Washington State Cougars: CFN College Football Preview 2021
College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Washington State season with what you need to know.
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Washington State Schedule Analysis
– Washington State Cougars Previews
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2020 Record: 1-3 overall, 1-3 in Pac-12
Head Coach: Nick Rolovich, 2nd year, 1-3 (29-29 overall)
2020 CFN Final Ranking: 76
2020 CFN Preview Ranking: 46
2019 CFN Final Ranking: 76
Washington State Cougars College Football Preview 2021: Offense
– The offense never got a chance to get going in the four-game season, and now the parts are in place to do a whole lot more than 384 yards and 27 points per game. It all starts with hoping to get a whole lot more out of the passing attack. It’s a Nick Rolovich-coached team – the production will be there.
Tennessee transfer Jarrett Guarantano hurt his hand during the spring game, and he has to prove he can be more consistent than he was with the Vols, but he’s got the skills to make this thing go. It’s going to be a fight for the gig, though, with last year’s starter Jayden de Laura and junior Cammon Cooper still in the fight.
– A whole slew of receivers are gone – Jamire Calvin left for Mississippi State and Davontavean Martin took off for Oklahoma State – but the top two targets are back. Travell Harris and Renard Bell were the main men combining for 62 catches of the team’s 94 catches. Now the rest of the corps has to fill in around them and an outside deep threat has to emerge from the pack.
– Max Borghi needs to be used more. Deon McIntosh led the team with 323 yards and three scores with Borghi only playing two games – he had a monster 2019 with 86 catches and 16 total touchdowns – but it doesn’t really matter. Both backs can play, and they’ll keep each other fresh.
The line should do its part to make it all go with four starters expected back around the great tackle combination of Abraham Lucas and Liam Ryan. There’s talent to go along with that experience, but the production has to be there after a mediocre 2020.
– What You Need To Know: Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Washington State Schedule Analysis
NEXT: Washington State Cougars College Football Preview 2021: Defense
4. Washington State Cougars College Football Preview 2021: Defense
– The D is loaded with experience with ten starters expected back and almost every tackler but one in the mix. The D has a long way to go, though, after allowing 462 yards and 39 points per game. There was a decent pass rush and the run D wasn’t bad, but the pass defense was a rumor allowing 307 yards per game.
– Safety Ayden Hector is expected to transfer. He’s the only starter gone – and he came up with one of the team’s two interceptions – but the rest of the secondary at least has experience. It starts with the team’s leading tackler Daniel Isom coming back after making 32 tackles. Nickel defender Armani Marsh can tackle, and the corner rotation is solid, but this group has to make more big plays.
– The linebacking corps should be a plus with Jahad Woods returning for his super-senior year and with Justus Rogers on the inside. These two 230ish pounders can hold their own against the run, and Woods can get behind the line. The front four has decent size, the rotation at tackle is good, and there’s sack potential from the hybrid ends Brennan Jackson and Ron Stone.
– What You Need To Know: Offense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Washington State Schedule Analysis
NEXT: Washington State Cougars College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Washington State Cougars College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Best Washington State Cougars Offensive Player
OT Abraham Lucas, Sr.
One of the nation’s better offensive tackles over the last few years, the 6-7, 319-pound Lucas is a three-time All-Pac-12 performer with power to go along with the size and frame. He’s a right tackle, but he could move to the other side if needed and still be one of the best pure pass protectors in college football.
2. RB Max Borghi, Sr.
3. WR Renard Bell, Sr.
4. WR Travell Harris, Sr.
5. RB Deon McIntosh, Sr.
Related
Washington State Football Schedule 2021, Analysis
Best Washington State Cougars Defensive Player
LB Jahad Woods, Sr.
Back for his super-senior season, the three-time All-Pac-12 performer who also came up with 65 stops in his freshman season now has 319 tackles with 8.5 sacks and 30 tackles for loss.
Throw in seven forced fumbles and an interception in each of his four seasons for good measure. The 6-1, 225-pounder can work inside or out, combining with running-mate Justus Rogers to give Wazzu one of the Pac-12’s better linebacking twosomes.
2. S Daniel Isom, Sr.
3. CB Jaylen Watson, Sr.
4. DE Brennan Jackson, Jr.
5. LB Justus Rogers, Sr.
Top Incoming Washington State Cougars Transfer
QB Jarrett Guarantano, Sr.
