Washington St Cougars 2024 College Football Preview
Posted June 12, 2024
2023 Recap
Record – 5-7
ATS – 6-6
The Cougars got off to a flying 4-0 start and it all began with a PRISON-STYLE road beating of Colorado St (50-24) which just happened to be a MEGALOCKS 6900 STAR KICK IN THE JACOBS week one loser. The season then dove into the abyss….GLUG GLUG GLUG….as Washington St lost six games in a row. They gave Washington a good game in the final week of the season (L24-21) but came up a bit short and missed out on a bowl game.
The Washington St football program was left behind (with Oregon St) when all the other PAC-12 schools left for, quite literally, “greener” pastures. What can we expect in 2024?
Washington St Cougars 2024 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Cougars did almost all of their damage thru the air last year (#4 FBS passing, #127 rushing) and they’ll have to turn the trick this season without star QB Cameron Ward who’s off to dominate with YOUR Miami Hurricanes. Ward had a phenomenal 2023 season (3,732, 25-7 TD to INT; 8 rush TD) and he’ll be impossible to replace. The starting QB job is up for grabs and the leading candidate is Bryant transfer Zevi Eckhaus who threw for almost 3,000 yards with Bryant LY, but you have to think that LY’s backup John Mateer will have something to say about that before fall camp is over. The WR unit took a hit with the departure of their top-two but “#3” Kyle Williams had a strong 2023 season (842, 6 TD) and will likely be the main man this year. It’s a WR-friendly system and they added a small handful of transfers so we don’t expect too much of a drop-off. Washington St will be without #1 RB Nakia Watson but he was a bit of a disappointment last season. They’ve got a few experienced guys coming back but the overall talent level in the RB room looks a bit sketchy. As far as good news goes, the OL has good size and returns four starters so that’ll provide a nice foundation for the offense.
DEFENSE
Washington St’s defense performed at a reasonable level LY (#67 run D, #49 pass efficiency D) but the alarm bells are going RINGY DINGY DINGY. The Cougars return just four starters on this side of the football and they lost five of their top-six tacklers. The DL took a major hit with the loss of both starting DEs including star pass rusher Brennan Jackson (8.5 sacks) who’s off to the NFL. They picked up some useful DL bodies in the transfer portal but we’ll see how things go. #1 tackler Kyle Thornton leads a decent-looking LB corps but the secondary looks a lot weaker after losing four starters including a pair of doods that got taken in the NFL draft. This is a less-talented defense but keep in mind that the schedule is a lot easier (see below).
SPECIAL TEAMS
Things look promising. The Cougars have continuity in the kicking game and punter Nick Haberer is a particularly strong piece to the puzzle (44.4, 41.7 net). Also recall that Leyton Smithson booked a KO return TD last season vs the DASTARDLY Colorado Buffaloes.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – It’s very soft compared to what they’ve been used to dealing with in terms of a full PAC-12 docket. The Cougars only play two Power 4 teams all season (Texas Tech, Washington) and have a schedule CHOCK FULL of Mountain West teams including several scrubs.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – San Jose St (Sept 21)
We don’t expect much from the Spartans this year but this isn’t an ideal spot to lay the points. The Cougars will be coming off their rivalry game with Washington and they’ve got a trip to Boise St up next.
Season Win Total
Market consensus June 12
Over 7.5 -105
Under 7.5 -115
MEGALOCKS says:
No leanage.
The first half of the schedule is much more difficult than the second half so it’s possible they start out a bit slow. If that’s the case it won’t be easy to get to eight wins. We might be interested in taking ‘over 7’ so we’ll shop around.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
Head coach Jake Dickert is an impressive 18-12 (60%) ATS during his tenure with Washington St.
Pullman, Washington is at least a 7-hour flight from everywhere on Earth **.
** FACT CHECK: Seems about right.
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
We don’t like how the Cougars’ fellow PAC-12 members DID THEM DIRTY but that’s the new world of college football we all live in today. They’ve got a few big question marks (QB, defense) but the relatively soft schedule makes us very confident that they’ll make a bowl game. Who knows, maybe Washington St will face one of their old conference foes? Ya, that’s virtually impossible, but you can dream.
Go get ’em, COOGS!