Facing Colorado in final home Pac-12 game, WSU tries to end a six-game skid

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Nov. 16—PULLMAN — Flip the calendar back two months. Washington State is off to a spotless start. So is Colorado. Both teams are angling for a New Year’s Six bowl — if not a playoff spot.

The Buffaloes, with head coach Deion Sanders at the helm and two stars at the controls, have captured the attention of the nation. The Cougars, trying to prove they belong in a power conference, are making their case. They’ve propped themselves up for different reasons, sure, but both programs are off to promising starts.

How things change. Headed into Friday night’s clash, WSU and Colorado both find themselves at 4-6 overall, both needing to win their final two regular-season games to earn bowl eligibility. It’s the Cougars’ final home game in the Pac-12. The Buffaloes have already played theirs.

The matchup feels like nothing at all like the game it promised to be in September.

“I still think you see two teams with a bunch of want-to,” said WSU coach Jake Dickert, whose team is trying to stop a six-game losing streak. “When I watch their tape and I watch our tape, you see a bunch of kids that are competing.”

Colorado, which has lost four straight and six of its past seven, is led by two Sanderses: Deion and Shedeur, the latter the Buffaloes’ star quarterback who hasn’t been able to stay upright long enough to harness his talent. He ranks fifth nationwide in passing yards, racking up 3,144 headed into the game, but he also ranks first in the country in sacks — with 48.

That’s six more than the quarterback with the second-most sacks. So woeful has CU’s offensive line been that on two occasions this season, Sanders has had to get pain-numbing injections at halftime, just to stay in the game for the second half.

Still, when Sanders has had time, he’s been effective. Among quarterbacks with at least 350 dropbacks this season, he…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/facing-colorado-final-home-pac-030200501.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2023-11-17 03:02:00

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