A terrific recruit for Tennessee, Guarantano got in plenty of work over four seasons hitting 61% of his passes for over 6,000 yards and 38 touchdowns with 17 picks. Every once in a while he showed off the arm and the playmaking ability to look like he’d turn into a possible star, but it never quite clicked.
At 6-4 and 219 pounds he’s got the right size and the mobility to make plays on the move, and now he’s going to give Jayden de Laura and Cammon Cooper a big fight to run what should be a far stronger Washington State attack.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Washington State Schedule Analysis
NEXT: Washington State Cougars College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Washington State Cougars College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Washington State Cougars Biggest Key: Offense
The passing identity has to come back. It wasn’t just Mike Leach who made Washington State shine with the passing game, but he certainly took things to a whole other level.
Enter Nick Rolovich, the former Hawaii quarterback who flipped the switch to the run ‘n’ shoot when he was back at his alma mater. He was supposed to step in and everything was going to keep on rolling … and then 2020 happened.
The Cougars and the coaching staff get a break since the Pac-12 season was the weirdest in a weird college football campaign, but now the passing game has to click. More deep threats have to emerge around Travell Harris and Renard Bell, and a quarterback has to rise up and take over the gig, but there’s too much experience and talent to only average around 255 yards per game through the air.
On the slip side …
Washington State Cougars Biggest Key: Defense
Stop … the … pass. The Wazzu defense packed in a whole lot of passing yards allowed into a four game season.
It’s been a problem for a while now. Take out the 2019 bowl game loss to an Air Force team that’s not a force through the air, and the Cougars have allowed 230 or more passing yards in their last eight games and last season got hit for a whopping 307 per game.
There were only two picks to go along with the 11 touchdowns allowed, and there were way too many big plays down the field.
Again, taking out the Air Force game, Washington State is 11-0 over the last three seasons when allowing under seven yards per pass.
Washington State Cougars Key Player To A Successful Season
WR Calvin Jackson, Sr.
The actual key player is the starting quarterback who emerges, but no matter who that is, a playmaker has to step up at the X and stretch the field more. Jackson only caught two passes for 12 yards in his limited work coming from the JUCO ranks, but he’s got the deep speed to open things up for Renard Bell and Travell Harris to get the O going.
Washington State Cougars Key Game To The 2021 Season
at Cal, Oct. 2
This has the potential to be one of those pivot moments every team has to deal with at some point. The Cougars should be good enough to beat Utah State and Portland State to open the season, but USC and Utah to open the Pac-12 campaign is rough. But both of those teams are from the South.
With three straight home games to follow the trip to Berkeley, there’s a chance to go on a decent run if they can beat the Bears on the road for the first time since 2013.
– Washington State Cougars Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2020 Washington State Cougars Fun Stats
– 3rd Down Conversions: Opponents 48% – Washington State 39%
– Average Passing Yards Per Game: Opponents 307 – Washington State 255
– 2nd Half Scoring: Opponents 91 – Washington State 41
NEXT: Washington State Cougars College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
Washington State Cougars College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
Everyone in the Pac-12 deserves a bit of a free pass for 2020.
It was a rough run that started late, had no rhythm whatsoever, and it was nearly impossible for the teams that saw game after game get postponed or cancelled to find something that consistently worked.
Washington State and new head coach Nick Rolovich only got four games to work. The defense didn’t do much of anything, the offense had four completely different showings, and there wasn’t too much to take from a 1-3 season.
It also didn’t help that the three losses came to Oregon, USC, and Utah.
Set The Washington State Cougars Regular Season Win Total At … 6
Everyone is loaded with veterans in this year of the super-season, but for a team like Washington State that relies so much on precision with its offensive style – that still applies under Rolovich – having a full offseason with an attack that gets back almost everyone should mean the world.
For a defense that was totally awful, having ten starters and a whole lot of depth coming back can’t help but make things a whole lot easier.
So call Wazzu the Pac-12 wild-card – or, at least, one of them.
It gets USC at home, but it has to go to both Oregon and Washington. The Non-conference slate isn’t bad, but there’s a date with BYU in Pullman. Three’s a run of six home games in the first eight dates, but three of the last four are on the road.
It should all add up to a more fun season with a bowl game, a big upset here or there, and the potential of big things to come as Rolovich and his staff get even more settled in.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Washington State Schedule Analysis
