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Washington State Cougars @ Oklahoma State Cowboys Football Preview

This game is not going to be met with a lot of happiness by either side. For different reasons and in different contexts, both Washington State and Oklahoma State do not have much reason to be optimistic about 2010.

Washington State has won all of three games the past two seasons under Coach Paul Wulff. Moreover, had the Cougars not managed to snare two pick-sixes against bowl-bound Southern Methodist last year (both of those theft-and-score plays covering more than 50 yards), they wouldn’t have had a ghost of a chance of overcoming a 24-7 second-half deficit. Somehow, Wazzu pulled out a 30-27 overtime win over the Mustangs (the eventual Hawaii Bowl champions). That remarkable comeback became the only win for WSU against 11 losses. That set of details alone should tell college football fans just how far this program has fallen since a two-year stretch (in 2002 and 2003) when the Cougars played Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl (losing to the Sooners by a 34-14 count) and then whipped Texas, 28-20, in the Holiday Bowl the following season.

On the other side of the divide in this game, the Oklahoma State perspective – while not nearly as dreary as it is in the Palouse (where WSU is showing all the heft of a bottom-rung WAC program) – is dark enough for the locals, who want to escape the long shadow of Texas and Oklahoma, the very teams Washington State used to play in big bowl games.

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The Cowboys from the Big 12 South have been gutted by graduation. OSU returns just four starters on both offense and defense; a total of eight returning starters is no way to follow up a Cotton Bowl season with something equally successful. Coach Mike Gundy has running back Kendall Hunter… and just about nobody else. Texas and Oklahoma should whack Oklahoma State this year, and Texas A&M will be favored to take down the Cowboys, a reality that did not exist the past few seasons. Moreover, OSU’s Big 12 North games include a date with division favorite Nebraska.

To put a finer point on OSU’s bleak outlook in 2010, offensive tackle Russell Okung – who was such an anchor for the big uglies up front – is now a Seattle Seahawk. Receiver Dez Bryant – who was taken from the team last year due to a ridiculously strict punishment from the NCAA for lying about some of his interactions with retired football player Deion Sanders – is now a Dallas Cowboy. Zac Robinson, the very capable pilot of the Cowboys’ offense, is no longer the quarterback, but at least on this score, the team will be okay in the coming months. Brandon Weeden filled in well at certain points of the 2009 season and should be okay. Nevertheless, it will be hard to expect OSU to be as formidable on offense as it was last season. Given the substantial numbers of players lost on defense, it’s really hard to think this team can remain in the South race long enough to be a true contender.

This OSU team – which entered November in previous years with an outside shot at a division championship – is likely to lose at least four games in 2010, and very possibly five. Games like this, against one of the worst programs in all of college football over the past three years, becomes a must-win and a needed occasion to develop as many players as possible. The non-conference schedule for the Cowboys has, in past years, tried to catapult them to national championship-level prominence. This year, the non-conference slate is designed to prop up this team’s record and preserve a lower-tier bowl bid (instead of an early trip home for the holidays) for this OSU crew.

The Cowboys hope they get their bang for the buck this Saturday. They won’t get many other chances to severely outclass opponents this fall.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer