Pullman, Washington – Saturday, the Washington State Cougars football team is back at home to take on the Arizona Wildcats. Can Jake Dickert’s team bounce back from their recent loss to the UCLA Bruins as they face an Arizona team that is almost certainly without its quarterback?

Table of contents

1. Washington State Cougars need bounce back win after losing to UCLA
2. Arizona Wildcats seek to stop losing skid
3. Recent history favors Washington State football vs. Arizona Wildcats
4. 3 storylines for Washington State Cougars vs. Arizona Wildcats
   1. No. 1: Can Washington State keep its offense rolling?
   2. No. 2: How will Arizona move on offense without Jayden de Laura?
   3. No. 3: Will special teams be a factor?
5. Examining Washington State football depth chart vs. the Arizona Wildcats
   1. Talented offensive line anchoring Cougars offense
   2. Cam Ward has plenty of weapons in the passing game
   3. Front seven has looked strong on defense

Washington State Cougars need bounce back win after losing to UCLA

While they’re no longer perfect thanks to a frustrating performance against the UCLA Bruins, the Washington State Cougars come into this Pac-12 matchup with a really solid 4-1 record. Despite that showing against the Bruins, Wazzu has shown plenty of potential in some pivotal wins, such as against Oregon State and Wisconsin.

Now, as the Cougars get set to face the Arizona Wildcats, Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward gets a chance to continue to lead the high-powered passing attack that generates success for this team.

So far, Ward is completing 68.9% of his passing attempts and has thrown for 1,586 yards and 14 touchdowns against just two interceptions.

On top of that, Ward is currently ranked sixth nationally in passing yards per game with 317.2 yards per game and his 14 touchdown passes are tied for 11th in the country.

While Washington State’s defense hasn’t grabbed as many headlines as the offense has, it’s clear the Cougars have some notable talent on that side of the ball.

Coming into this game, Jaden Hicks is among the best tacklers in the Pac-12 as he has 36 tackles through just five games. And as it turns out, Wazzu linebacker Kyle Thornton also has 36 tackles to his name right now. Meanwhile, Ron Stone Jr. has done a solid job of providing pressure and forcing fumbles and could continue to thrive in that role off the edge.

Arizona Wildcats seek to stop losing skid

The past few weeks have almost certainly been infuriating and heart breaking for Arizona Wildcats football fans. They’ve come so close to getting some major wins against some of the best teams in the conference, and yet the Wildcats have lost both of their games against the Washington Huskies and the USC Trojans.

Arizona started the year 2-1 with an overtime road loss to the Mississippi State Bulldogs in a turnover heavy game. Then the Wildcats escaped a close one against the struggling Stanford Cardinal just to fall short against the Huskies and Trojans in back-to-back weeks.

And now there’s a very real chance that Arizona will be without the services of former Cougar quarterback Jayden de Laura, who is one of the most exciting quarterbacks in the Pac-12.

Recent history favors Washington State football vs. Arizona Wildcats

While it’s not like these two Pac-12 teams have really faced each other all that often, they’ve met often enough to see some interesting trends take place between these two teams.

But as of late, when the Cougars have met up with the Wildcats, things have worked out well for Washington State.

Right now, Washington State is on a three-game winning streak over the Wildcats. On top of that, the Cougars have won four of the last five and six of the last 10 matchups with Arizona.

The Wildcats did have a notable measure of success against Wazzu prior to the arrival of Mike Leach, but this has been a contest that Washington State has won more often than not over the past decade.

3 storylines for Washington State Cougars vs. Arizona Wildcats

As the Cougars return from the road to meet up with the Wildcats, there are some important storylines to keep up with. Here are three of the biggest you need to watch for this weekend:

No. 1: Can Washington State keep its offense rolling?

With Washington State largely relying upon Cam Ward to throw the ball effectively so that the Cougars can keep moving up and down the field with ease, there have been multiple occasions that we’ve seen this offense slow down at inopportune times so far this season.

