Washington State will look to wrap up the regular season on a positive note and send the seniors off with a win as it hosts Wyoming on Saturday afternoon.
The Cougars (8-3, 0-1 Pac-12) have dropped back-to-back road games to ‘4-6’ teams, losing to New Mexico by a field goal on the road, and then losing to the fellow Pac-12 foe Oregon State by a field goal on the road last week.
The road struggles have continued for WSU, which has had all three losses in road games while also facing challenges in wins against Fresno State and San Diego State away from Martin Stadium. But, the Cougars will look to come back home strong at home in Pullman where they average a blistering 50.4 points per game.
Head coach Jake Dickert made the message clear that this team is playing for when it takes the field Saturday.
“Wyoming has a bunch of unique schemes and we’re playing for our seniors,” Dickert said. “We’ve got to find a way to defend Gesa once again and it’ll be a big deal to be perfect, 6-0, at Gesa Field.”
The Cowboys (2-9, 2-5 Mountain West) have not had the season they had hoped for after losing their first four games of the season, including FCS-playoff team Idaho at home.
Wyoming has used redshirt freshman Kaden Anderson and junior Evan Svoboda both at the quarterback position throughout the season with both signal callers still looking at how to improve the pass game for the Pokes.
Dickert understands Wyoming as much as anyone, and the ‘Cowboy Tough’ mentality the Pokes like to implement through their program shows up with how close they can keep games.
“There’s no quit in this team, you can throw the record out,” Dickert said.
Wyoming will look to play spoiler on the road after almost pulling off the home upset over Boise State last week in Laramie.
The Cougars want to finish the season strong at home on senior day before they find out their bowl game destination after conference championship weekend concludes.
Injury Report
Redshirt junior offensive lineman Devin Kylany missed last week’s game against Oregon State with a knee injury and Dickert said he still remains questionable for Saturday’s matchup against Wyoming.
Kylany is usually at center for sophomore quarterback John Mateer, so redshirt junior offensive lineman Brock Dieu stepped into his role last week and might return Saturday if Kylany is unable to go for senior day.
The Cougars will also be down a couple tight ends as junior Andre Dollar, who has been out for a few weeks now, will look to return during bowl game preparation as will senior Cooper Mathers.
What to expect vs. Wyoming (WSU offense)
The defense for the Pokes is not going to shy away from the battle in the trenches while trying to limit the possessions for your offense, trying to limit the scoring by forcing opposing offenses off the field on those critical downs.
It is relieving for the Cougars, however, to return back home, where they average just north of 50 points a game on the Palouse versus averaging 29.2 points per game on the road.
Dickert said the Cougars will have to be able to establish the run early and maintain it with this Wyoming team that will not quit on the defensive end.
“They can match anyone’s physicality in the country,” Dickert said. “You better bring your hard hat, your pail and your shovel and you better be ready to get after this thing.”
If the Cougars want to win this game, the offense just needs to continue the momentum it has had all season against a Wyoming defense that ranks outside the top 100 in points allowed and opponent rushing yards per game.
What to expect vs. Wyoming (WSU defense)
Wyoming’s physicality in the trenches showed with it holding a good Boise State team to only 17 points at home last week leading to the Cowboys almost having a chance to pull off the upset at home on their senior day last week.
The Pokes transitioned from Svoboda to Anderson due to injury and it has provided a little spark to their offense allowing them to be able to drive down the field with their motion offense and the many schemes they like to run.
The Cougars have recently struggled against motion and “mesh” plays for receivers recently and were not able to get off the field on critical third and fourth downs against Oregon State last weekend with the Beavers running motion plays at the line.
With Wyoming switching from Svoboda back to Anderson last week against Boise State, WSU will have to adjust to the possibility of both quarterbacks entering Saturday’s contest.
“Offensively, they’re going to take the air out of the ball, limit the possessions,” Dickert said. “There’s not one formation that they do where it’s just static, there’s someone motioning on every play.”
Game outlook
The Cougars enter as 18.5-point favorites for Saturday’s game against the Cowboys with the over-under set at 56 points (BetMGM).
Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. PST from Gesa Field at Martin Stadium and will be broadcast on The CW Network.
