Jake Dickert surprised a lot of people last season. The Washington State football coach took over a program that was just 14-16 in the three previous seasons and won seven regular-season games in year one. His Cougars lost the LA Bowl to Fresno State, but he turned things back in the right direction regardless.
Washington State’s success was largely due to the addition of Cameron Ward from the FCS where he was a superstar. In his first year at the FBS level, the talented quarterback passed for over 3,200 yards and 23 touchdowns while rushing for five more scores.
If Washington State had a better defense, however, we may be talking about a team that added another win or two to the resume.
Dickert is trying to address that by adding some key transfers to the defensive side of the ball and a few of them are even projected to start.
What are the realistic expectations for this team in 2023?
Realistic expectations for Washington State football
With Ward coming back to lead the offense along with Nakia Watson and some important receiving targets to go along with returning wideouts, I can see this offense taking another step in the right direction.
As for the defense, it gave up over 400 yards per game last season and I can’t see it getting much worse.
Looking at the schedule, Washington State should start the season 3-0 before losing to a resurgent Oregon State in Week 4. The Cougars will then get a bye before facing UCLA on the road and picking up another loss before beating Arizona at home. They’ll lose at Oregon and then reel off four straight wins over Arizona State, Stanford, Cal, and Colorado before ending the season with a loss in the Apple Cup.
An 8-4 record should be realistic for this team while 6-6 would probably be the floor and 9-3 is the best-case scenario.