In road matchup against Colorado State, WSU faces potential turning point of Jimmy Rogers’ first season

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – In a couple months, winter will arrive and Washington State will look back on this season, the first under coach Jimmy Rogers. Maybe the Cougars will feel proud of their accomplishments, of the way they capitalized on a brutal road stretch. Perhaps they will regret the way things went.

“We gotta prepare to go on the road in what we expect to be a hostile environment,” Rogers said.

Either way, the rest of this WSU season may be colored by its three upcoming away games, which begins Saturday against Colorado State . Depending on how the group performs, if coaches can solve their defensive woes and kickstart their running game, it may make or break their season.

After this trip to Fort Collins, Washington State (2-2) gets a bye week, then hits the road to take on No. 13 Ole Miss and then will travel even further east, visiting Virginia. For a team based in the northwest, it may be one of the most difficult travel schedules in the country, regardless of the opponents.

The Cougs’ bowl hopes may rest on this span. WSU has made a bowl game in nine of the last 10 full seasons, a point of pride for the program. If the Cougars drop each of these three upcoming road games, they will have to win four of their five final regular-season games to get to six wins and keep that trend alive, a daunting task with two more road games in that stretch. But if they can take down the Rams, the Cougs give themselves a little more room for error.

Either way, to make the most of this trip, WSU will have to take down a floundering CSU squad, set for 4:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network, a matchup of future Pac-12 foes. Trying to end a two-game skid, the Cougs have lots to correct from its past two losses: They will try to spark their running game, which ranks among the worst nationwide, and they will try to shore up their defense, which has yielded more than 100 points in their last two games.

Can WSU check those boxes? That much may depend on individual matchups. The Rams have a new quarterback, sophomore Jackson Brousseau, who took over in the fourth quarter of his team’s home loss to UTSA last weekend. Replacing starter Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, Brousseau led back-to-back touchdown drives to pull within one in the final seconds, but the Rams couldn’t convert a go-ahead 2-point conversion.

With that setback, Colorado State dropped to 1-2. The Rams opened by hanging with Washington for some three quarters before dropping a 38-21 decision. Then they returned home, where they trailed nearly the entire time against FCS Northern Colorado, only for Fowler-Nicolosi to give CSU the lead late in the fourth quarter, preserving a narrow win.

All of that preceded Colorado State’s latest outing. In their loss to UTSA, the Rams never led. They punted on six of their first seven drives. Not until Brousseau came on in relief did CSU’s offense roar to life, which is why he’s expected to start against WSU on Saturday.

The good news for WSU here: Even if the Rams surprise everyone and roll out Fowler-Nicolosi, the Cougars’ defense is likely in for an easier time than last week. Neither CSU QB is very mobile. WSU has struggled to defend quarterbacks of that ilk, from Idaho’s Joshua Wood to Washington’s Demond Williams Jr., the latter of whom piled up five total touchdowns in last week’s Apple Cup. That’s where the Cougs’ tackling issues have shown up most.

Can WSU limit Colorado State’s offense, which ranks No. 81 nationally, according to Pro Football Focus? The Cougars would do well to generate pressure on Brousseau, who isn’t one to use his legs very much, and force him to make plays on the move. The Rams’ offensive line has yielded one sack on 21 pressures, per PFF, perhaps opening up opportunities for the Cougs’ pass rush.

That unit could be in for a promising showing. Against UW, WSU’s pass rush generated three sacks on 16 pressures, including one sack apiece from defensive ends Buddha Peleti and Isaac Terrell, plus linebacker Parker McKenna. On the year, the Cougs have registered seven sacks for a loss of 64 yards – good for No. 87 nationally. It’s been a strength of their defense, especially when they bring pressure from the second level, like at linebacker.

WSU could use a lift from that side of the ball. The Cougs yielded 59 points in a loss to North Texas and 52 in a setback to Washington (seven came on a pick-six). They’re allowing 35.3 points per game. Only 10 other teams are allowing more on average. There are lots more layers to that problem – WSU ranks last nationally in where its defense starts drives – but perhaps the more troubling issue for that group is its tackling.

Washington State has missed 67 tackles on the year, according to PFF, which is fourth-worst nationwide. Redshirt freshman linebacker Anthony Palano leads the country with 11 whiffs. That won’t fly against Colorado State’s rushing attack, powered by running backs Jalen Dupree and Lloyd Avant, who have combined for 375 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 65 carries.