Inside Line: CSU, WSU football collide, chase redemption before Pac-12 future

Some teams carry strikingly similar parallels.

An two of those programs searching for redemption will line up in Fort Collins this weekend. Colorado State and Washington State football enter the matchup in similar spots, both carrying early-season scars, both still sorting through offensive questions and both trying to prove they can move forward before joining each other as members of the new-look Pac-12 next year.

The Collegian interviewed The Daily Evergreen’s sports editors Jett Hatch and Smith Slye to preview Saturday’s matchup. Their perspective reveals a WSU team that feels just as uncertain, and in eerily familiar ways, as CSU heading into the game.

Hatch said the Cougars have already lived a full season in four games.

“It’s been a very interesting season,” Hatch said. “We barely beat Idaho, who lost their head coach. All their top players transferred, and we were like, ‘Oh, we’re going to whoop them.’ And we had game winning field goal. So then we had San Diego State. Come in. We beat them by 23 I think it was 3613 a lot of momentum, a lot of excitement around campus. And then we go to North Texas, (and) lose by 50. Everybody lost hope. (We) got smacked by (Washington) and the Apple Cup.”

Slye agreed, but framed the Cougars’ losses as part of the growing pains that come with a new head coach. He said the 49-point collapse at North Texas didn’t tell the full story.

“Yeah, it’s not a good time to be a Coug right now,” Slye said. “North Texas was 49 points, just a comically large difference. It was purely an anomaly. It was just a bad game. It’s not a reflection on the program at all. But then UW, they scored on every single possession they had the ball, and so defense just kind of just stopped.”

Much of the turmoil has centered at quarterback. 

WSU has rotated between Jaxon Potter and Zevi Eckhaus, and even in Potter’s best moments, the home crowd made it clear which player they wanted.

“Yeah, I thought Potter had one good game against San Diego State,” Hatch said. “And even when he was performing at his best, there were chants for Zevi … he’s probably the best we have, even though he’s not the best.”

For Slye, the decision is obvious.

“Zevi is the people’s quarterback,” Slye said. “He’s a first-guy-in, last-guy-out type of leader. He’s not going to the NFL, but he’s fun to watch. He can throw and he can run. He can rise to the occasion, and he also falls to the occasion. But I think he should be the starter.”

Even with Eckhaus, neither editor felt WSU had reliable playmakers around him. 

The Cougars rotate through multiple running backs and receivers, but no one has stepped up as a consistent threat.

“I feel like we Frankensteined our offense together,” Slye said. “Four different running backs, receivers you barely heard of before the season … we don’t have a Jonah Coleman on our team. We just don’t have that kind of standout.”

That lack of identity has created wild swings from week to week, and the Cougars haven’t been able to grasp much, if any, consistency so far this year.

“I think we could also shit a brick and just like, absolutely lose everything,” Hatch said. “If we give up 60, if we give up 10, I wouldn’t be shocked either way.”

Both editors pointed out that CSU is in a similar boat.

The Rams brought back Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi and entered the year with expectations, but the close call against Northern Colorado and missed chances against UTSA quickly quieted that momentum. Now, as Jackson Brousseau takes the helm as starter, the Rams feel much different than they have in the past.

“I feel bad for you guys, because you were pretty good last year,” Hatch said. “With Brayden coming back as starting quarterback, I would have thought, oh, you’d be all right. But then the four point win against Northern Colorado, and then the UTSA game, (that’s) kind of tough. So, going into this, I thought we were both in similar positions.”

That’s part of why this game feels bigger than a standard nonconference matchup. Both sides are looking for proof of progress before they take the step into the rebuilt Pac-12. For WSU, Slye said it’s a chance for new head coach Jimmy Rogers to show his program can respond to a tough stretch.

“This CSU game is actually a lot more important than people realize,” Slye said. “If we go down to Fort Collins and get beat for the third week in a row, I think that’s pretty telling in terms of what kind of coach and what kind of program Rogers has. If we win, I won’t say we’re back, but it’ll speak volumes.”

Hatch leaned on numbers and gave the Rams the edge in his score prediction.

“I’m a big analytics guy,” Hatch said. “The numbers say high 20s, low 30s, close game. I’d probably go Colorado State 31, WSU 28. Home field advantage will probably be the difference.”

Slye took the opposite approach, sticking with his gut, and looking at the game as a defensive matchup with two discombobulated offenses.

“I think it’ll probably be a pretty low scoring game,” Slye said. “Like 21-17, I’ll go Cougs just because I love the Cougs. But if we lose, I’ll join everybody in saying the season’s over.”

Reach Michael Hovey at sports@collegian.com or on social media @michaelfhovey.

Interested in more sports content? Sign up for Ram Report here for weekly CSU sports updates!