Through the first half of this season and during WSU football Head Coach Mike Leach’s five-year tenure, the progression of the WSU football program has epitomized football as a team sport.

The Cougars (4-2, 3-0) started out the season with two losses to teams that many believe they should have beat. The outlook was bleak, and fans began to worry that another year of mediocrity would befall the program.

In their final non-conference game, the Cougars rushed for more than 200 yards behind an offensive line that appeared significantly better than it had performed in the first two games. From that point on, the team has been on a roll, taking down the perennial powers of the Pac-12 and seemingly working as a unit in all three phases of the game.

“We’re playing well together,” junior offensive lineman Cody O’Connell said. “We’re playing for each other and playing to win.”

Not only have the Cougs improved from their first two weeks of the season, but they are attempting to shake a losing culture that has plagued WSU football for years.

The 2015 Sun Bowl win over Miami was the program’s first bowl game victory since December 2003 and the program’s second postseason appearance in that time span.

In the 12 years between the 2003 Holiday Bowl win and last year’s Sun Bowl appearance the Cougars managed  zero seasons with a winning record and reached .500 once in 2006.

The shift from a losing culture to a winning program gradually progressed for Leach, but after three-straight losing seasons to begin his tenure in Pullman, he appears to have found his footing.

Redshirt senior wide receiver Gabe Marks has been a member of all of Leach’s WSU teams and has seen the program grow from a struggling conference bottom-feeder to a budding Pac-12 power.

“We just play together better (now),” Marks said. “We have better chemistry.”

The Cougar’s four-game winning streak has been highlighted by a stout defense and a strong running game, with players from both units crediting an ability to play together for marked improvement.

The running game is carried by three explosive rushers in redshirt juniors Jamal Morrow and Gerard Wicks and redshirt freshman James Williams. Morrow and Williams are currently ranked in the top-50 nationally in yards per attempt, putting them ahead of names like Stanford junior running back and preseason Heisman Trophy contender Christian McCaffrey and University of Washington sophomore running back Myles Gaskin.

Wicks scored eight touchdowns on the season, putting him at 33rd in the nation.

The running game cannot be successful without strong play in the trenches and the WSU offensive line has taken that memo to heart since the loss at Boise State.

“(Winning the battle in the trenches) is great, but it’s something we’ve come to expect,” O’Connell said. “You can’t really expect anything less or you’re going to get beat”

Arguably one of the most important parts of offensive line play is the shared continuity between the five linemen on the field. Without this continuity, the line crumbles and there are no holes for the backs to hit.

The team progressed from averaging about 68 yards per game in its first two games to averaging more than 175 in its four wins since and has showcased the line’s chemistry.

On defense, the team’s newfound coherence has given traditionally potent offenses fits, such as the University of Oregon and Stanford where WSU won both games by a combined score of 93-49.

Over the past two games, the WSU defense held two elite ‘ground and pound’ teams to less than 65 yards rushing.

“We’re getting comfortable with each other and playing together,” junior rush linebacker Dylan Hanser said.

Hanser also said the defense has played faster together largely in part to its newfound chemistry in these past four games.

The WSU defense kept Idaho out of the end zone all game in week three, took the ball away from UO twice and UCLA four times and kept Stanford out of the end zone until the final play of the game.

The Cougars have become a threat to contend for the Pac-12 North title after a shaky start, as it sits in a tie for first in the division with No. 5 UW, but the program has also improved on a larger scale. Leach took the Cougars to more bowl games in his five-year tenure with the team than the last two WSU head coaches combined.

The Cougars look to continue their winning streak as they travel to Tempe, Arizona, on Saturday to take on Arizona State (5-2, 2-2). Game time is set for 7 p.m. and will be aired live on the Pac-12 Network.