Washington State Football: 3 bold predictions vs. Colorado in Week 8

2. The Cougs hold Phillip Lindsay Under 100 Yards

Senior tailback Phillip Lindsay is small in stature at 5-foot-8 and 190 pounds, but he’s big in heart and burst. Lindsay is averaging 5.6 yards per carry with a 74-yard long on the season to go with his 10 touchdowns.

A year ago, he ran for 1,200-plus yards and 16 touchdowns during Colorado’s 10-4 Cinderella season. Lindsay was held under 100 yards by Texas State, Washington  and UCLA — which all have S&P+ ranked defenses lower than the Cougs.

Washington State’s defense wasn’t quite up to par in 2016 and Lindsay broke off 144 yards rushing and two touchdowns against the Cougars in a 38-24 Colorado victory. While Washington State did give up 100 yards to Vic Enwere of the Cal Golden Bears, which doubled his season total, I can’t see Grinch’s defense giving up 100 to Lindsay.

If Mike Leach can get the offense going again, the Cougs will look to pace themselves a bit more and control the ball. Yes, Mike Leach will always want to score 40-plus points per game, but now that he has a defense if he can look to get Falk in rhythm and control the clock, I think he will.

This is a situation Leach has never been in, having a top 20 defense, and he’s going to have to adjust his vision a bit in order to maximize his success in Pullman.