Washington State Cougars (1-7) vs. Arizona Wildcats (5-2)
Saturday, November 7, 1:30 PM PST
Las Vegas Favorite: Arizona -31.0

Sam’s Take (39 – 15):

Think Arizona used their bye last week to prepare for Wazzu or get an early start on some of the conference powers coming up on the schedule (@Cal, Ore, @ASU, @USC)?

With all due respect to the Cougars, U of A controls its own destiny in the Rose Bowl race (a bowl the ‘Cats have never been to) so it wouldn’t surprise me to see them peeking ahead a little bit. The Wildcats have two goals this week: 1.) Win the game 2.) Come out of the win with no new injuries. Running backs Nic Grigsby and Greg Nwoko already have injury concerns, so if this is a lopsided game by the middle of the second half (which it almost certainly will be) the UA coaches must not risk the health of key contributors.

In my opinion Arizona is the second best offense that WSU has faced this season (behind Oregon and ahead of USC and Notre Dame). The Cougars are simply not equipped to handle Sonny Dykes quick screen game, and I expect QB Nick Foles to have a huge game. Looking for a bright side to all of this Cougar fans? QB Jeff Tuel is the real deal, and he’s maturing with each new road trip. I expect the stingy ‘Cats D to be all over him in Tucson, but these humbling experiences WILL pay off for Tuel in a couple of years.

Soon we will learn just how good Mike Stoops football team really is, but nothing new will be disclosed to us this week. I expect a good old fashion blowout at the Old Pueblo.

Prediction: Arizona 48 – Washington State 17

Washington State Player to Keep an Eye On: RB Dwight Tardy – Tardy looked good in his limited carries against the Irish, and the Cougs would love to run the ball in order to keep the high-powered Wildcats offense off the field.

Arizona Player to Keep an Eye On: RB Nick Booth – With Grigsby and Nwoko likely out, Keola Antolin and Booth will get the carries against WSU. The UA coaches are excited about what the 6-2 220 pound Booth can bring to the running game.

Dave’s Take (42 – 12):

The recap to most of Washington State’s games this season have been pretty similar; opponent gets out to a huge early lead and then calls off the dogs. I expect the same this week, even if Arizona does get caught looking ahead to next week, the talent discrepancy is just to large for the Cougars to make up here, especially on the road.

For Arizona, the focus here is to stay healthy, but to also try to execute at a high level, at least while the starters are still in. If they write this game off and play sloppy, they’ll still come away with the win, but it might leave a bad taste in their mouth heading into the Cal game, which they really can’t afford to have carry over.

The Cougars want to continue playing hard for all four quarters and learning good habits. Two of their remaining three games come against the current 8th and 9th teams in the conference (UCLA and @Washington), so pulling one more upset out of their hat this season isn’t completely out of the question; but it looks to be this week.

Prediction: Arizona 41 – Washington State 16

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