look to get back on track with a home game against Sul Ross State on Saturday.  

CWU trailed 17-10 at halftime against Angelo State but brought the game within one with a last-minute touchdown run by running back Tyler Flanagan; however, the ensuing extra point was missed, allowing the Rams to win by one point. 

The Lobos are in their first season of playing Division II football, posting a 3-6 record this fall. Sul Ross State defeated Eastern New Mexico 33-28 last Saturday. 

Kickoff is at 6 p.m. Saturday in Ellensburg. 

    After falling on the road against Angelo State last week, Central Washington looks to rally with a home matchup against Sul Ross State on Saturday.