Washington State Football: What you need to know for EWU 9/15/18

Washington State Football continues this week in Pullman as the Cougars face Eastern Washington. Emerald City Swagger has all you need to know.

Emerald City Swagger presents, what you need to know in order to enjoy Washington State Football this week when the Cougars host the Eastern Washington University Eagles. Whether you are going to the stadium to see the game live, or staying at home and watching on television, we have you covered.

Who: Eastern Washington Eagles at Washington State Cougars.

Where: Martin Stadium – Pullman, Washington.

When: 5 p.m. PDT

TV: Pac-12 Network

Line: No line available/Off the board

Last Week

Eastern Washington University pulled out a five-point win over the Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks in Flagstaff last Saturday. The Eagles were comfortably ahead 28-13 after three-quarters of action. NAU staged a comeback, but Eastern Washington was able to hold off a fourth-quarter rally to win 31-26

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EWU Quarterback Gage Gubrud had a huge day. He completed 18 of 33 passes for 322 yards and four touchdowns. Nsimba Webster was his primary weapon, bringing in seven Gubrud passes for 176 yards and three Tds. The redshirt junior quarterback was also dangerous on the ground, running for 80 yards on six carries. Running back Sam McPherson broke a 94-yard run as part of his 161-yard rushing total.

The Washington State Cougars pitched a shutout at home over the San Jose State Spartans, 31-0. This game was never in doubt after WSU Gardner Minshew threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Davontavean Martin 2:05 into the game.

Minshew had an up and down game. On the bright side, he threw for three touchdowns as part of a 34-51, 414-yard game. He also ran the ball nine times for 32 yards and a score. That performance was partially offset by his two interceptions.

WSU’s quarterback did a wonderful job of spreading the ball around.10 different receivers had a catch and six of them caught at least four passes. Conversely, the Cougars running attack was nothing special gaining 124 yards on 31 carries.

If parts of the Washington State offense were disappointing, the defense was anything but. They held the Spartans to 109 yards of total offense, nine rushing, and 100 passing. SJS had to earn every one of those 109 yards because the Cougars had five sacks, eight tackles for loss, and forced two turnovers.

This Week

The Cougars had better not look past this game and toward their PAC-12 opener Friday night at USC. They would be making a huge mistake. Two years ago the Eagles pulled off an improbable upset win over WSU. Eastern Washington has one of the top FCS programs in the country.

The passing game isn’t as much of a concern for Washington State coach Mike Leach as the running game is. Last week his team averaged 4.0 yards a carry against a below average defense. the Cougs need to step up their ground game because that won’t fly in conference play. Minshew should be equally as dangerous this week as he was last week. Additionally, the air raid offense may show a new wrinkle or two today.

Washington State’s defense will make the game difficult for Gubrud. First, his team won’t have much success running the ball. He won’t have much time to set up and throw, either. Gubrud will find that the Cougs cover receivers much better than any team he’s seen this season. There will be plenty of EWU three and outs.

Emerald City Swagger's football predictions September 15-17, 2018. dark. Next

Realistically, this game is a Cougars win. If the Washington State Cougars are focused, this will be a good warmup game. If they aren’t, EWU is not the kind of team the Cougs want to let stay close, because they have some talented players. 14 points from the offense should be enough for Wazzu to win due to their stout defense. They move to 3-0.

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