Washington State Cougars Football: 2015 Season Preview and Prediction

Washington State regressed in the third year under Mkke Leach so can he get the Cougars back on track and to a bowl game in the 2015 season?

Mike Leach took Washington State to a bowl game in his second season with the team in 2013 after a 3-9 campaign in his first year and it looked like he was on his way to building up the program. But he wasn’t able to build off that success last year with an injury to quarterback Connor Halliday contributing to the Cougars finishing with a 3-9 record and tied for fifth in the Pac-12 North.

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Offensive Outlook

Washington State loses record-breaking quarterback Halliday to graduation but Luke Falk steps into the starting role after replacing him in the lineup after Halliday was lost for the season against USC. Falk completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 1,859 yards and 13 touchdowns to seven interceptions. He should be the next arm in line to put up prolific numbers in Leach’s pass-happy offense, but he needs to cut down on the interceptions.

Leach has never run the ball with much frequency but when Washington State does run the ball this year, they have a pair of nice options in Jamal Morrow and Gerald Wicks who were the two leading rushers as freshmen last year with 351 and 234 yards, respectively. The Cougars had the nation’s worst rushing attack but helping the duo improve those numbers this year is an offensive line that returns all five starters, including Joe Dahl who anchors the unit.

Wide receivers love to play in this offense and some new faces will be asked with playing a big role with the departures of Isiah Myers and Biletnikoff Award semifinalist Vince Mayle. That duo combined to catch 184 balls for 2,455 yards and 21 touchdowns. The best receiver this year should be Gabe Marks who redshirted last year after he had 74 catches for 807 yards and seven touchdowns in 2013. He could be one of the conference’s most prolific receivers, especially if Dom Williams, River Cracraft and Robert Lewis emerge and command attention from opposing defenses.

Defensive Outlook

The defense was one of the worst in the nation last year with an average of 38.6 points allowed per game, which ranked in the nation and resulted in Mike Breske being replaced by former Missouri assistant Alex Grinch being named the team’s defensive coordinator.

There’s a lot of room for improvement on this unit but don’t expect a dramatic makeover this year. The loss of defensive end Xavier Cooper to the NFL Draft won’t help a pass rush that only has a total of five sacks from its returning defensive linemen. They’ll also have to replace two-year starter Kalafitoni Pole at nose tackle but depth is an area of concern with his likely replacements battling injuries in the spring.

At linebacker Jeremiah Allison and Peyton Pelluer return after finishing second and third on the team in tackles last year with 78 and 70, respectively. Kache Palacio brings a pass rush from the edge after leading the team with 6.5 sacks and was second on the team with nine tackles for loss.

The secondary has to be better after finishing second to last in the Pac-12 in pass defense but improving could be a challenge after the dismissal of leading tackler Daquawn Brown. The best player in the secondary may be sophomore safety Darius Lemora who made 10 starts last year and finished fourth on the team in tackles. Fellow sophomores Sulaiman Hameed, Marcellus Pippins and Charleston White will get long looks to improve what has been a dreadful back-end.

Prediction

Mike Leach needed more than just a shakeup in his coaching staff to make dramatic improvements this year after regressing last year to a 3-9 record. The loss of Halliday, Mayle and Myers on offense doesn’t inspire a lot of optimism about this offense, each pulling the puppet strings.

Falk should be a nice option behind center but his lack of experience will result in growing pains (losses and turnovers) this year. The run game could actually be serviceable, but I don’t believe Leach will run with any sort of frequency to show that.

Losing the two best players on one of the worst defenses isn’t going to help in a conference known for its quarterbacks and high-powered offenses, so finding six wins on the schedule is tough. Best-case scenario is five wins but I think the most realistic scenario is a third 3-9 year for Leach in his four years in Pullman.

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