Gameday Guide: WSU at Fresno State

In today's newsletter ...

• Ready to get back at it

• This week’s podcast

• Critical Info

• Gamblin’

• Injury Impact

  • WSU

  • Fresno State

• Key matchups

  • WSU’s nickels/strong safeties vs. Raylen Sharpe

  • John Mateer vs. Fresno State’s defensive strategy

• What I’ll be watching for

  • Can WSU take the ball away?

  • Will WSU exert their talent advantage? Or will wei …

• What you can watch for: Gameday Bingo!

• Other games of interest

Ready to get back at it

It’s time for the Washington State Cougars to get back at it, and I’m going to assume they are champing at the bit to do so. I have to imagine the way the loss to Boise State went down left a pretty bitter taste in their mouths, and they’ll be looking to exact some retribution on Fresno State.

However, the same could basically be said for the Bulldogs, who also are coming off a bye and also are coming off a bad loss. I use the word “basically” because — unlike WSU — Fresno State was really never competitive against UNLV: They fell behind 31-0 while being outgained by 3+ yards per play, and then really got boat raced in the 4th.

Having watched as much of Fresno State on YouTube as I could (which is not as much as I would like, because there wasn’t much there, but I think gives me a pretty decent idea of what they’re capable of), I feel pretty confident in saying that WSU will have talent advantages over the Bulldogs at most spots on the field, and that they simply aren’t as dangerous as the Cougs’ past four opponents. Fresno State definitely doesn’t have an Ashton Jeanty, and they don’t even really have a Nick Nash. Heck, I think Emmett Brown is a much better QB than Fresno’s Mikey Keane.

If this game was in Pullman, I would feel really good about the Cougs potentially blowing them out. Alas, the game is not in Pullman. And WSU coming to town is going to be a very big deal for the Bulldogs, who have won something like 17 of their last 20 games at home.

This week’s podcast

In case you missed it …

Critical Info

• Game time: 4 p.m. PT

• Location: Valley Children’s Stadium in Fresno, California

• Weather forecast at kickoff: 86 degrees and sunny, breezy with wind gusts up to 15 mph

• How to watch: FS1, foxsports.com 

• How to listen: WSUCougars.com

• Live stats: StatBroadcast 

Gamblin’

Consensus via VegasInsider.com as of Saturday morning.

Trends: Both teams are 3-2 against the spread, both teams are 3-2 on the over.

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