The Pacific-12 Conference championship will be on the line when Washington State plays Oregon State on Saturday in Corvallis, Ore. Or perhaps that should be the Pac-2 championship.
With 10 teams bolting for other conferences this fall, the Cougars (8-2) and Beavers (4-6) are all that’s left of the Pac-12.
That makes Saturday’s showdown the lone conference game of the season.
There seemingly was a camaraderie that developed between the two schools as they’ve tried to keep the brand alive. But WSU coach Jake Dickert isn’t buying the friendly territory chatter as the Cougars hit the road.
“First thing, I’ve never gotten into, like, they’re our buddy. Oregon State’s not our buddy. They would have left us as fast as we would have left them. This is what it is. It’s one of our biggest rivals now,” Dickert said. “That’s the way I looked at it. That’s not bulletin board material. I hope they would say it the same way, let’s go compete. We’ve been waiting to compete with these guys.
“They’ve dealt with a lot of adversity. We’ve dealt with a lot of adversity. I think it’s going be an energized (game). Their stadium is going to be packed, and there’s going to be a lot of Cougs there. To know that this is going to be opponent that we’re going to play for a long time, let’s go do it.”
The Cougars dropped out of the College Football Playoff race with a stunning 38-35 loss at New Mexico on Saturday. The loss wasted a peak performance from quarterback John Mateer completing 25 of 36 passes for 375 yards and four touchdowns.
The Beavers have lost five consecutive games, including a 28-0 defeat Saturday at Air Force.
“When you lose like we’ve lost the last five weeks, it’s never just one thing, and it’s certainly not just the players,” Beavers coach Trent Bray said. “Absolutely, I challenge myself and the coaches to come up with a better way to get these guys to perform at the level we know.”
The Beavers’ biggest problem is at quarterback. Transfer Gevani McCoy has started eight of nine games, but has twice as many interceptions (six) as touchdown passes (three) and was benched at halftime last week for freshman Gabarri Johnson. Junior Ben Gulbranson has starting experience but missed last week’s game with an injury.
“It’s hard to get a beat and a pulse on them,” Dickert said. “I’m sure that’s what they’re feeling a little bit offensively too, as well, and who gives them the best chance of winning. We’ll prepare for all three (QBs).”
–Field Level Media
