Alabama Football: Week eight key games for Crimson Tide fans
By Ronald Evans
Oregon at Washington State
Pullman, Washington, College Gameday’s finally comin’ t-yo’ cit-ay!
However many consecutive installments of the celebrated Saturday morning college football preview show the Wazzu flag has appeared, think of the sea of them during this Saturday’s program. Gameday’s presence in Pullman isn’t merely a sideshow, though; the No. 25 Cougars host the No. 12 Oregon Ducks Saturday evening in what could have major Pac-12 North implications.
Both teams have only one loss, both within a margin of seven points, and they’re each putting up some serious offensive numbers. Strangely, it’s known offensive guru Mike Leach’s team that has the defense to compliment the other side of the ball, as they rank in the top fifteen in the FBS in total defense.
What Oregon coach Mario Cristobal has done in his first year in Eugene is something special. Willie Taggart set it up in 2017, but Cristobal is absolutely knocking it down this season. After this game, there’s nary a Top 25 team on their slate. It’s conceivable this could be a team that goes 11-1 and has an outside chance of making the Playoff.
The last time a Mike Leach team hosted Gameday was in 2008 in Lubbock, when then-No. 6 Texas Tech stunned then-No. 1 Texas in the final seconds. While this matchup doesn’t carry with it the same sort of stakes, expect the atmosphere to be comparable. Wazzu won’t allow Rece and company to forget Pullman after Saturday night.
Bama Hammer Contributor, Jonathan Waldrop: Washington State 38 Oregon 35