WSU 2-minute drill

1 Generate pressure with defensive linemen. Trying to rattle California’s quarterback, Jared Goff, by blitzing linebackers is a recipe for disaster. Seeing a few extra rushers won’t distract Goff, one of the country’s most highly regarded passers, and he’s likely to find a receiving target in the space generated by WSU’s blitzers. The Cougars need to keep their linebackers and secondary players back to defend against the pass, but they also can’t simply concede the pass-rush – Goff will pick them apart if he has time to survey the field just as easily as when WSU brings a blitz.

2 Score early. The Cougars are averaging 5.67 points in the first quarter of their games. That’s not going to be enough to keep pace with a Cal offense that is averaging 45.8 points per game. The WSU offense has to match Cal’s scoring in the early quarters or it may be too late to catch up.

3 Lane discipline on special teams. WSU has worked extensively on lane discipline in practice since the Cougars gave up a kickoff return touchdown to Rutgers on a play that saw two or three players leave their lanes. Trevor Davis has the talent and the experience to immediately recognize and take advantage of any lapses by WSU’s cover teams.

4 Tackle Vic Enwere. Washington’s coaches say their defense missed 30 tackles against Cal last week. Most of those attempted tackles were broken by Enwere, Cal’s 230-pound running back. While injured starter Daniel Lasco is expected back today, look for Cal to see if Enwere can get going early. If he’s able to establish a running game, the WSU defenders will start to gravitate toward the running back. If that happens, Goff and Cal’s receivers will exploit the compromised defense.