The first games of the college football bowl season will take place on Friday. The first Pac-12 bowl games are on Saturday. A pair of Pac-12 teams will be part of genuinely interesting bowl matchups: Oregon State battles Florida in the Las Vegas Bowl and Washington State faces Fresno State (the Mountain West Conference champion) in the LA Bowl.
Notably, the Washington State Cougars’ chances in the LA Bowl took a massive hit: Both coordinators left the program recently for different positions. Offensive coordinator Eric Morris was named head coach at North Texas, and defensive coordinator Brian Ward joined Kenny Dillingham’s staff at Arizona State.
On top of that, the Fresno State Bulldogs are one of the hottest teams in the nation, as they have won eight straight since falling to a 1-4 record to start the season. An injury to quarterback Jake Haener was the central reason they struggled out of the gate. Since he came back to the lineup, the Bulldogs haven’t lost.
Washington State is losing both of its coordinators.
OC Eric Morris has accepted the head coaching position at North Texas.
DC Brian Ward previously accepted the DC position at Arizona State.— Stephan Wiebe (@StephanSports) December 14, 2022
Head coach Jake Dickert did a good job in his first full season as the Cougars’ head coach, dealing with a limited offensive line and trying to get some level of continuity on offense. The Cougars finished 7-5.
However, with neither coordinator making their way to LA for the game, things will be even more difficult against a scorching hot Fresno State team that has Jake Haener and Jordan Mims playing in their final collegiate game with the NFL on their mind.
This game will feature one of the most interesting QB battles of the bowl season, as Cameron Ward and Jake Haener face one another. Fresno State will come in with a huge advantage and a massive winning streak, while the Cougars try to find a way to get by without either coordinator.
The game starts just after 12:30 p.m. in Los Angeles. ABC Sports will broadcast the game.
Here’s the bowl schedule for the weekend and for all bowls through December 27.
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