Washington State Cougars College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Washington State Cougars Biggest Key: Offense
The passing identity has to come back. It wasn’t just Mike Leach who made Washington State shine with the passing game, but he certainly took things to a whole other level.
Enter Nick Rolovich, the former Hawaii quarterback who flipped the switch to the run ‘n’ shoot when he was back at his alma mater. He was supposed to step in and everything was going to keep on rolling … and then 2020 happened.
The Cougars and the coaching staff get a break since the Pac-12 season was the weirdest in a weird college football campaign, but now the passing game has to click. More deep threats have to emerge around Travell Harris and Renard Bell, and a quarterback has to rise up and take over the gig, but there’s too much experience and talent to only average around 255 yards per game through the air.
On the slip side …
Washington State Cougars Biggest Key: Defense
Stop … the … pass. The Wazzu defense packed in a whole lot of passing yards allowed into a four game season.
It’s been a problem for a while now. Take out the 2019 bowl game loss to an Air Force team that’s not a force through the air, and the Cougars have allowed 230 or more passing yards in their last eight games and last season got hit for a whopping 307 per game.
There were only two picks to go along with the 11 touchdowns allowed, and there were way too many big plays down the field.
Again, taking out the Air Force game, Washington State is 11-0 over the last three seasons when allowing under seven yards per pass.
Washington State Cougars Key Player To A Successful Season
WR Calvin Jackson, Sr.
The actual key player is the starting quarterback who emerges, but no matter who that is, a playmaker has to step up at the X and stretch the field more. Jackson only caught two passes for 12 yards in his limited work coming from the JUCO ranks, but he’s got the deep speed to open things up for Renard Bell and Travell Harris to get the O going.
Washington State Cougars Key Game To The 2021 Season
at Cal, Oct. 2
This has the potential to be one of those pivot moments every team has to deal with at some point. The Cougars should be good enough to beat Utah State and Portland State to open the season, but USC and Utah to open the Pac-12 campaign is rough. But both of those teams are from the South.
With three straight home games to follow the trip to Berkeley, there’s a chance to go on a decent run if they can beat the Bears on the road for the first time since 2013.
– Washington State Cougars Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2020 Washington State Cougars Fun Stats
– 3rd Down Conversions: Opponents 48% – Washington State 39%
– Average Passing Yards Per Game: Opponents 307 – Washington State 255
– 2nd Half Scoring: Opponents 91 – Washington State 41