Colorado State has beaten Washington State once, and it took the last three minutes of the 2013 New Mexico Bowl to do it. Mike Leach's Cougars led 45-30 in the fourth quarter in Albuquerque. Then Garrett Grayson threw a touchdown pass, Washington State lost a fumble trying to run out the clock, Kapri Bibbs scored with 33 seconds left and the two-point run tied it, the Cougars fumbled the kickoff that followed, and Jared Roberts made a 41-yard field goal as time ran out. Washington State has won all three meetings since. Saturday's is the first as conference opponents.
It comes at the bottom of the standings. These are the only two teams already out of the title race, and the Cougars are still looking for their first league win in the conference they fought in court to keep alive. Their only win came against FCS Duquesne in September, and they've lost six straight since. Colorado State has lost six of seven.
The Cougars have been off since Oct. 31, when they lost 26-20 in the rain at San Diego State. Owen Eshelman threw for a career-high 299 yards and ran for two touchdowns, the second pulling Washington State within six in the fourth quarter. Taking over with just under five minutes left, the Cougars couldn't reach midfield in 10 plays and turned it over on downs when Eshelman's deep throw on fourth-and-10 fell incomplete with 38 seconds left. Their tailbacks finished with 34 yards on 14 carries.
Eshelman is the quarterback because Kirby Moore made a change in mid-October. The first-year coach had already taken over play-calling from his offensive coordinator, and when the offense still wasn't moving, he benched Caden Pinnick for a quarterback who had never played in a college game. Eshelman, Moore said then, "has prepared like the starter and done everything we've asked of him." He has thrown at least 40 passes in each of his three starts.
Colorado State's last Saturday was a hard one. Boise State, playing its backup quarterback, put up 669 yards and won 64-38 in Fort Collins. Hauss Hejny threw for 253 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another, and Tommy Maher caught six passes for 99 yards and a score, but the Rams never slowed the Broncos. "Once again the story of the day is our inability to stop people and keep points off the board," Jim Mora said afterward.
That defense is the season's running story in Fort Collins. Earlier this year Mora took play-calling away from defensive coordinator Tyson Summers in the middle of a game, and Summers later left the program. The Rams are now teaching a new scheme on the fly, and they rank last in the country in both scoring and total defense. Mora has put that on himself. "We got a little bit of a late start on it, which is my fault," he said.
The Rams should have their two most important ballcarriers. Hejny returned from an undisclosed injury in the Oct. 24 win over San Diego State, a 56-49 shootout in which he accounted for five touchdowns. Running back Durell Robinson, the team's leader in rushing touchdowns, missed the Boise game with an undisclosed injury and has been cleared to play, according to the Pac-12 availability report. No injury news has been reported for Washington State.
Washington State's defense has been the steady part of its team, and no one in the Pac-12 gives up fewer passing yards. But it rarely takes the ball away or gets to the quarterback, and Hejny can beat a defense with his legs. On the other side, the Cougars' running game hasn't worked all year, and it faces the worst defense in the country. If Washington State's backs can't get going Saturday, Eshelman will be throwing 40 times again.
Washington State can't reach six wins, so this is about finally beating an FBS opponent, with a trip to Texas State next and Senior Night on Nov. 28 in a flex game projected against Oregon State. Colorado State can't afford another loss if it wants six: here, at Fresno State, and in a flex game projected at home against Texas State. The Rams haven't won a road game this season.
Saturday is Washington State's Native American and Military Appreciation Game. The last time Colorado State came to Pullman, in 2022, Cam Ward threw four touchdown passes in a 38-7 Cougars win. Last fall in Fort Collins, Washington State won 20-3 and ended the Rams' run of 85 straight home games with a touchdown.
The projection is Washington State 34, Colorado State 27. The Cougars are at home, rested, and facing a Rams defense that has allowed 500 yards six times, so Eshelman should have room to work. But Colorado State's offense scores in bunches, Hejny is a problem for a defense that doesn't pressure the passer, and Washington State hasn't beaten an FBS team all year. Expect a partly cloudy night in the 40s, with gusts near 20 mph.
The market, for the record: Washington State is about an 8.5-point favorite, and the total is 66.5. The projection (Washington State by 7) sits a little under the line and well under the total.
What breaks it: Hejny runs the way he did against San Diego State, Robinson looks like himself after a week off, the Rams turn it into a track meet, and Washington State's offense can't keep pace. The other way it breaks: Eshelman finds Branden Ganashamoorthy and Daniel Blood in the holes Boise found, the Cougars' backs finally get loose, and Washington State is in control by the third quarter.