The Washington State Cougars just destroyed the Oregon Ducks and became bowl eligible on Saturday night (Oct. 7). WSU came into this game with a 5-0 record, knowing that it might be tough to keep up with the high-octane offense of Oregon. That offense was muted by the WSU defense, though, as the Cougars absolutely shut down the Ducks at every turn. The end result (33-10) was a blow out in favor of the kids from Pullman.
After WSU beat the USC Trojans last week, the voters pushed them up to No. 11 in the latest college football rankings. It added a lot of pressure to a team that has started looking very good under head coach Mike Leach.
The game against Oregon served as the first big road test of the season and it appears that the Cougars have passed that test with flying color. Even the broadcasters called what WSU did to Oregon “total domination” on Saturday.
How did Luke Falk do against Oregon?
WSU quarterback Luke Falk had another amazing game this week. He completed 24-of-42 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns. It was another amazing performance that helped the Cougars score at-will against the Ducks secondary. The team did start off a bit slow in this game, but Falk kept pecking away and eventually started finding huge holes in the defense of the Ducks.
The Washington State Cougars were even more impressive on defense in this game, limiting Oregon Ducks quarterback Braxton Burmeister to just 145 yards passing.
Burmeister completed only 15-of-27 passes, throwing one touchdown and two interceptions on the day. Even the running game of the Ducks couldn’t get the ball moving, as the speedy defense of the Cougars simply outran them to the seams.
What’s next for the WSU Cougars?
After huge wins against the USC Trojans and Oregon Ducks, the WSU Cougars are 6-0 and officially bowl eligible.
The school has sights set on making a big bowl game, though, so they have to keep putting games in the win column. The next few games come against the California Bears (Oct. 13), Colorado Buffaloes (Oct. 21), and Arizona Wildcats (Oct. 28). It will be difficult not to look ahead to the Apple Cup game on Nov. 25 that could end up deciding which school wins the Pac-12 North.
Early on Saturday, the No. 3 ranked Oklahoma Sooners lost. This means that the Week 7 college football rankings are going to get shaken up a bit. That should only help WSU, as it could get the Cougars into the top 10 in the national polls. Will this huge win over Oregon get them closer to the Washington Huskies in the AP Top 25? The Washington State Cougars certainly have reason to celebrate, but maybe it’s time for Luke Falk to tell head coach Mike Leach that he can crack a smile now.
