Storylines as Cats prepare for Cougars
Arizona Daily Star reporter Michael Lev checks in with some of the top storylines as the Arizona Wildcats and Washington State Cougars get ready for an offensive battle Saturday night in Pullman, Wash.
Wildcats seek livelier performance than 2016
Arizona’s last visit to Pullman, Wash., is one the Wildcats would rather forget.
The Cougars embarrassed the Wildcats 69-7 in November 2016. It was the worst loss of the Rich Rodriguez era and one of the worst in UA history.
Arizona exacted revenge with a 58-37 win over then-No 15 Washington State last year in Tucson. The Wildcats felt great about that outcome, of course. But it didn’t fully ease the pain from the previous season.
The players who participated in that game still remember how it felt. With a return visit on the docket Saturday night, those memories are bubbling to the surface.
“You never really forget an experience like that,” redshirt-junior guard Cody Creason said, “getting beat the way we did.”
In the midst of a frustrating, injuryfilled season, Arizona barely showed a pulse in the Palouse. By late in the second quarter, WSU led 38-0. Quarterbacks Luke Falk and Tyler Hilinski combined to complete 47 of 52 passes. Nine of the Cougars’ 13 drives ended in touchdowns.
“The way we lost leaves a sour taste in my mouth,” senior safety Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles said, “and is definitely something that keeps me hungry going forward.”
The UA offense was equally inept. The Wildcats turned the ball over three times, managed just 286 yards of offense, had only 14 first downs and converted only 2 of 10 third downs.
“I don’t like talking about it,” senior receiver Shawn Poindexter said. “We for sure owe them something, going back into Pullman. No doubt.”
Next challenge for improved UA offensive line: Handling the noise
In the second quarter against Oregon on Oct. 27, Arizona starting right guard Bryson Cain injured his knee and had to leave the game. Michael Eletise took his place, and the offensive line continued to function at a high level.
That probably wouldn’t have happened a month earlier. When left tackle Layth Friekh was struggling to play through an ankle injury, the line struggled along with him. The unit — which was greener than the turf at Arizona Stadium at the start of the season — has come a long way.
“I think (it’s) just the experience,” left guard Cody Creason said. “What is it, 10 games under our belt now? Now they can step in and feel comfortable playing any position.”
When the season began, Creason was the only available offensive lineman with starting experience in Division I. He had seven career starts.
The likely first five for Washington State has 80 career starts. That includes 41 by Friekh, who had to sit out the first two games because of an NCAA ruling.
Friekh and center Josh McCauley are the only members of the group who have started at the same position every game. Creason has started at left guard and right tackle. Eletise has started at both guard spots. Freshman Donovan Laie has started at both tackle spots.
Washington State has had the same starting five for every game.
“I’ve never had to do it, but it’s hard,” Friekh said of shifting from one side of the line to the other. “You’ve really gotta flip your whole brain around.”
Creason has been impressed with the way the younger players have adapted. Eletise, Laie and McCauley had zero career starts entering this season.
“Especially Josh,” Creason said. “He’s done a really good job communicating. He’s the one who tells us who to block.”