A WSU pregame post
COUGARS
We're at Martin Stadium as the students wander in, taking their spots behind the Washington State bench. The clouds have broken up, the sun is shining on the field and there's little to no breeze. Perfect football weather. Perfect homecoming weather. Too bad there has to be an excellent opponent. Read on.
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• Really, isn't homecoming when you invite Northeast Southwestern Internet State and their quarterback, Lefty Harrison, the one-armed bandit, so you pick up an easy win. But no, it's Stanford, 5-0, ranked fifth and seventh in the nation, the Heisman Trophy frontrunner at quarterback, the Pac-12's best defense, and SAT scores somewhere north of 4,500. Kind of the antithesis of the prototypical homecoming opponent. ... So what happens today? Jeff Tuel and Marshall Lobbestael will warm up, both will be ready to go and, as far as I can tell, Tuel will run out on the field with the offense. Will it make a difference? Maybe a little, but enough for WSU to upset one of the most solid teams in the nation? (By the way, I didn't write best on purpose. The Cardinal is just a solid, physical, well-coached football team with flaws that great teams can exploit.) I don't think it will happen. Just being honest. ... But what could WSU do to shock the world – at least the guys at ESPN, who think they are the world? Well, be perfect when it comes to ball security for one thing. The Cardinal doesn't need any help. In fact, it would be nice if they turned it over a couple times as well. Then Washington State needs to finish drives in the end zone instead of settling for Andrew Furney field goals. Finally, the defense has to make Stanford work for its touchdowns. If the Cardinal has eight-play, 1:28 drives all day, the Cougars aren't going to upset anybody.
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• That's it for now. Use this post for your thoughts. We'll be on twitter (vinceg55) for the rest of the game. We'll be back after all the postgame interviews and writing is done. Until then ...
