WSU seeks to avenge past losses to California

Fans can expect a high scoring contest when the WSU football team takes on California in Martin Stadium on Saturday night.

WSU (7-2, 6-0) and Cal (4-5, 2-4) average a combined 82.7 points-per-game behind two of the nation’s top-three leaders in passing yards.

Redshirt junior quarterback Luke Falk leads the way for the Cougars with 3,237 yards while completing nearly 75 percent of his passes. Cal rides the arm of senior quarterback Davis Webb, who has thrown for 3,176 yards on the season at a 61 percent pass completion percentage clip.

The recent meetings between WSU and Cal have been high scoring and unpredictable.

Not since 2012 has either team scored fewer than 20 points in the matchup and of those four games, Cal has won three, including a 60-59 thriller in 2014 at Martin Stadium.

WSU Head Coach Mike Leach made a name for himself while at Texas Tech, where he implemented his potent “air raid” offense that developed during his time as an offensive coordinator.

Golden Bears Head Coach Sonny Dykes was an assistant to Leach for an extended period of time at Texas Tech, and adopted a similar offensive style. Both coaches are not afraid to throw the ball, as indicated by the passing yardage of their starting quarterbacks, and they each have a history of developing NFL prospects at the position

The major difference between the Golden Bears’ offense and that of WSU is their respective abilities to establish a running game the efficiency of their quarterbacks

Both teams have one of the top passers in the nation leading the offense, but there is a sizeable gap in passing efficiency between the two teams.

The Cougars have an offensive efficiency rating of 157.4, a number good enough to place second in the Pac-12 behind No. 4 Washington. Cal has a rating of just 135.6, putting them at sixth in the conference despite having the highest number of passing yards in the country.

Webb has attempted far more passes than Falk and thrown for a greater number of incompletions, contributing to the 13-point difference in their pass completion percentages.

The Golden Bears average more rushing yards per game than the Cougars, but lack in the scoring department. Even when they rush for nearly 50 yards-per-game more than WSU, Cal trails in rushing touchdowns by a margin of 20-13.

“It’s always been a shootout with (California),” redshirt junior offensive line Cole Madison said. “We’ll see how it is this year, but hopefully it goes in our favor.”

Defensively, Cal poses an interesting challenge for the Cougars. WSU ranks in the bottom third in the conference in passing defense, allowing 254 yards-per-game through the air even after holding Arizona to just 286 total yards last week.

The Cougars have been forced to start younger players on its front seven due to the suspensions of redshirt senior nose tackle Robert Barber and sophomore rush linebacker Logan Tago.

WSU’s defense has put together stops late in the fourth quarter in several of its games to either clinch victories or put the team in position to attempt a game-winning drive, and is anchors an already developed offense.

The Cougars are coming off their most complete game on all sides of the ball, and a win Saturday ensures that WSU will play for a Pac-12 North Division title in the Apple Cup. However, the team must first avenge back-to-back losses to a team paralleling its offense.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday in Martin Stadium and the game will air on ESPN.