Washington State 2023 Season Preview
While we’ve seen some success from Washington State to the tune of back to back bowl game appearances, it still feels like the Cougars are trying to take the next step up but could easily take three steps back in trying to do so.
Head coach Jake Dickert enters his third season at Washington State with a 10–9 record so far with the Cougars. He’s ready to guide the program upward and has a schedule that leaves some opportunity for that if the pieces fall into place with new leadership at the coordinator positions.
In hand today is Starbucks cold brew with a little bit of milk to combat the bitterness of the coffee. It’s starting to cool down a bit but the heat is sticking around enough for me to not want a hot cup of coffee in hand.
Synopsis
The Cougars know they have work to do on both sides of the ball if they want to rise to the level that a chunk of the Pac-12 has in recent years. On the offensive side of the ball, the Washington State was balanced. And by balanced, I mean the wrong kind of balance. The Cougars ranked 44th nationally in terms of their passing game. Not too shabby. However, their rushing game was a staggering 117th nationally. Woof.
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With little running game, the Cougars had to depend on the arm of Cameron Ward who averaged 38 pass attempts a game. Under new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, we can expect a similar style air raid offense for the Cougars in 2023. An improved running game behind the legs of Nakia Watson would only benefit this offense to try and obtain some form of balance between the passing and running game. With further emphasis on establishing a running game, don’t be surprised if Watson can flirt with the 1,000 yard mark this season as he hit 769 yards last season that was paired up with 9 touchdowns.
Ward will have an entirely new group of pass catchers to throw to with 4 incoming WR transfers led by Kyle Williams, transfer from UNLV who compiled 1,568 yards and 9 touchdowns in his three season at UNLV. Keep an eye on San Jose State transfer Isaiah Hamilton that can be a speedy deep threat to go over the top on defenses once the Cougars establish their running game.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Cougars held their opponents to an average of 22.9 points per game. Honestly, that’s pretty solid especially when you consider the fact that they faced USC, Oregon, Utah, and Washington last year. The loss of Daiyan Henley to the NFL is a painful one after Henley racked up 106 (!!!) total tackles in 2022. Incoming transfer from Maryland, Ahmad McCullough is a player to watch that can fill the void (at least partially) for Henley’s production.
2023 Outlook
Fortunately for the Cougars, they dodge USC and Utah in Pac-12 play this year. Their non-conference isn’t too bad aside from hosting Wisconsin in week 2 which will be a far different Badger team from the one the Cougars beat in cheese land last year. Washington State does make up for the absence of USC and Utah in a way as they will travel to both Oregon and Washington.
For the 2023 season, I see this Cougars squad have a disappointing season at 3–9 with losses to Wisconsin, Oregon State, UCLA, Arizona, Oregon, Arizona State, Stanford, Colorado, and Washington. Some ugly losses in there and the only Pac-12 victory coming against Cal. This would be a brutal season after back-to-back bowl appearances for Washington State. I can easily see them proving me wrong and getting around 6 wins to continue the bowl streak but I noted this program as one that takes a step back in 2023. Hang on tight, Cougar fans. It’s going to be quite the journey ahead for many reasons.
