After a long and anticipated offseason the WSU football team will finally get its chance to suit up for the first time this season.

The Cougars will play host to the Portland State Vikings this Saturday at 11 a.m. in Martin Stadium.

There is some familiarity between both schools as the Cougars defeated the Vikings last season 59-21.

“They (PSU) have a lot of people coming back,” WSU football head coach Mike Leach said after practice Tuesday. “I think they’ll be a real solid outfit. I thought they were last year. I thought we got away from them at the end (of the game), but they’re just a good solid, well coached team.”

The Vikings plan to play three quarterbacks during the game, but Leach said he’s not fazed by what the PSU offense will throw at his team.

“I think offenses that spread the field and create overlaps, and adjust numbers in match ups, I think those are good,” Leach said. “I’ve never found that you can have three entirely polished quarterbacks. I think it’s hard enough to have one (quarterback), so I think to have three (quarterbacks) that can really play that are a true threat I think is very difficult (to stop).”

Vikings senior Kieran McDonagh returns as the most experienced quarterback out of the group of PSU quarterbacks with 29 starts. He also ranks No.5 all-time in total offense for the Vikings.

The other two quarterbacks for the Vikings include junior college transfer Alex Kuresa and junior Paris Penn.

For the Cougars, the plan is to just play one quarterback for the game. Since the start of spring football which dates back to the end of March, WSU redshirt sophomore quarterback Luke Falk and WSU redshirt freshman Peyton Bender have battled for the starting quarterback job.

Leach confirmed after practice on Tuesday that Falk will get the start at quarterback this Saturday against the Vikings.

Last season Falk started the final three games for WSU, after senior quarterback Connor Halliday broke his leg in a game against USC, and completed 116 of 184 passes for 1,427 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Switching over to defense, Alex Grinch will make his debut this Saturday as WSU’s defensive coordinator.

“We’re anxious to get going,” Grinch said after practice Tuesday. “It’s that time of the year to play somebody else. Thrilled for the opportunity, but we have to have a good plan for our players and they have to go out and execute it. All in all it comes to down to playing a game on Saturday.”

Grinch’s defense will have to deal with a PSU team that likes to run the ball. The Vikings have rushed for 2,000 yards or more each of the last five years. PSU runs the West Coast offense, with elements of the Pistol formation.

“Between the formations, they (PSU) do a good job of not keeping it simple for us,” Grinch said. “They execute some quarterback run game which adds a level of difficulty.”

On defense, the Cougars return seven starters from last season. WSU redshirt sophomore MIKE linebacker Peyton Pelluer will be one of the leaders of the defense this season.

“Peyton runs the defense and makes sure to get us in the right places,” WSU linebackers coach Ken Wilson said in an interview with cougfan.com. ”He runs the show out there.”

One of the biggest storylines of the offseason for the Cougar defense is the development of a young secondary. WSU senior strong safety Taylor Taliulu enters this game with the most experience out of the group.

“I think in understanding our number one responsibility is to keep the ball in front,” Grinch said. “Camp’s one thing, but we don’t get a preseason like the NFL so what we did in camp at this point does it matter? Yeah because it gives us a building block. But ultimately we got to show well on Saturday. The trust level in the guys is certainly gone up since spring.”

For the fans who are unable to attend, the game will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks.