Utah, Arizona, and Oregon State Moving Up in Week 4 Pac 12 Power Rankings
Saturday Blitz Pac 12 Power Rankings Week 4
12. Washington State Cougars, 1-3 (0-1), Lost to Oregon Ducks 38-31 Last Saturday
Mike Leach’s Washington State Cougars don’t get any props for hanging tough with the Ducks last week. They’re still 1-3 with losses to Rutgers and Nevada on the resume, so playing a good team close is not going to be enough to move them up this list.
Washington State still can’t play defense, which is typical of a Leach-coached team. But where has the offense been? It showed up against Oregon, but only 13 points against Nevada, and the only time it has gone over 40 this year is in the one win against had: Portland State, where it put up 59 points.
Leach still has a great enough offense that things could turn around quickly, and from a talent perspective, the Cougars are certainly good enough to move up this list. But right now they haven’t played like they belong anywhere but at the bottom, so that’s where we’re going to keep them for this week. It’s up to them to turn things around with Utah and Cal next on the schedule. Otherwise, things could be much worse for the program than being at the bottom of these power rankings.