WSU at Utah: Two-minute drill

1 Protect the quarterback. Washington State’s offensive line showed a lot of improvement last week, holding the Ducks to just one sack. They’ll need to take another big step forward this week to give Connor Halliday time to throw against a defense that’s currently No. 2 in the country in sacks per game.

2 Set line of scrimmage on D. The Utes have a pair of capable running backs in Bubba Poole and Devontae Booker. The Cougars can’t allow the Utah offensive line to create much space in the trenches or those backs will make it tough for the WSU defense to get stops.

3 Put pressure on Travis Wilson. Or, rather, do whatever was working last week when the Cougars sacked Oregon’s Marcus Mariota seven times. WSU will start three freshmen in the secondary for the first time this season and forcing Wilson to make quick decisions before getting hit will help those young defenders get the takeaways the Cougars will need on the road.

4 Don’t allow big plays on special teams. Utah’s Kaelin Clay is a threat to score every time he fields a kick. To prevent him from being a factor, the WSU coverage teams need to play mistake-free and the kickers can do their part by getting touchbacks and forcing Clay to call for a fair catch as often as possible.