WSU carrying momentum into Homecoming

Arguably the best un-ranked team in college football, the WSU Cougars (3-2, 2-0) is getting ready for their homecoming game as they host the UCLA Bruins (3-3, 1-2).

 Along with both teams’ fans, the nation will be watching as WSU looks to carry their momentum against another Pac-12 Conference opponent, in their second consecutive nationally televised game.

Although UCLA is no longer ranked as they were at the start of the season, they’re still going to be a test. However, with the recent roasting of the Oregon Ducks and the fall of the Stanford Cardinal, Washington State is in line to pass this test. The Cougars are currently favored by 4.5 points over the Bruins and it could be getting a lot worse for UCLA.

On Monday, UCLA’s Head Coach Jim Mora (former NFL coach) said that he was hopeful, but not certain that QB Josh Rosen would play against the Cougars.

When asked about Rosen’s status by a reporter, Mora said, “He was roughed up. Hopefully he will be good to go this week. He is a tough kid.”

Rosen and UCLA took on the Arizona State Sun Devils (5-1, 2-1) this past weekend and it was anything but clean. After a hard hit had Rosen limping off of the field, it was assumed that he was done for the game. Whether it was UCLA that made the call or Rosen himself, someone made a poor choice by allowing Rosen to re-enter the game. Vulnerable to worsening his leg injury, Rosen suffered a sack and a clear injury to his wrist.

The Sun Devils won with 23-20 over the Bruins, but it’s the possibility of losing their leading passer for a good chunk of time that has UCLA fans most worried. After all, Cougar fans remember the pain of losing Connor Halliday to a broken leg not even two years ago.

For UCLA, turning their season around was already going to be a fairly difficult task; but if they lose Rosen for some time, it might be an impossible one. Mike Fafaul, the Bruin’s second-string quarterback has thrown an interception for every two passes completed in 2016. Granted, he hasn’t earned a lot of playing time, but in an offense that ran for negative one total rushing yards last weekend, that puts a lot of pressure on your quarterback to make top plays.  

While UCLA seems to have everything working against them, WSU seems to have everything working for them. Coming off a dominating 42-16 win over Stanford, the Cougars proved to the college football world that the win over the Oregon Ducks was no fluke.

Even though the Cougars had lost the previous eight matchups against Stanford, the determination to win this game was too strong for WSU to give up a win. Every game this season, the Cougars have played better than they played the week before and that’s the key which has unlocked their recent success.

While the Cougs did not run as much as they did against the Ducks, they didn’t really need to as the defense allowed just 16 points to a team that ranked 15th in the nation at the time.

What was the goal of the defense? To stop Stanford’s star running back Christian McCaffrey. You can put a big checkmark by that goal as WSU only allowed McCaffrey to rush for 35 yards. Ultimately, WSU was the team to break McCaffrey’s record of 18 consecutive games of 100 or more total yards and by doing so, they shut down Stanford’s main source of offense.  

Overall, in five games this season, the Cougars are averaging about 44 points per game while they are allowing an average about 26 points per game. UCLA, on the other hand, is averaging about 27 points per game while they are allowing an average of about 23.

So, no matter who starts at quarterback for the Bruins, Leach and the Cougars are going to have their work cut out for them trying to score. If they can come out swinging like they have in the past few weeks – whether it be on the ground or in the air – then there’s really nothing stopping them from giving their fans an incredible homecoming experience.