Washington State rebounded from a tough loss two weeks ago with a victory over Toledo.

Cal and Stanford were not as fortunate, losing to Virginia Tech and Miami. The Beavers had a bye to prepare for this week’s game against the Cougars and continue their search for a new head coach.

Here’s my take on all four teams heading into Week 10.

The Bears at the crossroads of a pivotal season under Justin Wilcox

I know the West Coast is chill, but at some point, Cal needs to figure out what they’re doing with Justin Wilcox. This season’s 5-3 isn’t bad, but if they can’t beat Virginia Tech, what are the Golden Bears really doing?

California’s remaining schedule is difficult, which means they could finish the season with a losing record. It would be their eighth time in nine years with him in charge.

The Bears host Virginia this week in a matchup that they should be able to win. The Cavaliers are beatable; they barely survived their last two outings against North Carolina and Washington State, both overtime victories.

The key for Cal is no more excuses. Time’s up. It’s time to beat some good teams or get a new coach.

The Golden Bears have the talent to beat UV at home, and they match up well against the Cavs’ passing attack. The Bears rank 33rd in passing yards allowed per game. Virginia also struggles to defend the pass, ranking 88th in yards allowed per game.

Cal travels to Louisville the following week, and then has a bye before Stanford and Notre Dame to end their slate.

Notes

• • Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele has thrown for 1.982 yards, 11 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. He also added two touchdowns on the ground.
  • Kendrick Raphael leads the team with 566 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns. He has 135 rushing attempts on the year.
  • Trond Grizzell has 448 receiving yards and one touchdown reception.
  • Cade Uluave leads the team in tackles for sacks and TFL’s with 81 and 10.5. He’s also tied for the team lead with three sacks.

The Tree appear to be improving, and still might pull off an upset

If you look at the final score of the game last week, it looks awful. But Stanford was tied 7-7 at halftime against Miami. While a 42-7 loss isn’t going to make the boosters smile, the Cardinal are starting to show that they can play some defense.

Holding the Hurricanes to seven points in the first half is impressive and shows consistency after limiting Florida State to 13 points the week prior. If the Tree plays this type of defense against Pittsburgh, they could pull off the upset at home.

The Panthers have the eighth-ranked scoring offense nationally, but they have a signal-caller with limited playing experience.

Mason Heintschel has only started four games at the collegiate level; he took over for Eli Holstein after Pitt had back-to-back losses earlier this season.

Stanford will need Ben Gulbranson to take advantage of Pittsburgh’s 74th-ranked pass defense in yards allowed per game. They rank 13th in rushing yards allowed per game, so moving the ball on the ground might prove difficult.

It feels like the Cardinal are improving. They’re in the process, but they might pull some upsets in the process.

Notes

• Ben Gulbranson has thrown for 1,585 yards, eight touchdowns, and seven interceptions.
• Cole Tabb has 376 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
• CJ Williams leads the team with 476 receiving yards, he’s also tied for the team lead with two touchdown receptions.
• Matt Rose leads the team with 68 tackles, he’s also tied for the team lead with five TFL’s at linebacker. He’s also added a sack and two pass deflections.

The Cougars are looking to finish the season strong, can’t overlook OSU

Jimmy Rogers is building something at Washington State. The win against Toledo will get overlooked on the national radar, but the Rockets are a legitimate program, which has had a winning record 14 the last 15 years.

UT kinda gave the game to the Cougars, but WSU gave away the prior game against Virginia. Either way, a 28-7 victory over Toledo is impressive, even with Chip Trayanum out.

Flipping the week, the Cougs have a chance to finish the regular season 8-4, but they can’t overlook Oregon State. The Beavers enter this contest with a 1-7 record, getting their first win against Lafayette before the bye.

OSU hasn’t beaten an FBS team yet this year. The key for Washington State is to destroy the Beavers’ soul from the beginning.

The Cougars’ offense has struggled most of the season, but goes on random spurts from time to time. They scored 21 points in the second quarter against UT.

If WSU could get one of these explosions in the first quarter, it could put away the Beavers early. But this feels like a trap game, and a must win to build momentum heading into Pac-12 part 2.

Notes

• Zevi Eckhaus has thrown for 1,100 yards, nine touchdowns, and six interceptions. He’s also added 168 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
• Kirby Vorhees leads the Cougars with 351 yards rushing. He’s also added two touchdowns.
• Carter Pabst is averaging 22.4 yards per reception. He has 157 receiving yards and one touchdown reception.
• Parker McKenna leads the team with 60 tackles and one interception. He also has one sack and 3.5 TFL’s.

Beavers looking to reset their season with a win over the Cougars

Oregon State has a chance to change the narrative of its season, but they have to get it done against Washington State.

Even though the Beavers’ record is terrible, from a talent standpoint, they should be able to compete in this matchup.

Coinciding with OSU’s final four games is their search for a new Head Coach. Interim coach Robb Akey likely won’t be the candidate, due to his struggles as the head man at Idaho.

Akey, however, does have a chance to make an argument for himself. But it’s likely he’d have to win out to even get considered.

Among the candidates floated by various media are Brent Vigen, Brennan Marion, Paul Chryst, Bryan Harsin, Ed Orgeron, and Jason Eck. Other potential candidates mentioned include Jonathan Smith and Nick Rolovich.

The Beavs’ final four contests are all winable, but a loss this weekend pretty much ends interest beyond the coaching search. But Oregon State could definitely beat the Cougars, It’s important to never overlook the Beavs at Reser.

Notes

• Maalik Murphy has thrown for 1,722 yards, nine touchdowns, and eight interceptions.
• Anthony Hankerson leads the team with 671 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns. He has 154 rushing attempts on the year.
• Trent Walker leads the team with 48 receptions and 609 yards,
• Aiden Sullivan leads the team with two forced fumbles at linebacker. He also has 48 tackles and 3.5 TFL’s.

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Nick Bartlett

Writes about football and basketball as a Senior Writer and hosts "The Nick Bartlett Show" for SuperWest Sports.

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