Season of Intrigue

By Twolf


College football is about to get under way and what would this blog be without a preview of the Washington State Cougars season. This will be an interesting season for Washington State with many questions that will need to be answered. Some of which are; Will we finally see them back in a bowl game? How will the defense preform? Will Paul Wulff be fired and, if so, who will Moos bring in?

Weeks ago I made the prediction that the Cougars would go 6-6, which would give them no problem making a bowl game. Here is how I see the season playing out: Win vs Idaho State, win vs UNLV, loss vs San Diego State, win vs Colorado, close win/loss vs UCLA, loss vs Stanford, win vs Oregon State, loss vs Oregon, win vs Cal, loss vs Arizona State, loss vs Utah, close win/loss vs Washington. With the close games it leaves my prediction with a margin of error of plus/minus a game.

Considering the record I believe Washington State will compile my prediction rests on how the defense will preform. Last season the defense looked good, at times, but for the most part looked like a bunch of lost little puppies. Big plays killed them and, believe me, there were a lot of them (the Apple Cup comes to mind). The offense has the fire power to win games, which means all the pressure will be on the defense to hold the lead. We will soon see how the defense measures up.

This leads us to the final question, whether Paul Wulff keeps his job. Even if the team goes 6-6 in my opinion Paul Wulff should be fired, but he won't be. I have nothing against Coach Wulff and have been rooting for him since he was hired, I simply find it to be a shame that fans have gone from cheering the team to three 10 win seasons in a row to now rooting for a 6-6 season in less than ten years. It is a shame when we, as fans, are settling for mediocrity. If I had my way Bill Doba would have never been hired years ago and Robb Ackey would be leading the Cougars out of the tunnel to yet another bowl game.

I do not begin to think I know the answer to any of the many questions that remain to be answered, but one thing I do know...by the end of the season every Cougar fan around the country will know the answers.