Washington State Cougars Way Too Early Preview

Fans hope to see Rickey Galvin and the rest of the Cougars in the end zone more this season
(Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

The last several years have been tough for the Washington State Cougars. They haven't been in a bowl game since a 2003 win against Texas and have had several coaching changes in that time. Paul Wulff seemed to give the Coug believers reason to hope but was never really able to get the team over the hump. The newest coach of Washington State however, looks to turn that all around. Mike Leach is bringing his air raid offense to the already pass heavy Pac-12 and looks to make use of the most under rated quarterback and wide receiver tandem in the conference.

In Wulff's last season as coach, WSU mad another step forward, doubling their win total from the year before. Even still at 4-8, it wasn't enough for Wulff to maintain his job. They started off with a lot of promise winning 3 of their first 4 games and played UCLA close on the road. That loss against UCLA started the downward spiral though for Wazzu as they dropped the next 5 games in a row before surprising Arizona State on a frigid night in Pullman. They would close the season with an overtime loss to conference newcomer Utah and then in state rival Washington. Hope springs eternal though, a new regime and a new season could turn around a program that was once a fixture near the top of the Pac.

If you don't know who Jeff Tuel and Marquess Wilson are, you'd better ask somebody. Jeff Tuel is on the Davey O'Brien watch list to start the season and Marquess Wilson is a deep threat who found the end zone 12 times last season. Last season Tuel was hampered by injuries and could never really follow up his promising Froshman season in which he threw for nearly 2800 yards. With Leach's proclivity to throw the ball and throw it quickly, it should chop down on some of those 48 sacks Tuel took his first season and accent the passing numbers. One of the top priorities for the Wide Receivers will be to replace Jared Karstetter, an anchor out wide who kept defenses honest and off of Marquess Wilson. That one loss in the WR corps could change the outlook of both Wilson and Tuel's season. Accompanying Tuel in the back field is the tandem of Rickey Galvin and Carl Winston, last season the pair combined for over 1000 yards rushing and 9 touch downs on the ground. Their touches also may increase swinging out of the back field and giving Tuel more targets to throw too. 

Where Leach may find his largest struggle though is picking up on the defensive side of the ball. Last season, the defense allowed over 400 yards per game and nearly 32 points to go with those yards. That is simply not going to cut it going up against the Pac again this next season. Fortunately for the Cougars, they miss USC and QB Matt Barkley this season and get the Ducks at home, so that may prove advantageous for the defense to step up to a level they haven't for quite some time. That defense though, is not inexperienced. They return 4 of the 5 leading tacklers from a season ago, their sole loss among those being line backer Alex Hoffman-Ellis. Among those returning are Damante Horton and Deone Bucannon who patrolled the defensive back field to the tune of 4 and 3 interceptions respectively. Considering those two were also among the most prolific tacklers on the team, they are a bright spot moving forward on an otherwise dismal defense.

So the question looms, can Mike Leach lead the Cougars to a bowl game? If everything goes according to plan for the Cougars, they could see themselves at a 7-5 record, especially if they catch BYU off guard in the first week of the season. However, if players don't buy in to the system or simply can't put it together then they could find themselves stuck with a 3-9 record and having to deal with another season of waiting. It's not unreasonable for the Cougs to make it to a bowl. Things are going to have to fall in line for them though.