Stephen King Would Approve

Many horror stories start in very misleading fashion.  A beautiful sunny day, a couple deeply in love, characters who seem to be leading an idyllic life.  Just to tease the reader and provide stark contrast for the darkness to come.

On a pleasant, sunny Palouse afternoon, Washington State entered its tilt with Arizona as a ranked favorite.  Not to disturb the vibe, the Cougars took the opening kick and promptly marched down the field for a 6-0 lead.  Enter the Cougar House of Horrors.  An unheralded Arizona squad spent the rest of the day marching up and down the field, amassing 516 yards and acting like the 1985 Chicago Bears on defense. The result:  a 44-6 beatdown over unsuspecting Wazzu that totally de Paloused the host.

Two weeks ago, Cougar QB Cameron Ward was in the Heisman Conversation as some talking heads had the Incarnate Word transfer as third on their list behind 2 other Pac-12 QB superstars, Caleb Williams and Michael Penix Jr.  Two weeks later, he would not rate as high as thirty third.  Last week’s disappointing performance could be attributed to a salty UCLA defense.  This week, Arizona’s vastly improved defense (arguably the most improved unit in college football from 2022) and indecisiveness from Ward spelled doom for WSU.

Take nothing away from the Wildcats.  UA is undoubtedly the best 3-loss team in the country.  In irony of irony, Jayden de Laura was supposed to make his homecoming to the locale where he won Pac 12 Freshman of the Year honors in 2021.  Returning triumph would have been doubly sweet for De Laura since he was likely pushed into the transfer portal when Ward announced his transfer to Washington State in late 2021.  Fate intervened in 2 ways.  De Laura got hurt and his backup Noah Fifita has been brilliant.  In Pullman, Fifita efficiently completed 34 of 43 passes for a spiffy 342 yards.  Will Fifita be Lou Gehrig to De Laura’s Wally Pipp?  Stay tuned.

Arizona may spend December kicking themselves for letting USC off the hook in triple overtime as their remaining 5 games look manageable if one grades on the daunting Pac 12 curve.  Their two road games are at Colorado and Arizona.  Three difficult tests loom against Oregon State, UCLA and Utah but at least the games will be in Tucson.

Regrettably, horror had paid a previous visit to Pullman in August when the Pac-10 morphed into the Pac 2.  Such uncertain future was entirely unfair to a proud program and passionate fan base.  However, as Stephen King will attest, some very unfair things happen in this world.  The Odyssey will continue to root for Washington State and Oregon State.