Cal Football: 5 Questions For a Washington State Beat Writer

Greg Woods discusses the Cougars' 4-0 start and their ongoing five-game losing streak.

Washington State, which visits Memorial Stadium on Saturday for the Bears' final home game of the season, has been one of the most surprising teams in the Pac-12.

It was a surprise when they knocked off Wisconsin and Oregon State, a pair of ranked opponents, earning themselves a No. 13 spot in the AP Top-25.

And it's been a surprise to watch their fall since then, five straight defeats, including a couple where they failed to score even 10 points.

Greg Woods, WSU beat writer for the Spokesman Review in Spokane, Wash., agreed to answer our 5 Questions about the Cougars (4-5, 1-5 Pac-12) prior to their matchup with the Bears (3-6, 1-5) at Memorial Stadium.

In the video at the top of this story, Woods explains what was working so effectively during the Cougars' 4-0 burst from the gate. It started with quarterback Cam Ward, who through four games was completing 75 percent of his passes for an average of had 13 touchdown passes and no interceptions.

“Cam Ward looked awesome. He was super accurate. He had all these new weapons to throw to between Josh Kelly and Kyle Williams," Woods said. "Taking down Oregon State and Wisconsin — those were two ranked wins at the time. They just had it rolling on all cylinders.”

The 4-0 start was derailed by a 25-17 loss at UCLA and the Cougars went on to an 0-4 month of October.

Woods talks above about how the wheels have come off for the Beavers, including their 10-7 home loss last weekend to a Stanford team that arrived in Pullman allowing nearly 38 points per game.

"At least on offense, the biggest change had to do with tape being out on them," he said. "UCLA has the personnel to try this scheme, which was just rush three or four and drop everybody else in coverage . . . which took away all of Ward's options down field.

"He was dropping back and even when he did have time, he couldn't see anybody because there were eight guys. Not every team has UCLA's personnel, but what UCLA did was give WSU's personnel the blueprint for how to beat them."

Over the past five games, Ward's numbers have dropped to a 65-percent completion rate with just four TDs and four picks.

Most striking about the Cougars' offensive collapse has been their inept run game. Even with defenses dropping so many players into coverage, WSU has not been able to take advantage by running the ball.

They rank 11th in the Pac-12 in rushing offense and against Stanford last week had just 4 net yards rushing. During the five-game losing streak, WSU has averaged just 39.2 rushing yards.

"Well, the running game has been inept all season. This is not a new thing," Woods said. "Their only good, consistent rushing game (229 yards) was a win over Northern Colorado, which is an FCS team.

"Against FBS competition, we're nine games into the season and they just have not been able to establish much of a threat on the ground."

Woods said starting running back Nakia Watson "doesn't have much of a burst," and there aren't a lot of viable options. Another issue is the Cougars have recruited offensive linemen with pass-blocking skills for the Air Raid offense, and those big guys aren't well-suited for run blocking.

Senior edge Ron Stone Jr. has been one of the Pac-12's most effective pass rushers in recent seasons, a first-team all-conference selection in 2021, a second-team pick a year ago.

Stone has 14 career sacks but has gone six consecutive games without one. We asked Woods what has happened to the 6-foot-3, 240-pounder.

"I don't think anything has happened to him so much as teams have really game-planned around him and Brennan Jackson, their other star edge. They're double-teaming him . . . obviously going to struggle against that. 

"But offense are also making an effort to get the ball out faster. They're realizing the way to beat these guys on the edge is to throw quick passes and give them less time to rush the passer."

Finally, we asked Woods how WSU fans view the Cougars right now and what it might take for the team to salvage its season.

"I think the fans are just befuddled. It's such a bizarre season where they look awesome the first four games, ranked as high as No. 13 in the country. And then to lose these next five, it would confuse any fan base," he said.

"What on earth has happened to our team? Did they get a spell put on them by a witch? It's frustration combined with a lot of confusion."

In terms of flipping the script at this point, Ward said, "The easy answer is to just run the ball. I don't think it can go (overstated) just how much of an issue that really is. It kind of all runs together, where defenses don't respect their ability to run the ball, and so they drop off seven or eight guys in coverage.

"And that takes away Cam Ward's best attribute, which is throwing the ball, obviously. "

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Cover photo of WSU quarterback Cam Ward being pressured against UCLA by Gary A. Vasquez, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo