Washington State football shuts down Montana State at home

Mike Leach’s Cougars knocked off Montana State to open the 2017 campaign. Here are three things we learned from Washington State football’s win over an FCS opponent.

Mike Leach’s team entered the final week of the 2016 regular season with a shot at the Pac-12 North title. They dropped the Apple Cup against Washington, and Washington State was forced to watch as their rivals went to the College Football Playoff. As they dished out a 31-0 shutout in their season opener against Montana State, the Cougars fired a salvo across the bow of the football world.

Now before Cougars fans get too excited, a few things must be noted. Montana State is expected to finish somewhere around seventh or eighth in the 13-team Big Sky Conference. The FCS middleweight came to Pullman for a Week 1 showdown against Washington State without much hope of actually knocking off their Power Five opponent. And most of the Cougars’ biggest strengths allowed them to exploit the Bobcats’ biggest weaknesses.

So while we must temper what we read into the win over Montana State, there are a few key takeaways from the Washington State victory. Before looking ahead to next week’s showdown with Boise State, here are three things we learned from the Week 1 win by the Cougars.