The final score of this one really does not fairly represent the dominant fashion in which the Cougars played on Saturday in Tempe, as Washington State (5-4 overall, 4-2 conference) put away Arizona State (5-3, 3-2) by a score of 34-21. According to WSU broadcaster Matt Chazanow, this was the second-largest margin of victory ever for WSU in Tempe.
WSU came out in the opening minutes with passion and purpose at Sun Devil Stadium, forcing three straight turnovers on defense and finding the end zone on four of six offensive possessions in the first half. The Arizona State faithful managed to avoid traffic by heading out of the stadium late in the third quarter, at which point a traveling Cougar fanbase outnumbered the Sun Devils and brought a taste of Martin Stadium to the desert.
This week’s gold star goes to none other than interim coach Jake Dickert, who earned his first career win as a head coach after a dominant outing from his defensive unit. Athletics director Pat Chun awarded Dickert the game ball after the matchup, as seen on this video shared by the WSU football twitter account. Should Dickert keep the momentum going and bring WSU to the post season for a sixth-consecutive season, he should be seriously considered for the head coaching job going forward.
WSU will now have an opportunity to recover in Week 10 with a late-season bye week, which will help the team prepare for their biggest matchup of the season against the Oregon Ducks. Oregon figures to be an AP top-10 program coming into the matchup, but the Cougars have won 4 of the last 6 in the series and will bring a 4-game conference win streak with them into Autzen Stadium on November 13th.
CougCenter was in Tempe covering the game’s biggest moments and plays. This is a long one, so hunker down and enjoy!
Missed previous photo galleries? Check them out below!
9/4/21 – WSU versus Utah State
9/11/21 – WSU versus Portland State
10/9/21 – WSU versus Oregon State
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