Washington State vs Colorado State Prediction - College Football Picks 9/2/23

The Washington State Cougars will play the Colorado State Rams in a non-conference game on Saturday night at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado. Washington State defeated Colorado State by a score of 38-7 at home last season and will be looking to repeat that victory on the road in this matchup. 

Washington State Preview

The Washington State Cougars were 7-6 last season and they went 4-5 in the PAC-12. Washington State started the season 4-1, but they lost their next three games to go 4-4. The Cougars did close the season by winning three of their last four regular season games, but they lost the LA Bowl by a score of 29-6 to Fresno State. Washington State played well offensively down the stretch last year, but they couldn’t get much going in the bowl game. Cameron Ward returns at quarterback and he threw for 3,231 yards, 23 touchdowns, and nine interceptions last season. The leading rusher, Nakia Watson, is also back after running for 769 yards and nine scores last year. Washington State did bring in some receivers from the transfer portal, but this offense should be solid this year. Defensively, Washington State wasn’t terrible, but there is room for improvement from 2022. The Cougars should be slightly better than they were last year and I expect the offense to put up plenty of points, but can they win any of the four games against ranked opponents this year?

Colorado State Preview

The Colorado State Rams were 3-9 last year and they went 3-5 in the Mountain West. Colorado State lost their first four games last season and had a ton of issues scoring. The Rams didn’t score 20 points at all last season, which is a crazy stat if you think about it. Colorado State did defeat Nevada, Hawaii, and New Mexico, but they did lose a couple of close games to Utah State and Wyoming. Colorado State needs to find a way to get more offense this season and they did use the transfer portal a good amount, but all of those new pieces will need to time to work together. Clay Millen returns at quarterback for the Rams after throwing for 1,910 yards, 10 touchdowns, and six interceptions last year. Tory Horton was the #1 receiver last year and will also be back after catching 71 passes for 1,131 yards and eight scores. The Colorado State defense was actually pretty solid in conference play last year and should be similar this year, but they will struggle with the Washington State passing attack.