Washington State Cougars 2009 Football Betting Preview

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Washington State 2008 Record: (2-11, 1-8 )
Washington State 2008 Bowl: none
Washington State Coach: Paul Wulff (2-11 at Washington State State, 55-51 overall)
Washington State Offensive Coordinator: Todd Sturdy
Washington State Defensive Coordinator: Chris Ball and Jody Sears
Washington State Returning Stats Leaders:

• Rushing: Dwight Tardy, RB, 481 yards
• Passing: Kevin Lopina, QB, 841 yards
• Receiving: Jehua Anderson, WR, 305 yards
• Tackles: Xavier Hicks, S, 79
• Sacks: Toby Turpin, DT, 3.0
• Interceptions: Xavier Hicks, S, 2

Notable Washington State Returning Players: C Kenny Alfred, WR Jeshua Anderson, LB Louis Bland, G B.J. Guerra, OT Micah Hannam, QB Marshall Lobbestael, WR Kevin Norrell, S Chima Nwachukwu, G Andrew Roxas, S Tyree Toomer

Washington State Key Losses: DT A’i Ahmu, CB Markus Dawes, LB Cory Evans, TE Devin Frischnecht, WR Brandon Gibson, OT Vaughn Lesuma, DE Matt Mullennix, CB Romeo Pellum, LB Greg Trent

The Cougars have fallen precipitously from grace as last season’s 2-11 record marked their 5th straight season without a bowl berth. Head coach Paul Wulff, a WSU alumnus, inherited an enormous rebuilding job and had so many injuries at quarterback that he actually ran open tryouts from the student body to get some healthy arms at the position! 2008 wasn’t just about losing 11 games; it was about being absolutely blown out most of the season. Their only win against a D-1A opponent came against rival Washington, who was even worse at 0-12 last year. That’s how terrible the Cougars were last season: It took a historically bad UW team without their starting quarterback for WSU to win a conference game. Can 15 returning starters help the Cougars begin to return to competitiveness?

The Cougars were incredibly ineffective on offense last season, averaging less than 13 points per game! In part this was due to injury at the quarterback position but when you throw 6 touchdowns against 21 picks, you’re going to have trouble scoring points. The good news is that Wulff, a former O-Lineman, has four starters back on the line in the second year using his scheme and I would be surprised if the Cougars allowed 43 sacks like last year. The quarterbacks will be significantly better with some protection and I think that WSU might actually be able to pass the ball this season. The bad news is that junior Jeshua Anderson is the only receiver returning with any experience, so a large group of youngsters will need to step up. The running game seems to be the best chance for success as last season’s top two rushers are back and will be augmented by junior transfer James Montgomery, who was the scout team player of the year last fall. I think that starting with a decent running game will be their best chance to improve the Pac Ten’s worst offense. Expect the Cougars to improve slightly but this is still the league’s worst unit.

Defensively, things went quite poorly last year. WSU allowed nearly 44 points per game and their best performance outside of their two wins was allowing 24 points to Hawai’i. The Cougars allowed over 30 points nine times, and over 50 points six times! Even with 8 starters back, this is simply the least talented defense in the Pac Ten. The only major bright spot on the entire defense would be sophomore linebacker Louis Bland, who was a freshman All-American after making 55 tackles last year. To start with, WSU needs to significantly reduce the number of yards allowed on the ground after giving up over 3,000 total rush yards last fall. The good news is that I think another year’s worth of learning and an offense that can actually move the ball and allow the defense to rest will produce a much-improved unit. The bad news is that even if they give up two touchdowns less per game this season, they would still allow more than 30 points per game! Washington State will once more field the league’s worst defense.

The schedule is also very tough. Only five games will be played in Pullman this fall and the conference schedule rotation leaves them with five road league games. Their non-conference schedule includes a visit from SMU and neutral site games against Hawai’i in Seattle and Notre Dame in San Antonio.

Simply put, Wulff inherited a royal mess and it will take some time to turn the ship around. Pullman is almost in Idaho and it is the hardest place in the conference to recruit, giving Wulff even more difficulty in returning his alma mater to prominence. Overall, I expect the Cougars to at least be competitive in most of their games this year after their average losing margin last season was 37 points! Unfortunately, I also think that Washington State will be lucky to match last season’s two win total and I would be absolutely shocked if the Cougars didn’t finish in 10th place in the Pac Ten.

Washington State Big Games: Sept. 5th vs. Stanford, Oct. 10th vs. ASU, Nov. 7th @ Arizona, Nov. 14th vs. UCLA, Nov.21st vs. Oregon St, Nov. 28th @ UW

Washington State ‘s Strength:

The offense, which ranked last in the Pac-10 in total yards last year, at least has potential. Injuries forced Coach Wulff to forget about his intended no-huddle offense, but that will change this year. Senior signal caller Kevin Lopina is the likely candidate to be under center, but his numbers were simply awful in 2008. Sophomore Marshall Lobbestael was not much better. There are a couple other options, but one of those two should step up and take over the starting job. Whether or not they can keep it is a whole different story. The now departed receiver Brandon Gibson was the only legitimate offensive playmaker last year and the Cougars will have to find some new receivers, but at least Jeshua Anderson is back and capable of making some plays. The ground game has the most promise with the return of Dwight Tardy and Logwone Mitz. If the offensive line, led by center Kenny Alfredo, can use the experience they gained last year to create some holes, WSU will be better than it was last year. But it really cannot be any worse.

Washington State ‘s Weakness:

The Washington State State defense gave up an amazing 443.38 yards and 43.85 points per game. The Cougars basketball team almost gave up fewer points than that per game. The pass defense was decent, but that was mostly due to the fact that nobody needed to bother to pass the ball in the second half or they would be accused of running up the score. The pass defense will also be the strength of the unit this year, and not just because the Cougars will get blown out on many occasions. Safeties Xavier Hicks and Chima Nwachukwu are both experienced players and should emerge as the leaders of the defense. The big concerns are in the front seven where sophomore linebacker Louis Bland has to grow up quickly and become a force in the middle of the defense.

Our Prediction for the 2009 Cougars:

At the moment it appears as though there are no dangerous playmakers on offense. Gibson was the only player who should have struck fear into the opposition and now he is gone. It will take some time for the offense to find their new go-to-guys and, in the worst case scenario, there will be none to be found. Despite the win over Washington State and the return of 15 starters, which includes two kickers, the Cougars are probably the least talented team in the conference. Coach Wulff still needs to hit the recruiting trail and get his players into the system before this team will think about reaching a bowl.

Washington State Betting Odds

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