Cougars and Irish mix it up in San Antonio

By Sports Network | The Sports Network • Published October 28, 2009

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The Washington State Cougars will attempt to upset the 25th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish this weekend in non- conference action, as the two meet at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Not much has gone right for Washington State this season. Since the lone victory, a 30-27 overtime decision over SMU back in September, the Cougars have suffered four consecutive defeats to fall to 1-6 overall. They are coming off a 49-17 loss at California last weekend and have suffered all six losses by no fewer than 13 points. First-year head coach Paul Wulff inherited a program in shambles, and he has a great deal of work to do to right the ship.

As for the Fighting Irish, it has won four of its last five games to move to 5-2 overall. The lone losses have come by four points to Michigan on the road and seven points to USC at home, and both of those contests were still very much up in air in the final minute of play. There is still a chance the Fighting Irish could play their way into a BCS bowl if they can run the table, and they are obviously heavy favorites this weekend.

"We obviously have work to do but I think that we are starting to get some of the stuff figured out, and I think that our best football is still ahead of us," said Fighting Irish head coach Charlie Weis.

Notre Dame won the only previous meeting with Washington State by a 29-26 final in overtime back in 2003.

Washington State is scoring 15.1 ppg this season while generating 293.7 total ypg, numbers that are poor by any standards. The Cougars have failed miserably in their efforts to move the ball on the ground, as they are averaging just 72.6 rushing ypg at a clip of 2.2 yards per carry. They have had much more success passing the ball, which is a bit surprising considering that three different quarterbacks have seen significant time under center. Still, the trio has combined for 10 interceptions with only seven touchdowns.

No player on the WSU roster has more than 186 rushing yards, as Wulff has allowed several different performers to touch the ball. As for the receivers, Jared Karstetter leads the way with 24 catches for 337 yards and three touchdowns.

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