PULLMAN, Wash — Washington State reached the magic number six wins on Saturday beating Arizona State 28-18 for its second win in a row clinching bowl eligibility.
The offense has come back to life of late scoring 80 points in the past two games. This is thanks in large part to the return of a healthy Nakia Watson. Watson has ran for 282 yards and four touchdowns in the past two games against Stanford and ASU.
"The confidence when he has the ball and how he's changed the look of what we wanted to do has been really impressive," said Washington State head coach Jake Dickert.
"This is the 18th bowl game in Washington State football history. We've been playing for over 100 years," said Dickert. "Anytime our people don't take this as a big accomplishment, we're doing something wrong."
Next up, a matchup with a familiar foe. The Cougs will be visiting Arizona, who's led by former WSU quarterback Jaden de Laura.
de Laura didn't mince words when asked about facing his former team.
"This game, it's personal. It's personal," said de Laura after Arizona's 34-28 upset win over No. 12 UCLA.
"I'm not a big believer in external motivators. There's gonna be great storylines for everybody the next two weeks, okay, but Washington State football as a program, we're focused on what we need to do," said Dickert. "You know, did you circle this game coach? No, I circle every game. Our team circles every game. We're not playing one individual. We're playing an Arizona team that's much improved."
If this game weren't already headline worthy enough, former WSU head coach Nick Rolovich, who recently filed a lawsuit against Washington State University for his termination from choosing not get the COVID-19 vaccination, tweeted at Arizona's football account asking if tickets are still available.
Maybe there will be a Rolovich sighting in Tucson.
Washington State at Arizona is set to kickoff at 11 a.m. on Saturday. That game can be watched on the Pac-12 Network.
DOWNLOAD THE KREM SMARTPHONE APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE KREM+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KREM in the Channel Store.
Fire TV: search for "KREM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com.