PULLMAN, Wash. — There's really no way around it. Saturday's loss to No. 13 Oregon hurts.
You erase three minutes of that ballgame and the Cougs are undefeated with a pair of wins over top 25 teams.
But, that's not reality. The reality is it's time to move on.
"Adversity reveals what your culture really is, right? So, we have a bunch of guys that are focused, they flushed it this morning, they're ready to move on," said WSU head coach Jake Dickert. "That's the best part about football. By the time we meet on it six days later you play another game. Okay, so that's the opportunity that we have in front of us and that's the focus that we have going into the week"
This week, the Cal Golden Bears coming to town.
Similar to WSU, Cal is off to a hot start, sitting at 3-1. The Golden Bears have done so by running the football. Cal is averaging 176.3 yards on the ground per game.
"Stopping the run defensively is where it always starts with Cal and I think that's what they want to do and that's what they want to establish and we need to get them behind the chains," said Dickert. "Then always, vice versa, it's big offense to momentum and flow and tempo to stay ahead on first down. So, first down would be a big component to this game, and you know, obviously at the line of scrimmage would be a big part of that."
A bright spot in this past weekend's loss was that WSU's offense seemed to find its stride. The Cougs threw for 375 yards and scored four touchdowns, two through the air and two on the ground.
"They're playing the way we always felt that they're capable of playing. I think sometimes that takes a little time. And you know, I said it through a first couple games, you know who you are. You definitely know who you are through the first four games, right? So, we're trying always to play to our guys strengths and I think that's what our offensive staff and coach Morris has done a good job of finding ways to get our playmakers the ball in space through unique and different ways," said Dickert.
Washington State vs Cal will kickoff at 2:30 p.m. this Saturday. This will be the Cougs' final home game before they hit the road for the following two weeks at USC and Oregon State.
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