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Know Your Opponent: UCLA Football vs. Washington State

By Mike Regalado

October 8, 2016; Stanford, CA, USA; Washington State Cougars wide receiver River Cracraft (21) catches a touchdown pass against Stanford Cardinal safety Zach Hoffpauir (10) during the fourth quarter at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
October 8, 2016; Stanford, CA, USA; Washington State Cougars wide receiver River Cracraft (21) catches a touchdown pass against Stanford Cardinal safety Zach Hoffpauir (10) during the fourth quarter at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 14, 2015; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins running back Nate Starks (23) scores on a 14-yard touchdown run in the second quarter against the Washington State Cougars in a NCAA football game at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 14, 2015; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins running back Nate Starks (23) scores on a 14-yard touchdown run in the second quarter against the Washington State Cougars in a NCAA football game at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

The UCLA Football team heads to the Palouse to take on a Washington State team that is in the hunt to win the Pac-12 North Division. Who knew?

What a wacky Pac-12 world we live in. The UCLA Football team is struggling at the bottom of their Division while Washington State is near the top of theirs. And no, I did not accidentally mix up the teams.

Does that confuse you? It should. Welcome to the Pac-12 Football!

This week we have a game that looked like a possible “W” for UCLA at the beginning of the season, but now looks like it will be a Cougar  mauling. I know, it is weird, but it will make sense in a few minutes.

Related Story: UCLA Football: Second Half of the Season Outlook

Anyway, as we start the second half of the season, both UCLA and Washington State are on two different trajectories. UCLA started the season as a favorite to win the South Division and are currently fifth with a 3-3 record after close loses to Texas A&M, Stanford and Arizona State.

Washington State started with another early season loss to FCS program Eastern Washington and near win against Boise State. The eyebrow raising part of this story is their complete dominance over the  that last two Pac-12 Champions in consecutive weeks, beating Oregon 51-33 and the Stanford 42-16.

So that is where we are with both of these teams at point in the season, now let us check in on how both of them match up with each other in this most crucial of Pac-12 battles.