Washington State Football: What you need to know for UW 11/23
By Ed Stein
Washington State Football concludes the PAC-12 regular season on Friday as the Cougars host Washington in the Annual Apple Cup game. 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 Washington Huskies in the 2018 Apple Cup. Whether you are going to Martin stadium to see the game live, or staying at home and watching on television, we have you covered.
Who: Washington Huskies (8-3, 6-2) at Washington State Cougars (10-1, 7-1).
Where: Clarence D. Martin Stadium – Pullman, Washington.
When: 5:30 p.m. PDT.
TV: Fox.
Line: Washington Huskies +2, Over/Under 50.5 (Odds Shark).
Interesting Trends: The Cougars are 5-1 against the spread (ATS) in their last six home games and 10-1 ATS in their last 11 games overall. Additionally, the total score has gone over in 10 of Wazzu’s last 14 games.
More from WSU Cougars Football
- Washington State Football: What you need to know for 2018 Alamo Bowl
- Washington State Football: 6 takeaways from 28-15 Apple Cup loss
- Apple Cup: History leading up to the 2018 edition
- PAC-12 Football Power Rankings week of 11/21 – Emerald City Swagger
- Washington State Football: Road to the College Football Playoff 11/22
Key Injuries: Washington, Doubtful – RB Kamari Pleasant (undisclosed). Probable – DB Jordan Miller (leg). Washington State, Out – DL Nnamdi Oguayo (undisclosed), DB Sean Harper Jr. (upper body). Questionable – OL Liam Ryan (undisclosed).
Last Week
Washington
The Washington Huskies took their turn to beat Oregon State last week. They got out to an early 28-3 first quarter lead using three touchdown drives of 75 yards or longer. The rest of the game was played much tighter but OSU was never really in it. Washington went on to a 42-23 win at home.
QB Jake Browning – 17/23, 242 yards, 3 TDs.
RB Myles Gaskin– 18 carries, 135 yards, 1 TD, 4 receptions, 24 yards, 1 TD.
RB Salvon Ahmed – 9 carries, 76 yards, 2 TDs.
TE Cade Otton – 3 receptions, 55 yards, 1 TD.
LB Ben Burr-Kirven – 11 tackles, 1 tackle for loss.
LB Benning Potoa’e – 5 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss.
Washington State
Arizona came into Martin Stadium tied for the PAC-12 South lead, they left on the wrong end of a 69-28 beatdown. Scoring early and often, Wazzu had a 21-7 first quarter lead which grew to 55-14 at the half. The Cougars also out-gained Arizona 605-431. Gardner Minshew II has piled up accolades all season long, last Saturday he added another achievement to his resume. The Mississippi mustache set a new WSU record with seven touchdown passes in the game.
Washington State’s defense forced Zona into four turnovers.
QB Gardner Minshew – 43/55, 473 yards, 7 TDs.
RB Max Borghi – 8 carries, 50 yards, 1 TD, 6 receptions, 65 yards, 1 TD.
WR Tay Martin – 7 receptions, 124 yards, 1 TD.
WR Calvin Jackson Jr. – 5 receptions, 85 yards, 2 TDs.
LB Jahad Woods – 10 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, 1 fumble recovery.
CB Marcus Strong – 5 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, 1 interception.
This Week
2018 has been the year Cougars Nation has been waiting for. The regular season culminates in Friday’s Apple Cup showdown with Washington. A win today continues the dream season. Washington State can vanquish UW, who has won the previous four meetings and claim a PAC-12 North title. Additionally, Wazzu will head to the conference championship game next week against Utah as well as keeping their slim chances to make the college football playoffs alive.
The game is a classic strength on strength matchup. The Huskies primary weapon on offense is their ability to run the ball with Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed. WSU has shut down just about every featured running back they have faced this year. It will be a huge challenge for Washington’s offensive line to open holes.
Washington has perhaps the best secondary in the nation. That group will need to come up big as they face Washington State’s eight-deep receiving corps, any one of whom can make a big play. If the defensive backs are up to this task, the Cougars can still go to James Williams and Borghi in the backfield. As the two-point spread indicated, this will be a close game.
Next. How the Cougars matchup against each UW position unit. dark
Check back with us Saturday for our takeaways from the game.