First look

Time: 3:30 p.m. Saturday. TV: FSN

The records: WSU (1-5, 0-3 in Pac-10); OSU (2-3; 1-1)

Last week: OSU lost to Utah, 31-28

WSU lost to UCLA, 28-3.

Last time: Oregon State defeated WSU, 52-17, in Pullman last season.

The line: OSU by 30.

What it means for WSU

One week the special teams falter, the next the defense. One week the offense can move the ball through the air, the next it can’t move it at all. Six games into Paul Wulff’s inaugural season, the Cougars have yet to put together a complete game. Now comes chance No. 7. Winning is a long shot under the best of circumstances, but playing well in all phases of the game is a possibility. Wulff’s teams have performed ably in Corvallis before, but that was a decade ago with a different program. It’s time for WSU to play that way.

What it means for Oregon State

The simple answer now is a loss to WSU would be devastating to any Pac-10 team. The Beavers are still in the Pac-10 race – remember, they own the head-to-head tiebreaker over USC – but they can’t stumble again, especially against one of the conference’s cellar dwellers. Plus, OSU is coming off a road loss against No. 14 Utah in a game it probably should have won. With all that in mind, don’t expect OSU to look past the Cougars to its next opponent. After all, that’s the other team that’s winless in the Pac-10, Washington.

Key matchup

OSU’s Brandon Hughes and Keenan Lewis vs. WSU’s Brandon Gibson and Jeshua Anderson.

Coming into the season, the Beavers’ secondary was considered the strength of the defense. Cornerbacks Hughes and Lewis, along with safety Al Afalawa, gave them an experienced group to go with an all-new front seven. But Hughes and Lewis have just one interception between them and the Beavers have given up more yards through the air (177.6 per game) than even WSU (176.7). Gibson has been hard to stop – second in the Pac-10 averaging six catches a game – and, when teams have rolled help his way, Anderson has been able to get deep. The one-two punch was the best part of the Cougars’ offense against UCLA, with nine catches for 123 yards and a 50-yarder called back.

Vince Grippi, staff writer