PULLMAN, Wash. — The Washington State Cougars returned to the Rogers practice field Monday morning following their bye week to begin preparations for Fresno State.
WSU head coach Jake Dickert is looking forward to a strong week of practice to help flush the disappointing loss to Boise State and put his team in a good position to head to the California valley and win their first true road game of the season.
"I firmly believe in this team," Dickert said. "That has not wavered. I believe in our coaching staff and I know what we are capable of doing. We identified a few things during the bye week. We identified some tendency things, we need better defensive communication and we cannot have [a] lack of effort."
One glaring weakness so far this season on defense for WSU has been the lack of a pass rush. The Cougs have just five sacks in five games.
"We have to be able to get after the quarterback," Dickert said. "Through five games, to have five sacks is not anywhere near where you have to be able to play in a four down front."
"Different teams show up every week," Dickert said. "They are wearing the same jerseys, they have the same numbers on, but different teams show up and that is a choice to me. We win this football game on Rogers Field this week. We need to prepare with our hair on fire to go out there and play great Cougar football."
As for the matchup with Fresno State, Dickert noted the veteran offense and a stout defense led by EDGE Korey Foreman. Coach is expecting a physical game between two teams hungry for a win in yet another hostile environment.
"This team is 17-3 at home in the last four years," Dickert said. "It is not easy to go to the valley and get a win. It is going to be warm, their fans are going to be rowdy and offensively, they play a very exciting brand of football. I guarantee Fresno is going to be just like we are, coming into that game with a bad taste in your mouth, ready to perform with both teams coming off of their bye weeks. It is going to be a hell of a battle."
WSU and Fresno State will kick it off at 4 p.m. on Saturday. You can catch the game on Fox Sports 1.