Still, Washington State shouldn’t have too much trouble as long as Ward is kept upright. Arizona does have a fascinating defensive front, so that should be something to keep an eye on.

No. 2: How will Arizona move on offense without Jayden de Laura?

Look, Jayden de Laura is an incredibly valuable member of Arizona’s offense and arguably one of the most important aspects of the Wildcats’ roster this season. But while he’s fascinating and fun to watch, he’s far from being the only talented member of Arizona’s offense.

And if de Laura is truly out this week, then it’ll be intriguing to see how Jedd Fisch and the Wildcats work around not having their starting quarterback.

Regardless of who is throwing the ball for the Wildcats, Washington State’s Jaden Hicks and Sam Lockett III will be prepared to provide some pretty tough coverage for the Cougars.

And if Ron Stone Jr. can get after the quarterback, then this defense could cause some problems for the Arizona offense.

The Cougar secondary featuring safeties Jaden Hicks and Sam Lockett III will need to have tight coverage. Getting pressure on de Laura with edge rushers like Ron Stone Jr. could also lead to mistakes.

No. 3: Will special teams be a factor?

Nobody ever wants to see their special teams be a deciding factor for their favorite football team, but should that be the case, Washington State is pretty prepared, all things considered.

WSU’s very own Dean Janikowsk has been really reliable when it comes to field goal kicking and the Cougars should be able to trust him if this games requires that.

And given that Arizona has played in a number of close games so far this season, (four of six have ended up being decided by seven or fewer points) and the Wildcats have already played in two overtime games, Washington State will want to have any sort of stability on special teams should a late game situation force the Cougars into a big field goal situation.

Examining Washington State football depth chart vs. the Arizona Wildcats

As the Washington State Cougars come off of a bye week, they get to face a team that is facing some injuries and has been through a string of frustrating losses. How will Wazzu fare against Arizona this weekend?

Here are some key areas to watch on the Wazzu depth chart as the Cougars face the Wildcats in Pullman:

Talented offensive line anchoring Cougars offense

It’s hard to score points if your offensive line isn’t that great. No matter how good your quarterback is, if the offensive line isn’t able to protect him, that skill doesn’t matter.

Thankfully for Washington State, there’s a fair bit of talent and experience anchoring this offensive line.

Konner Gomness sits at center with 22 consecutive starts and 26 career starts to his name. Ma’ake Fifita and Christian Hilborn sit alongside Gomness on the offensive line at the two guard spots. Around them, the Cougars have Esa Pole and Fa’alili Fa’amoe to provide some serious size at both tackle positions as they stand at 6’7″ and 6’5″.

It’ll be fascinating to see how this unit matches up with an Arizona defensive front that has the talent to cause problems.

Cam Ward has plenty of weapons in the passing game

This Washington State offense very clearly enjoys throwing the ball and it’s clear the Cam Ward is able to connect consistently with some really talented pass catchers. So far, there are five guys who have really stood out this season.

Josh Kelly has managed to catch 26 passes for 376 yards and 5 touchdowns. Lincoln Victor has played in 4 games, but he’s got 24 receptions for 337 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Kyle Williams brings another 24 receptions and a team leading 387 receiving yards to the table along with 4 more touchdown catches. And while Carlos Hernandez doesn’t have a touchdown so far this season, he’s been reliable with 20 catches for 162 yards.

As Ward has already thrown for over 1,500 yards so far this season, expect the Cougars to continue to attack through the air.

Front seven has looked strong on defense

Washington State’s defense isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but pass rushers like Ron Stone Jr. and Brennan Jackson have already demonstrated that they can cause problems for opposing offenses.

With Nusi Malani and David Gusta holding things down on the inside of the line, Wazzu has athletic and solid defensive linemen to provide a stout defensive presence up front.

And then of course there’s also the Cougars’ tackling machines like linebacker Kyle Thornton and safety Jaden Hicks helping to round out this defense.

It’ll be fascinating to see how this group performs against Arizona’s offense.