Washington college football preview
- Story byColumbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, Wash.
- Washington college football preview
Oct. 9—MOSES LAKE — Another week of Washington college football is ahead of us this weekend as multiple top programs head into key matchups, some being must wins.
University of Washington Huskies (3-2)
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After an undefeated start, the Huskies have sputtered recently, dropping their last two games to Minnesota and USC. They'll look to get back on track Friday when they host the Iowa Hawkeyes at 6 p.m.
After a competitive loss to the USC Trojans, Head Coach Jedd Fisch remained optimistic in the wake of a disappointing result.
"Great football game that came down to the last 50 seconds of the game," Fisch said in a postgame press conference. "We just fell short, we had a third down on the 13-yard line and took a sack there, and they made the fourth down pretty difficult."
Despite taking five sacks, quarterback Demond Williams Jr threw for 198 yards and a touchdown without turning the ball over, according to UW Athletics. Meanwhile on defense, they forced one sack for a loss of nine yards total while also forcing a turnover thanks to an interception by Rylon Dillard-Allen.
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After playing four home games over the course of 21 days to begin the season, UW will now play just one home game (Iowa) over a span of 41 days. This will also be the first trip to Husky stadium since 1963 for the Hawkeyes.
Washington State Cougars (1-4)
The Cougs find themselves behind the eight ball this week as they travel to Logan, Utah to play the Utah State Aggies on Friday at 6 p.m. Their most recent loss comes at the hands of the Fresno State Bulldogs, who dominated WSU 26-6.
The Bulldogs outgained the Cougars 375-182 Saturday on their way to victory. WSU quarterback Caden Pinnick completed 21-of-34 passes for 152 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.
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The Cougs will have their work cut out for them this week with Utah State's leading running back Javen Jacobs, who averages six yards per carry this season, according to Aggies Athletics.
Head Coach Kirby Moore said his team went straight to work following their loss to the Bulldogs to prepare for the Aggies on a short week.
"The first thing we talked about is fighting division from within right away," Moore said in a Monday press conference. "Naturally there's been areas where we've fallen short and as a leader of this program, it hasn't been good enough. I look forward to working with the offensive staff and calling the plays moving forward. Saturday unfortunately offensively we didn't do enough at the line of scrimmage and running the football, had five sacks, didn't stay on schedule (and) put our defense in a lot of bad positions."
Central Washington Wildcats (3-2)
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After an 0-2 start, CWU has found momentum in the last few weeks as they have won three straight games in dominant fashion. Most recently, they earned a 41-14 win over Angelo State on the road, according to CWU Athletics.
"I'm really proud of our players and our coaches," Head Coach Scott Power said. "This was a complete team win down here in Texas in a place where CWU has never won before. To come down here and win in the way they won, I'm just really proud of these guys tonight."
Quarterback Justin Brennan completed 17-of-23 passes for 245 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and stayed clean in the pocket not allowing a sack all game. He also rushed for 88 yards and two more touchdowns, but leading in that category was Ryder Bumgarner with 108 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown of his own.
The defense also shined, forcing two interceptions and a fumble which was recovered by the Wildcats. They turn their focus to Midwestern State (4-1) when they host the opponent at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
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Eastern Washington Eagles (1-5)
The Eagles find themselves in must-win territory this weekend when they host Northern Colorado at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Eagles have been competitive all season behind an explosive offense led by quarterback Nate Bell, who turned in another career best performance in a 49-38 loss to UC Davis.
Bell completed 39-of-58 passes for 413 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. On the ground, he ran for 107 yards and an additional touchdown. Despite the offense's best efforts, the UC Davis rushing attack was too much to manage as running back Jordan Fisher dashed for 255 yards and two touchdowns against the Eagles defense.
"We played angrier, but it was a common theme. We gave up too many explosive plays on defense and couldn't chisel out seven-point opportunities and had to settle for field goals too often on offense," Head Coach Aaron Best said in a statement by EWU Athletics. "Yards-per-play just was not where it needed to be. There were four- or five-play drives. It felt like we were out there on defense for 25 plays. We didn't come out of halftime with enough vigor. We played hard and together. But the two things that stuck out in my mind the most that we didn't accomplish were scoring inside the 30 and way too many explosive plays."
They'll turn their focus to UNC as they look to get their season back on track after losing four straight.
