3. Washington State will produce 600 yards of total offense
This game could get out of hand in a hurry. Washington State head coach Mike Leach has long built his reputation on fielding some of the most explosive offenses that college football has ever seen.
One of the architects of the infamous “Air Raid” offense, Leach’s scheme spreads his receivers out across the field and then allows his quarterback to deliver a vertical assault on opposing defenders on all three levels of the field. Guys like Michael Crabtree and Danny Amendola have come out of Leach run offenses and found success at the next level and this year could be no exception.
Behind senior quarterback Luke Falk, the 2017 Washington State Cougars may boast the highest-powered offense of Mike Leach’s entire coaching career. With a plethora of quality weapons like Tavares Martin, Robert Lewis, and James Williams the Cougars will be able to attack opposing defenses from all over the field and utilize the best match-up on any given play.
However, Leach’s offense isn’t one-dimensional. The team’s stable of running backs, led by senior Jamal Morrow and sophomore James Williams, rushed for 1,645 total yards last season, the most of any unit in the entire Pac-12. This successful running attack has forced opposing defenses to respect Washington State’s ability to attack them from all three levels of the field and has opened up the vertical passing game in new ways.
In Week 2 of the college football season, Washington State will be facing off against Boise State’s defense, which ranked 52nd in the nation in total defense last season, and has nine new starters in 2017. In their week one 24-13 victory over Troy, the Broncos defense only surrendered 215 yard to the Trojans offense, but week two could be a whole different story.
The Cougars offense averaged 482 yards per game in 2016, and the 2017 squad looks even more dangerous. Mike Leach’s offense should have no trouble getting theirs against the Bronco’s young defensive backfield, and could result on one of the most explosive games in Washington State’s history.