2008 Washington State Cougars Football Preview

2008 Washington State Cougars season preview from Maddux Sports. Below you can find our official Washington State Cougars football preview as well as the 2008 Washington State Cougars Football Schedule. Haven't had much luck beating your bookie? This season up your chances and order Maddux's winning college football picks.

Coach: Paul Wulff (1st year at Washington State)
Team Name: Cougars
2007 Overall Record: 5-7
Returning Starters: 14

In 2007, the Washington State Cougars (5-7 overall, 3-6) placed seventh in the Pac-10. They did not go to a bowl game. From 2001-2003, this team won 10 games each season. Then the bottom fell out. With four straight years of posting more loses than wins, WSU welcomes new coach Paul Wulff (53-40 I eight years). Wulff will try to turn things around.

Last season, the team posted the eighth best passing game in the nation and the 100th rated running game. QB Gary Rogers (16 ATT, 4 COMP, 18 YDS, 0 TD, 1 INT), a senior, starts for the first time. Rogers, who is tall and big with a strong and accurate arm, is definitely quarterback material. Senior wideout Brandon Gibson (67 REC, 1,180 YDS, 9 TDs) is an All-American and a future NFL player. The running unit has some good rushers and depth. But starter Dwight Tardy (143 CAR, 676 YDS, 6 TDs) is coming back from a torn ACL and is questionable.

The defense gave up an average of 32.4 PPG last season. The best and most experienced part of the line is senior RT A’I Ahmu. DE Andy Mattingly returns as the leader in sacks with eight and in tackles with 91 (45 solo). Three fine seniors will man the linebacking spots. Unfortunately, there isn’t much backing them up. There are adjustments being made in the secondary, which returns two starters. The Cougars were ranked 93rd against the passing game and have to improve in this area.

This season, the Cougars are favored against Portland State. They play five swing games. The first is at Baylor on September 13. Then they’ll engage three conference teams—October 11 at Oregon State, November 1 at Stanford and November 22 at home against Washington. Their final game of the season, at Hawaii on November 29, could go either way.

Wulff comes to the Cougars with a winning record, a no-huddle spread offense and a solid reputation. The players are excited about the change and have bought into Wulff’s new system. The new head coach brought most of his assistants from Eastern Washington. This is a rebuilding year and one for making major adjustments. Six wins are possible but four or five are more likely.

Washington State Cougars Football Schedule

Date	Opponent	Home/Away
Aug 30	Oklahoma State	Neutral
Sep 6	California	Home
Sep 13	Baylor	Away
Sep 20	Portland St	Home
Sep 27	Oregon	Home
Oct 4	UCLA	Away
Oct 11	Oregon State	Away
Oct 18	USC	Home
Nov 1	Stanford	Away
Nov 8	Arizona	Home
Nov 15	Arizona State	Away
Nov 22	Washington	Home
Nov 29	Hawaii	Away

 

For more info on the 2008 Washington State Cougars football program, view the Cougars football site or you can read about other Pac-10 teams below.