Washington State's Jake Dickert on Arizona State, Jayden Daniels
Much of the focus from Washington State's 34-21 victory over Arizona State will be centered around the Sun Devils. ASU, a favorite to at least contend for the Pac-12 championship, lost their third matchup in six games on Saturday, seeing hopes of winning the South division derailed for the time being.
However, credit must be given to the Cougars, who have overcame some adversity of their own. After losing head coach Nick Rolovich and four assistant coaches following their refusal to be vaccinated, the Cougars nearly defeated BYU, falling 21-19 just four days following Rolovich's release.
Washington State then traveled to Tempe and completely embarrassed a Sun Devils team coming off a bye week with extra time to prepare and game-plan for WSU.
Make no mistake about it, the Cougars can play football. Prior to Rolovich's release, Washington State had won three straight games, defeating Stanford (who upset Oregon) and Oregon State, which is playing some of the best football in the Pac-12 at the moment.
The Cougars came into the game as 15-point underdogs, and emerged as 13-point victors in a game where the margin could have easily been higher. Interim head coach Jake Dickert spoke about facing Arizona State following his team's win.
"I think we won this game because we played harder. That's an immensely talented team," Dickert said following the game. "That's a very talented Arizona State team that our guys were just really excited to play and compete and be out there together and just prove who we can be and I just think that shows . . . You don't work football, you play football. And our guys played it. It's fun, and they enjoy it, love being around each other and I just thought that showed for 60 minutes.”
Washington State contained Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels throughout the game, forcing two interceptions and only 31 rushing yards on 10 attempts Saturday.
"He's an elite level player. He’s an NFL player. I thought our guys had an awareness. There were times we needed to spy him and there were times we needed to be aggressive towards him. We needed (to force) him to make some bad decisions on the run, and I felt like we did that," Dickert said.
"We got some pressure on him, and it's not always about the hits, it's about forcing some bad throws and then taking advantage of those types of situations. You can't just stop a guy like that. You have to try to limit the situations and just always change up the pictures, and I thought we did a good job. Our rush lanes were really good and had some opportunities to make plays and some of our guys went out and did it."
Dickert said the team didn't embrace the underdog role, despite many believing Arizona State was the superior team.
“Not one time did we talk about being an underdog in this football game," he said. "We went into this game confident. We had a plan. We knew we would have to execute, and we'd have to play well against a good football team.
"By no means did we play the underdog card. We're confident in our ability, and confident in what we can do, and we’re playing good football and playing good football at the right time in the season. That's what good teams do, and we just keep progressing and getting better and learning. I think our 'want-to' is high and our care and love for each other is very high and I think that was really evident today."