Washington State Football: 3 Takeaways from Cougars win over EWU
By Ed Stein
The Defense can be really good, then again…
Washington State football fans have to be ecstatic with their defense so far this season. How could they not be, their team has only given up an average of 15 points per game. The defense has also been stingy yielding yards as well giving up only 677 in three games.
As much as those numbers should be a ringing endorsement of a defense poised to wreak havoc on the PAC-12, questions exist. Eastern Washington was the first team the Cougars forced more than one turnover from. It’s a good thing they did because the FCS school gained 372 yards on WSU’s vaunted defense.
Washington State only got two sacks on Eagles quarterback Gage Gubrud. With USC looming on the horizon that should be a huge red flag. Even if Southern Cal isn’t having their best season, you can bet that their offensive line is exponentially better than Eastern Washington.
What should also be of some concern was that all three Eastern Washington scoring passes were over 25 yards. Again USC isn’t Eastern Washington, defensive lapses, no matter how good the unit plays the rest of the time, could sink the Cougars. When Washington State is focused, they can give any team in the conference trouble.