Can you believe we’ve already hit Week 5 of the college football season? Teams are showing signs that they are who they are at this point, and the situation appears rather dire for the Washington State Cougars (2-2). On Saturday, they travel to the Rocky Mountains to battle the Colorado State Rams (1-2), another program seeking an opportunity to bounce back after a poor start.
Here’s a Colorado State vs. Washington State prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for the Week 5 CFB action.
Colorado State vs. Washington State prediction, preview
Colorado State Rams
The home team enters at 1-2 with their lone win coming 21-17 over Northern Colorado, an FCS program. Those two losses came at the hands of Washington and UTSA, the former of which was a 38-21 blowout and the latter of which ended with a one-point margin at 17-16. The results against fellow FBS squads have been far from encouraging to say the least.
The Rams are throwing the ball a ton on 53.66% of plays, but quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi completes just 53.7% of his attempts with one touchdown and a pair of picks. With 217 passing yards/game and 6.2 yards/pass, the team falls 67th and 101st in the nation across those categories. With a run game that ranks 94th with 119 rushing yards/game and just 3.7 yards/rush, they can’t set up the pass either. As a whole, the Rams fall 90th in the country with 336 yards/game and just 18.5 points on average, good for 97th.
The defense also doesn’t make up for a lack of offense. Colorado State allows 27.5 points and 427.5 yards/game, marks that come in at 76th and 103rd. While the pass defense is respectable, they’ve been gashed on the ground to the tune of 228 rushing yards/game and 5.5 yards/carry, 122nd and 115th overall.
Washington State Cougars
Meanwhile, the Cougars hail from the ashes of the Pac-12 with a 2-2 record thus far. They downed FCS power Idaho 13-10 and beat San Diego State 36-13 before suffering a 59-10 blowout to North Texas and another ugly one 59-24 to Washington. Clearly, there are some mixed results there. If there’s anything to learn though, it’s that this offense must light up the scoreboard to hang around in close games.
Washington State’s offense averages 23.3 points and 325 yards/game, good for 78th and 102nd in the nation with 4.6 yards/play, 111th overall. The Cougars air the ball out even more than their opponents with a 56.67% pass rate but experience about the same level of success. Wazzu averages 217 passing yards/game but quarterback Jaxon Potter completes an impressive 70.5% of his attempts, though 604 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions aren’t much to show for it. Again, a lack of run game holds the Cougars back with 77 rush yards/game and just 2.5 yards/rush, 125th and 130th in the country.
As for defense, that’s where the problem really lies. Allowing 59 points in back-to-back games certainly won’t create an environment for winning football, and the 43.7 points/game allowed sits 128th overall. Washington State only gives up an average of 366 yards with top-70 marks in both passing and rushing yards allowed, but they’re very vulnerable to chunk plays through the air with 8.2 yards/pass allowed.
Colorado State vs. Washington State pick, best bet
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Colorado State enters as 5.5-point favorites with -218 odds on the Moneyline. Washington State holds +180 odds to win outright with the game total set at 49.5.
In all honesty, it’s tough to say this looks like one of the more exciting games on the slate. Neither offense looks particularly competent, though the quarterback play from the Cougars appears much better and the receiver duo of Joshua Meredith (15/195/1) and Tony Freeman (18/182/0) provide superior talent than the weapons the Rams deploy. Granted, Armani Winfield’s 10-142-0 line probably earns some consideration with Colorado State, but it’s tough to see this offense keeping up with the Cougars.
These offenses, two moderately stoppable forces, clash with very movable objects. This has the makings of a very ugly game, and while I debated on taking the over thanks to quality of the defensive play, I’m banking on the under in this contest. Neither side strikes much confidence.
