Gameday Guide: WSU at San Diego State

In today's newsletter ...

• Critical Info

• Gamblin’

• This Week’s Podcast

• Injury Impact

  • WSU

  • SDSU

• Key matchups

  • WSU’s defensive line vs. SDSU’s run game

  • WSU’s defense vs. third downs

  • WSU’s offense vs. its own patience

• What I’ll be watching for

  • Can the Cougs get off to a fast start?

• What you can watch for: Gameday Bingo!

Another week, another game against a Mountain West opponent in which Washington State is heavily favored. Of course, this one is back on the road — something that has proven to be a little more challenging for the Cougs than we all would like it to be. That said, WSU is a bigger favorite in this one than they were a couple of weeks ago at Fresno State, something that might or might not make you feel better, depending on your disposition.

An interesting wrinkle is that San Diego State is coming off a bye, the second time the Cougars have faced an opponent in that situation. How much that actually matters, though, is up for debate. The various coaches have weighed in on it this week, but there’s very little empirical evidence to support a bye week meaning any particular thing, so it honestly can mean whatever you want it to mean. SDSU has been pretty banged up, and their running back has carried a heavy load this year, so the week of probably was helpful in that regard. But as Jake Dickert noted, sometimes teams come out sluggish after not playing for a couple of weeks.

If the Cougs win handily, the bye week will have been meaningless. If it’s closer than expected, the bye week probably was a big deal.

Critical Info

• Game time: 7:30 p.m. PT

• Location: Snapdragon Stadium — San Diego, California

• Weather forecast at kickoff: 67 degrees and cloudy, slight breeze

• How to watch: CBS Sports Network, cbssports.com 

• How to listen: WSUCougars.com

• Live stats: StatBroadcast 

Gamblin’

Consensus via VegasInsider.com.

Trends: WSU is 5-2 ATS, SDSU just 3-3. Combined, the teams have gone over the number 6 out of 13 games.

Predictive model probabilities: 83% to win, 52% to cover (at -14.5)

This Week’s Podcast

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