Arizona St. At WSU

2 p.m., Martin Stadium

Offense

Washington State: The Cougars’ offensive line took another hit this week when it was discovered that Ryan Raymond has a congenital spinal condition, which ends his football career. That means quarterback Jason Gesser will have to scramble even more this week. But Gesser is at his best when he scrambles, although Gesser has been shy when it comes to tucking the ball and running up field. The Cougars were able to run the ball with two tight ends against Arizona last week. That trend should continue this week.

Arizona State: The Sun Devils, not the Cougars, own the No. 1 pass offense in the Pac-10 (266 yards per game). They’ve accomplished that by sending wide receivers Donnie O’Neal and Richard Williams deep and airing out the ball. Both receivers average more than 20 yards per catch. Arizona State coach Bruce Snyder also likes to throw the ball to running back Davaren Hightower. Freshman running back Mike Williams (65 yards per game) is hobbled by an ankle bruise.

Advantage: Washington State

Defense

Washington State: The Cougars have had many problems on defense this year, but the most glaring has been covering the middle of the field. Tight ends and wide receivers have been able to go across the middle anytime they want and pick up 15 to 20 yards a pop. This week, the best tight end in the Pac-10, Todd Heap, will be running those routes. The Cougars will try to assign one man to him, in most cases linebacker Raonall Smith, to shut him down. The Cougars also are going to have problems up front. Defensive end Austin Matson will play sparingly if at all because he has a sprained knee and ankle. Defensive tackle Ing Aleaga is back from a broken foot and will play about 25 plays.

Arizona State: The Sun Devils will have a shaky defensive line. Defensive end Terrell Suggs and defensive tackle Danny Masaniai are both injured and not likely to play. Still, the Sun Devils have a formidable defense led by linebackers Adam Archuleta and Solomon Bates. Archuleta is averaging 10 tackles per game and has nine tackles for loss. Bates is averaging 8.3 tackles per game and has seven tackles for loss.

Advantage: Arizona State

Special teams

Washington State: The kicking game has lost two games for Washington State this year. Two extra points and a field goal were missed in a four-point loss to Idaho. A field goal and an extra point were missed in the overtime loss to Arizona. Anousith Wilaikul is responsible for the miscues against Arizona. The senior will be handling the kicking duties against ASU.

Arizona State: Arizona State kicker Mike Barth is 8 of 12 this year with all of his misses coming from 40-plus yards. The Sun Devils have not had tremendous success on kickoff and punt returns. But the Cougars have been shaky in their kickoff coverage, allowing 21.2 yards per return. Arizona State has had two punts blocked in the past two weeks.

Advantage: Washington State

The score: WSU 45, ASU 42