GAME BREAKDOWN
KEY MATCHUP: Washington State is playing well on both sides of the ball, ranked No. 3 in total defense (allowing 315.7 yards a game) and standing on top on offense with 473.3 yards a game. Stanford, meanwhile, has struggled on defense this season, which is not the norm for the Cardinal.
Stanford ranks ninth in the conference, allowing 405.0 yards a game, and its offense is 11th with only 354.7 yards a game. That has been affected mostly because of RB Bryce Love being injured most of the season. If the Cougars limit the turnovers, it will be hard for them to lose to Stanford.
DRAFT SLANT
–QB Gardner Minshew II was rated the top rising prospect of the NFL Draft last week by Rob Rang of NFLDraftScout.com. Rang writes, “Minshew lacks ideal size (6-foot-1 and 220 pounds) but he is a natural passer with greater arm strength than most of Mike Leach’s quarterbacks of the past, including Luke Falk, the Pac-12’s all-time leading passer and a Senior Bowl and NFL draft pick last year.” Minshew is the nation’s top passer, averaging 392.1 yards per game while completing 69.8 percent of his passes (254 of 364) with 23 touchdowns and six interceptions.
ROSTER REPORT:
–DE Nnamdi Oguayo, a former starter who’s been the primary backup to Logan Tago this year, missed his third game of the season last week against Oregon due to an undisclosed lower-body injury. His status for Saturday’s game at Stanford is undetermined.
–LB Derek Moore is out indefinitely with an undisclosed injury. He is questionable to return against Stanford this week.
–CB Sean Harper Jr., who started the first six games of the season, was held out of the game against Oregon last week because of an undisclosed injury. He did not suit up for the game. How long Harper will be out is uncertain.