Washington State will be getting the airplane ready to head back down to California for a Saturday night showdown against the San Diego State Aztecs.
WSU is now bowl-eligible after just missing out on the postseason a year ago, coming up 5-7 after a heartbreaking Apple Cup loss. With all that in the past, the Cougars (6-1) look to keep the momentum going into the back-half of the season.
They just missed climbing into the latest AP top-25 poll, coming in at No. 26 in the voting, but they have a great opportunity in front of them against the Aztecs (3-3), who have one of the better pass rushes in the conference.
San Diego State ranks inside the top 5 in defensive sacks in the country, with 25 on the season so far. The Aztecs lean more on their defense to keep themselves in tight contests, picking up close 27-24 wins on the road at Wyoming and at home against Hawaii.
The Aztecs are coming off of their bye week, with added rest for this Saturday night matchup and Cougars coach Jake Dickert said his team needs to continue to keep that momentum against a team that had extra time to prepare for the matchup.
āTheyāve been studying our tape for two weeks,ā Dickert said. āWe got to make sure weāre staying ahead of the game a little bit.ā
San Diego State has slowly improved throughout the season, with its offense starting to figure itself out with true freshman quarterback Danny OāNeil averaging just over 240 passing yards in his last three games while limiting turnovers.
Dickert said this San Diego State team has steadily improved throughout the season, which presents Washington State with a challenge on the road.
āYou can watch them in Week 1 and 2 and you can watch them the last couple of weeks and theyāve gotten a lot better,ā Dickert said.
Injury report
Dickert said on Monday that senior punter Nick Haberer is still out with a lingering injury that could potentially see him moved to a medical redshirt season. The Cougars are hoping to have him return healthy next year.
Junior tight end Andre Dollar will also be out against San Diego State, while senior EDGE rusher Quinn Roff, who has been dealing with a rib injury, will be limited early on, but Dickert hopes to slowly build him up throughout the week before his eventual return home to San Diego.
Dickert added after Wednesdayās practice freshman running back Wayshawn Parker should be 100 percent for Saturday against the Aztecs after not finishing the game against Hawaiāi.
āWeāre going to need him to be explosive,ā Dickert said.
And redshirt junior wide receiver Josh Meredith, who sustained an injury against Hawaii, should be ready for Saturday as well.
Offense: What to expect vs. SDSU
Sophomore EDGE rusher Trey White for the Aztecs leads the nation in sacks with 11 total through six games played. The Aztecs have one of the best defensive fronts, similar to Boise State, in forced pressure on the quarterback leading to sacks on second and third down.
Dickert said he sees similarities in White to former Washington edge rusher Braelon Trice, who was one of the best defensive ends in the country last year at forcing quarterback pressures.
āI believe Trice was at UW, he was a menace, [White] is very much the same role for San Diego State,ā Dickert said. āThey allow those guys to get off the ball a lot. ā¦ Theyāre doing a good job of getting a lot of one-on-one opportunities for [White]ā.
The Cougarsā offensive line will have a huge task in front of them to try and limit White as much as possible, to open up the run game and allow for quarterback John Mateer to potentially find some open lanes to run through.
Defense: What to expect vs. SDSU
OāNeil has been developing with more and more games under his belt for the Aztecs, after San Diego State struggled to score in its first few games of the season. The Aztecs have scored 20-plus points in three straight games.
Dickert talked about how the Aztecs offense likes to create mismatches and take advantage of defenses through the RPO or their run game with senior running back Marquez Cooper, who has 670 rushing yards and 6 TDs this season and 4,531 career rushing yards.
āItās very challenging, schematically,ā Dickert said. āYouāre going to stop the run, [Cooper] is like the No. 1 career rusher in the NCAA if Iām not mistaken.ā āItās a very unique challenge schematically of where youāre going to fit those extra numbers and how they scheme to have an answer every time."
The Cougars will be tested against this San Diego State offense that is starting to find its rhythm throughout the coming weeks, especially on the ground, so Washington State will look to stack the box potentially and force OāNeil to throw out the pocket, similar as against Fresno State.
Overview
The Cougars opened as 15-point road favorite over the Aztecs with the over/under set at 55.5 points (All Odds according to ESPNBET).
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. PT from Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego and will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network.
- OLB
- WR
- CB
- S
- ATH
- CB
- S
- DUAL
- DT
- WDE