Washington State is back home to host Hawaii as Cougs look to become bowl eligible (GAME THREAD)

Happy Homecoming, Coug fans. While every football weekend is a homecoming of sorts, this is the official Homecoming that brings the traditional festivities. Hopefully we can add a win to the list of festivities today.

Our Cougs are back home for the first time in almost a month and welcome the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. The ‘bows, as some like to call them, are 2-4 with those two wins coming against FCS teams (Delaware State and Northern Iowa). They’re coming off a loss to Boise State and Ashton Jeanty, so we have that in common.

The Cougs, as you know, are coming off an ugly win on the road against Fresno State. But ugly wins are still wins, and we’ll take the 5-1 record heading into today. WSU’s next win makes it bowl eligible, and each win after that only improves WSU’s bowl bid.

But the task at hand today is to stop Hawaii from ruining the day. There’s nothing about the ‘bows that stands out too much, although this quote from Jake Dickert this week got me a little squeamish:

“It’s our second crack at the run and shoot,” WSU coach Jake Dickert said, referencing the offense San Jose State ran for 52 points against WSU last month. “Unfortunately, it is the second time. The first one did not go so well, so we gotta adjust how we play that, but they’ll also see some of our base ideas for it. So we gotta play that chess match.”

I suppose I feel a little better knowing San Jose State is objectively a better team than Hawaii, and the Cougs have more reinforcements on D this week than they did a month ago. But if this one becomes another shootout, look out.

The good news is Hawaii’s offense is similar to the 2023 WSU offense, in that it relies so heavily on the pass, is awful in the running game, and has a leaky offensive line. We can sympathize, but only for a minute before we take advantage.

On offense, WSU needs to stay on schedule. They started out fine last week before sputtering as the game went on. John Mateer—newly added to the Maxwell Award Watch List—will continue to out-tough just about everyone in the stadium. But Mateer needs to hit his receivers. He badly misfired multiple times last week and it nearly cost WSU the game. As long as the offense doesn’t become constipated—to use a Mike Leach term—they should be just fine. And maybe we’ll see more of Wayshawn Parker today. Just a thought.

Cougs and ‘bows battle this afternoon. Talk about it here.

When

12:30 p.m. PT

Where

After nearly a month, the Cougs find their way back home and this one’s on the field turf on Gesa Field, Whitman County, America.

How to Watch

The CW, with Ted Robinson and Michael Bumpus on the call. This is WSU’s third game on the CW, so if you don’t know where it is on your dial by now, I don’t know what to tell you.

The Line

WSU, -18 (yikes). The O/U is 55.5.

News of Note

Cougville will be open at halftime. Plan accordingly.

“When that Cougar spirit hits you….”

WSU Celebrates the Taylor Sports Complex Grand Opening

The long awaited indoor practice facility—the Taylor Sports Complex—is ready to show off, as the university will host ribbon cutting ceremony this morning. Depending on when you read this, it either will happen soon, is happening, or already happened. If you wanted to attend, too bad, because the ceremony is not open to the public. WSU athletes got a tour of the facility this week: