Washington State Cougars: Game 9 at Stanford – TV, Weather, More
Pac-12 play continues as the Washington State Cougars travel to Stanford this week. Pacific Northwest Sports has all you need to know.
PNWS presents what you need to know as the Washington State Cougars continue their Pac-12 Conference schedule when they host Utah on Thursday night. PNWS has Washington State football fans covered.
Details
Who: Washington State Cougars (4-4 Overall, 1-4 Pac-12) at Stanford Cardinal (3-5, 1-5).
Where: Stanford Stadium – Palo Alto, California.
When: Saturday, November 5, 2022 – 12:30 PM PDT.
TV: Pac-12 Networks. Announcers: Roxy Bernstein and Michael Bumpus. (506sports.com)
Weather: There will be overcast skies at temperatures in the low 60s and a less than 20% chance of rain. (weather.com)
Line: Washington State -4. Over/Under: 48 (Odds Shark).
Interesting Trends
The Washington State Cougars are on a good run against Stanford. They’ve won 5 straight over the Cardinal and covered in the last 6. Speaking of the spread, Wazzu is 13-5 against the line.
Stanford is 3-12 in their last 15 games and only covered the spread twice. Since upsetting Oregon last season in early October, the Cardinal has won only 1 conference game.
Injury Report
Washington State Cougars
Out – WR C.J. Moore (undisclosed), OL Rodrick Tialavea (lower body), WR Renard Bell (arm), RB Nakia Watson (leg). Questionable– DB Jordan Lee (undisclosed).
Stanford Cardinal
Out – RB E.J. Smith, RB Casey Filkins, WR Michael Wilson.
Outlook
Stanford doesn’t provide much offense. Then again, the Washington State Cougars offense hasn’t provided much firepower either.
Offensively, the teams are pretty close to each other in points and yards per game (WSU 23.6, 356.5 – Stanford 23.6, 381.8). Since both are close to the Pac-12 cellar in these stats, expect a defensive struggle.
That’s where the Washington State Cougars have the edge. WSU allows the conference’s fewest points per game (20.8) and fourth fewest yards (364.4). Stanford is 8 points and over 50 yards worse.
Additionally, Wazzu shuts down the run well. Without top backs Casey Filkins and E.J. Smith, it will be hard for Stanford’ to gain much yardage against them. If the Cougs can get pressure on Tanner McKee, they have an excellent chance of winning.
If the Cougs can get pressure on quarterback Tanner McKee, they have an excellent chance of winning. Expect Brennan Jackson, Ron Stone, and Daiyan Henley to come after him.
On the other side, WSU quarterback Cameron Ward has to avoid turnovers. He’s been less effective since Renard Bell suffered an arm injury on October 8 against USC.
It would greatly help their cause if WSU could get some production from the running backs.
Jake Dickert and his staff had 12 days to come up with a plan to beat Utah, and the Cougs came very close. Taking down Stanford on 9 days seems doable. They need to win this game to keep their postseason hopes alive.
Catch up with PNWS on Sunday when we present our biggest takeaways from the game.