Who: Arizona Wildcats (5-5, 4-3) at No. 8 Washington State Cougars (9-1, 6-1)
Where: Martin Stadium, Pullman, Washington
When: 8:30 p.m. Saturday
Watch: ESPN
Listen: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM
Follow: @TheWildcaster on Twitter / TheWildcaster on Facebook
Editor's Pick
Field Pass: Matchups, starters and stats to know for Arizona vs. Washington State
Star reporter Michael Lev breaks down key matchups, strategy and starters for both Arizona and Washington State on a chilly night in Pullman, and offers a prediction.
Game info
Head to head: Shawn Poindexter vs. Darrien Molton
19 Shawn Poindexter, WR, Arizona
All Poindexter does is score touchdowns. OK, that’s not all he does. But each of Poindexter’s past four catches has resulted in a TD, and he has six in his past three games. At 6-5, Poindexter is a tough cover in the red zone.
3 Darrien Molton, CB, Washington State
Molton is WSU’s most experienced and productive corner. He has 45 career starts and leads the Cougars with nine pass breakups. Like the other starting corners, Molton is listed at 5-10. Colorado’s 6-2 Laviska Shenault Jr. had 10 catches for 102 yards last week.
Head to head: Tony Fields II vs. James Williams
1 Tony Fields II, LB, Arizona
Fields is Arizona’s quickest linebacker, and his range will be put to the test in Pullman. Tailbacks are essentially fifth receivers in WSU’s Air Raid attack, and Fields will be responsible for tracking them. He ranks second on the team with 73 tackles, including 3.5 TFLs.
32 James Williams, RB, Washington State
Wait, we’re spotlighting a tailback in a Mike Leach offense? Fun fact: Williams is the Cougars’ leading receiver. The redshirt junior has two games with 10 receptions and one with nine. He also leads WSU with 12 touchdowns.
When Arizona has the ball...
The Wildcats will lean heavily on Doak Walker Award semifinalist J.J. Taylor — although not to the extent they did against Colorado, when Taylor had a career-high 40 carries. Gary Brightwell (ankle) should be back to lighten Taylor’s load. If Arizona can establish the run, QB Khalil Tate can do damage in the RPO game. He killed the Buffaloes by scrambling, buying time and throwing accurately downfield.
When Washington State has the ball...
Grad transfer Gardner Minshew II has run Leach’s offense like the savvy vet he is. No one has pressured Minshew consistently. The Wildcats will aim to do so by mixing up their fronts and coverages in hopes of confusing Minshew and/or the WSU offensive line. The Cougars force opponents to cover the width of the field, so sound tackling will be critical. Arizona has improved a lot in that area since the Utah game.
Lev's prediction
Washington State's high-octane offense is led by Heisman Trophy candidate Gardner Minshew and a daunting air attack.
Regardless of what happens earlier in the day with South Division leader Utah, winning this game is a daunting task for the Wildcats. It’ll be loud and cold at Martin Stadium, and the Cougars don’t have a lot of obvious holes. But Arizona is rested, confident and playing its best ball, so expect the Wildcats to put up a fight. They also could catch WSU looking ahead to Friday’s Apple Cup.
Washington State 34, Arizona 31
Wildcats projected starters
UA coach Kevin Sumlin says his team has to focus on the task at hand, No. 8 Washington State, on Saturday. Arizona was eliminated from Pac-12 South contention when Utah beat Colorado early Saturday.
Offense
WR 18 Cedric Peterson 5-11 193 Jr.
SLOT 6 Shun Brown 5-10 188 Sr.
LT 58 Layth Friekh 6-5 297 Sr.
LG 76 Cody Creason 6-4 294 Jr.
C 50 Josh McCauley 6-3 292 So.
RG 75 Michael Eletise 6-3 323 So.
RT 78 Donovan Laie 6-4 318 Fr.
TE 81 Bryce Wolma 6-3 252 So.
WR 19 Shawn Poindexter 6-5 218 Sr.
RB 21 J.J. Taylor 5-6 184 So.
QB 14 Khalil Tate 6-2 215 Jr.
Defense
DE 12 JB Brown 6-3 263 So.
NT 99 Dereck Boles 6-2 306 Sr.
DE 52 PJ Johnson 6-4 335 Jr.
STUD 49 Jalen Harris 6-4 230 Fr.
MLB 7 Colin Schooler 6-0 236 So.
WLB 1 Tony Fields II 6-1 230 So.
SPUR 31 Tristan Cooper 6-1 194 Jr.
BANDIT 6 D. Flannigan-Fowles 6-2 209 Sr.
