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#14 Washington State vs. #24 Stanford: Stream, keys, and predictions

By Eric Robinson

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 21: Dezmon Patmon #12 of the Washington State Cougars celebrates his touchdown with Davontavean Martin #1 and James Williams #32 to take a 24-14 lead over the USC Trojans during the second quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 21: Dezmon Patmon #12 of the Washington State Cougars celebrates his touchdown with Davontavean Martin #1 and James Williams #32 to take a 24-14 lead over the USC Trojans during the second quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 21: James Williams #32 of the Washington State Cougars celebrates his touchdown to take a 10-7 lead over the USC Trojans during the second quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 21: James Williams #32 of the Washington State Cougars celebrates his touchdown to take a 10-7 lead over the USC Trojans during the second quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

Washington State Keys To Victory

Minshew And Company: Since the hiring of head coach Mike Leach prior to the 2012 season, the Cougars have been known for their passing game prowess and excellent production in terms of offensive scoring. This year is no exception as the offense is led by graduate transfer quarterback Gardner Minshew and his FBS-leading 392.1 passing yards per game. Nine different players have at least 11 receptions on the season and those nine players account for 23 of the team’s 24 touchdown receptions on the season. Calling this particular aspect of the offense a well-oiled machine is putting it lightly. The Cougars passing attack is lethal and Minshew must be on his A-game for Washington State to stand tall in this one.

Disciplined Football: You may have to dig a little deep to find kinks in the armor for the Cougars but one thing that does pop off the page is the Cougars ranking 127th in the FBS in penalty yards per game with 76.9. Why is that a big deal here? Well for starters, the Cougars are on the cusp of being a top-10 team in college football and on the radar for a possible CFP spot. Games such as this can easily be viewed as trap games after such an emotional win over Oregon last week. Stanford is a well coached team and the Cougars must avoid making things easier with untimely penalties and free yardage/opportunities. The upper-echelon teams learn how not to shoot themselves in the foot.

Defense Wins On Early Downs: Stanford’s approach on offense is plenty of run and a slight mix of the pass with more run game to come. However, this season, Stanford’s run game has not been it’s normal self thanks to the injury bug and overall ineffectiveness. Washington State must win on early downs to force 3rd-and-longs for the Stanford offense and get them out of their element. The Cougars are 19th in the FBS in yards per play allowed at 4.6. In this one, they may have to rack up several tackles for loss to take Stanford out of their comfort zone.

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