PULLMAN – Washington State and Colorado hope a change in conferences leads to a change in wins and losses when they make their Pacific-12 Conference debuts Saturday afternoon in Boulder, Colo.
The Cougars posted a 2-25 conference record in their final three seasons in the Pac-10. The Buffaloes went 6-18 in the Big 12 the past three years.
The 2-1 Cougars and 1-3 Buffaloes were the consensus preseason “favorites” to finish last in the Pac-12 North and South divisions, respectively. However, WSU ranks fifth in the nation in scoring (49.0 points per game) and sixth in total offense (539.7 yards), and Colorado is 34th in defense (323.0).
The Buffaloes have a young secondary, and WSU wide receiver Marquess Wilson leads the nation with 143 receiving yards per game.
“He’s real explosive,” Colorado coach Jon Embree said Tuesday. “He’ll take a screen pass and go the distance, or he’ll run by you.”
The Buffaloes have struggled to run the ball behind a shaky offensive line, and their special teams have been that in name only. The Buffs rank last in kickoff returns (13.9) and next to last in kickoff return defense (31.3). Embree said he will now use more starters on special teams.
The Cougars, who had a bye last week, gave up six quarterback sacks against blitz-happy San Diego State in a 42-24 loss two weeks ago. Colorado, with 14 sacks, is one behind the five national co-leaders.
“They’re very good at rushing the quarterback, particularly the defensive end positions,” WSU coach Paul Wulff said. “They do a good job of disguising different looks and bringing linebackers as well.”
INJURY REPORT
Wulff said No. 1 quarterback Jeff Tuel (collarbone) has an outside chance of playing Oct. 8 at UCLA.
Wulff blamed some of the blocking lapses in San Diego on the absence of starting center Andrew Roxas (ankle). Roxas might play Saturday, Wulff said.
Matt Goetz moved from guard to center last week in practice and has been playing ahead of Taylor Meighen. The latter started against San Diego State. Lenard Williams is set to start at left defensive end for Adam Coerper, who suffered a knee injury at San Diego State.
Wulff said true freshman Logan Mayes, the son of former WSU star Rueben Mayes, likely will make his college debut Saturday as a pass-rushing specialist. Mayes is a 6-foot-3, 218-pound end.
EXTRA POINTS
Wulff said the Cougars now plan to redshirt former Curtis High star Rahmel Dockery, even if the freshman receiver is declared academically eligible by the NCAA. … Fan voting will determine what uniform combinations the Cougars wear for homecoming Oct. 15 against Stanford. Vote by Oct. 11 at www.wsucougars.com or at the WSU athletics Facebook and Twitter sites. … WSU’s 2012 nonconference schedule is expected to consist of road games with Brigham Young (tentative) and UNLV and a home game with Eastern Washington. … The Edmonton Journal reported that Adam Braidwood, a defensive end at WSU from 2002-05, is being held in police custody after suffering a non-life-threatening, self-inflicted gunshot wound earlier this month in Port Coquitlam, B.C. Braidwood has been arrested three times in 10 months in his native Canada. The charges include sexual assault, assault, kidnapping and firearms-related offenses.
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