BC 2 Lorenzo Burns 5-10 181 So.
FC 20 Azizi Hearn 6-1 193 Fr.
FS 19 Scottie Young Jr. 5-11 195 So.
Cougars projected starters
Washington State head coach Mike Leach and the Cougars lead the Pac-12 in passing and time of possession.
Offense
XWR 1 Tay Martin 6-3 185 So.
YWR 17 Kyle Sweet 6-0 190 Sr.
LT 60 Andre Dillard 6-5 310 Sr.
LG 63 Liam Ryan 6-5 295 So.
C 69 Frederick Mauigoa 6-3 305 Jr.
RG 65 Josh Watson 6-4 300 So.
RT 72 Abraham Lucas 6-7 320 Fr.
HWR 5 Travell Harris 5-9 180 Fr.
ZWR 12 Dezmon Patmon 6-4 215 Jr.
QB 16 Gardner Minshew II 6-2 220 Sr.
RB 32 James Williams 6-0 205 Jr.
Defense
DE 45 Logan Tago 6-3 250 Sr.
NT 56 Taylor Comfort 6-0 280 Sr.
DT 92 Will Rodgers III 6-5 250 So.
RUSH 27 Willie Taylor III 6-4 235 Fr.
WLB 13 Jahad Woods 6-0 225 So.
MLB 47 Peyton Pelluer 6-0 230 Sr.
NCB 26 Hunter Dale 5-10 195 Sr.
CB 3 Darrien Molton 5-10 190 Sr.
FS 25 Skyler Thomas 5-9 185 So.
SS 34 Jalen Thompson 6-0 190 Jr.
CB 4 Marcus Strong 5-9 185 Jr.
Arizona statistics
Passing
Tate 131-233-6 Cmp-Att-Int, 1,954 Yds, 19 TDs, 75 Lg
Rodriguez 41-79-2 Cmp-Att-Int, 506 Yds, 3 TDs, 42 Lg
Rushing
Taylor 10 Games, 207 Car., 1,248 Yds, 6 TDs, 5.9 Avg
Brightwell 9 Games, 84 Car., 485 Yds, 2 TDs, 5.6 Avg
Tate 9 Games, 57 Car., 236 Yds, 2 TDs, 2.7 Avg
Marsical 10 Games, 17 Car., 88 Yds, 1 TD, 5.0 Avg
Smith 2 Games, 15 Car., 68 Yds, 1 TD, 4.1 Avg
Brown 10 Games, 2 Car., 40 Yds, 0 TDs, 20 Avg
Receiving
Poindexter 10 Games, 34 Rec., 622 Yds, 8 TDs, 18.2 Avg
Brown 10 Games, 51 Rec., 542 Yds, 5 TDs, 10.6 Avg
Ellison 10 Games, 23 Rec., 421 Yds, 3 TDs, 18.3 Avg
Defense
Schooler 101 Tk, 3 Sk, 2 Int, 1 FR
Fields 73 Tk, 2 Sk, 0 Int, 0 FR
Wallace 53 Tk, 0 Sk, 1 Int, 0 FR
Flannigan-Fowles 48 Tk, 1 Sk, 0 Int, 0 FR
Burns 35 Tk, 1 Sk, 0 Int, 1 FR
Washington State statistics
Passing
Minshew 364-523-7 Cmp-Att-Int, 3,852 Yds, 29 TDs, 89 Lg
Tinsley 6-8-0 Cmp-Att-Int, 54 Yds, 1 TD, 13 Lg
Rushing
Williams 10 Games, 103 Car., 437 Yds, 9 TDs, 4.2 Avg
Borghi 10 Games, 54 Car., 283 Yds, 6 TDs, 5.2 Avg
Minshew 10 Games, 41 Car., 86 Yds, 3 TDs, 2.1 Avg
Receiving
Williams 10 Games, 63 Rec., 506 Yds, 3 TDs, 8.0 Avg
Martin 10 Games, 55 Rec., 513 Yds, 7 TDs, 9.3 Avg
Patmon 10 Games, 52 Rec., 724 Yds, 3 TDs, 13.9 Avg
Defense
Pelleur 71 Tk, 3.5 Sk, 0 Int, 1 FR
Woods 57 Tk, 3 Sk, 1 Int, 1 FR
Thomas 54 Tk, 0 Sk, 1 Int, 0 FR
Thompson 53 Tk, 0 Sk, 1 Int, 1 FR
Dale 46 Tk, 0.5 Sk, 0 Int, 0 FR
Michael Lev
Sports Reporter/Columnist
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