In a SHOCKING result, the #8 Washington State Cougars fell last night to the California Golden Bears by a score of 37-3. If you would have told me before the game that score, I would’ve guessed Wazzu won, but that was most certainly not the case when I woke up this morning. Now Cal is a fine team, sure, but there’s no way you can lose by 34 if you’re wanting any kind of respect. Coming into this game, the thought was that Leach, Falk, and Co. would run the table all the way to the Apple Cup, potentially giving themselves a chance at the Pac 12 North title and a shot at making the playoffs.
Faltering in a conference game like this begs the question, “What the hell happened?” The simple answer may be just that they overlooked a team they shouldn’t have. As 17-point favorites, the Cougs were expected to win this game handily. Another answer to that question could just be that maybe they’re not as good as we thought they were.
After returning a kickoff for a touchdown on the first play of the game that was called back due to penalty, Luke Falk got picked off to give Cal great field position. However, the defense held Cal to a field goal and everything was still okay for the Cougars. Wazzu followed that drive up by missing a field goal, fumbling, and punting before finally making a field goal to miraculously only trail 10-3 with 11:27 left in the second frame. An interception deep into Cal’s zone and another punt was all Washington State could get the rest of the quarter and they trailed 17-3 at the half. This was the most adversity Mike Leach’s team had faced all season, but the game was still easily within reach.
So they still had a chance. Until their offense still couldn’t remember how to play football. The second half went like this: interception-interception-punt-fumble-fumble-interception. Ouch. In one of the worst offensive showings ever for a Mike Leach squad, that was just a brutal sequence. Not to mention, the second fumble was recovered for a Cal touchdown.
Now maybe nothing is wrong with Luke Falk and Washington State after all and this was just a slip-up, but to get embarrsed like that by a team that you’re supposed to destroy is not a good look. Regardless, that should officially eliminate Wazzu from the playoff (watch for my article Monday).