Nov. 17—Identical overall records, identical conference records, similar losing streaks and a pair of prolific quarterbacks — the similarities between the Washington State and Colorado football teams are plenty.
The biggest difference between the two Pac-12 programs is one is led by a national celebrity and NFL Hall of Famer and the other is coached by a former Division III athlete from small-school Wisconsin.
While WSU coach Jake Dickert is no Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders — he has a measly 34.5K followers compared to Sanders’ 1.7 million on Twitter — Dickert’s Cougars are still four-point favorites against Sanders’ Buffaloes today. WSU (4-6, 1-6 Pac-12) and Colorado (4-6, 1-6) kick off at 7:30 p.m. (FS1) at Gesa Field in Pullman.
WSU enters on a six-game losing streak while the Buffs have lost four straight and six of seven.
“I still think you see two teams with a bunch of ‘Want to,’ ” Dickert said. “When I watch their tape and I watch our tape, you see a bunch of kids that are competing.”
Here are three things to know about the matchup:
Battle of the QBs
Like their struggling teams that were both ranked early in the season, Colorado quarterback Sheduer Sanders and WSU quarterback Cam Ward share a plethora of similarities.
Both were major stars at the Football Championship Subdivision, Sanders at Jackson State and Ward at Incarnate Word.
Both can sometimes hold onto the ball for too long — Sanders has been sacked an NCAA-most 45 times this season and Ward was sacked 40 times a year ago (17 times this year).
And both juniors are among the best passers statistically in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sanders, the son of his head coach, is No. 4 in passing yards per game (314.4), while Ward is No. 6 in the nation (312.7).
Sanders has 26 passing touchdowns with just three interceptions and four rushing touchdowns on the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ward-sanders-vying-end-teams-141100002.html
Author : Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Moscow, Idaho
Publish date : 2023-11-17 14:11:00
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