Cal Football: 5 Questions for the Washington State Beat Writer
It’s hard to know much about the Washington State football team, which last week played its first game in three weeks due to COVID-19 issues.
The Cougars (1-2) are host to Cal (1-3) on Saturday night, so we sought out the expertise of Theo Lawson, who covers WSU for the Spokane Spokesman-Review.
We asked Theo five questions and he shined some light on Cal’s opponent:
1. How has first-year coach Nick Rolovich been received by WSU fans? Do they miss Mike Leach?
There’s a portion of WSU fans who wouldn’t have minded Leach finishing his career in Pullman. The other portion would like to see the Cougars win an Apple Cup at some point in the next decade.
Nevertheless, both groups have seemed to embrace Rolovich as Leach’s replacement. He was a big hit with fans early on in the pandemic, purchasing dozens of meals from local restaurants and leaving them for students and community members to pick up, and dropped off food to firefighters and hospital workers.
Given the bizarre nature of the season we’re in, and that WSU didn’t get in a single spring practice, most fans won’t grade Rolovich on his win-loss record in 2020, which is understandable. On the other hand, this isn’t supposed to be a rebuild – Rolovich said so himself – and he’ll need to produce next season.
2. Deon McIntosh has run the ball well, but how did what the Cougars want to do change when they lost Max Borghi to the back injury? And do you believe he could play Saturday night?
With spring practices canceled and fall practices closed to the public, fans and reporters still haven’t actually seen Borghi in Rolovich’s offense, which makes it difficult to know if he’ll be used differently than McIntosh, and vice versa. Traditionally, the running backs don’t have nearly as many pass-catching opportunities out of the backfield in the run-and-shoot, and that’s held up so far with McIntosh totaling two receptions in three games.
The fact Borghi returned to practice early last week leads me to think he has a fairly good chance of returning against Cal. He’s indicated on social media he’d play at some point this season and after this week, there’s just one game remaining, so maybe Dec. 12 was Borghi’s target date all along?
3. Freshman quarterback Jayden de Laura seemed to play quite well his first two games, but he had a rough game at USC. How much of it was the Trojans’ defense and how much was the fact that DeLaura was sidelined after testing positive for COVID-19?
There’s no doubt USC’s defense was the strongest the Cougars had seen this season (of the three they’ve faced), but most of de Laura’s problems were self-inflicted. It’s not to say he would’ve led long touchdown drives had he not thrown two interceptions in the first quarter, but both picks were the result of poor execution/decision-making and I’m sure missing a handful of practices, and squandering opportunities to build chemistry with receivers, didn’t help his cause.
Again, the Trojans were responsible for a lot of that. Their defensive backs, especially, didn’t allow WSU’s receivers to create the separation they’d been getting the first two games, and de Laura may have felt he had to force throws in order to move to the chains.
4. How well do you think WSU’s program has a grip on virus issues after having back-to-back November games canceled? Are they now confident they will be able to play their final two games?
I’m confident right now (6:07 p.m. on Monday), but that certainly doesn’t mean I’ll be confident in a day or two. Put it this way: the Cougars had loaded up a bus in Pullman three weeks ago and were prepared to drive to the airport when they got test results back and subsequently learned they couldn’t travel to Stanford. The team’s equipment truck was 15 minutes from Palo Alto at that point. According to AD Pat Chun, the team had fewer than five players in COVID-19 protocol when it played USC. Everyone seems optimistic at this point, but we know that only goes so far in 2020.
5. Justin Wilcox and his defensive staff did a good job holding down Leach’s high-scoring attack the past three years. How do you think Rolovich’s offense will match up against this Cal defense?
Rolovich was partly hired because of the similarities between his run-and-shoot and Leach’s Air Raid. What we’ve discovered after three games, though, is that’s more a reflection on the personnel than the scheme. The running backs play a more traditional role in Rolovich’s offense, the quarterback is a rushing threat and the receivers have the ability adjust their routes mid-play. Cal will obviously try to draw on what USC did to stop the Cougars last weekend, but I’m inclined to think it’ll be a rebound game of sorts for WSU’s offense – especially if Borghi is in the backfield.
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Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
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