Good morning Coug fans. Your Washington State Cougars are home to battle the Arizona Wildcats with two major storylines: The return of Jayden de Laura, and WSU getting back on the winning side of the ledger.
The latter is all that matters and is huge—you don’t want to go to Oregon next week having lost two in a row. The former, however, is the sexier storyline. De Laura, as you recall, was once a Pullman resident and starting quarterback for WSU. Then once the second half of the 2021 Sun Bowl was about to begin, he wasn’t the quarterback. Then once it became clear the de Laura-WSU relationship was souring, WSU recruited Cameron Ward and de Laura transferred to Arizona.
Ahead of last year’s matchup in Tucson, de Laura said that game was “personal.” Well, he ended the game with four interceptions and a minor scuffle on the sideline with his own teammate. Personal indeed.
I’m sure certain Coug fans would love to yell and scream a de Laura today in Martin Stadium, but it’s not a given he’ll even start. He’ll suit up, but he’s been battling an injury and Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch (what a great name) said this week that he’ll be gametime decision.
So it’ll either be de Laura or Noah Fifita, who impressed in Arizona’s near-upset of USC last week.
As for the other storyline, a win today gives WSU five on the season and a 5-1 record heading to Oregon next week. A loss would put the Cougs in a vulnerable position ahead of their trip to Eugene.
Cam Ward vowed to be a different player this week. He’ll need to be, and the WSU offensive line needs to give him some time like we saw earlier in the season.
You can catch it all at 4 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network. Talk about the game here.
Go Cougs!