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College football Week 6: 5 teams on upset alert

By Cody Williams

DURHAM, NC - SEPTEMBER 29: Malik Rosier #12 of the Miami Hurricanes drops back to pass against the Duke Blue Devils at Wallace Wade Stadium on September 29, 2017 in Durham, North Carolina. Miami won 31-6. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NC - SEPTEMBER 29: Malik Rosier #12 of the Miami Hurricanes drops back to pass against the Duke Blue Devils at Wallace Wade Stadium on September 29, 2017 in Durham, North Carolina. Miami won 31-6. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
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PULLMAN, WA – SEPTEMBER 29: The Washington State Cougars celebrate with Jamal Morrow #25 after his touchdown in the second half of the game against the USC Trojans at Martin Stadium on September 29, 2017 in Pullman, Washington. Washington State defeated USC 30-27. (Photo by William Mancebo/Getty Images)
PULLMAN, WA – SEPTEMBER 29: The Washington State Cougars celebrate with Jamal Morrow #25 after his touchdown in the second half of the game against the USC Trojans at Martin Stadium on September 29, 2017 in Pullman, Washington. Washington State defeated USC 30-27. (Photo by William Mancebo/Getty Images) /

3. Washington State Cougars

Rank: 11, Opponent: Oregon Ducks

Over the past few seasons, one thing that we’ve seen is the Washington State Cougars start out hot and beat up on inferior competition, but when Pac-12 play starts, they aren’t quite the same team. They’re still quality, to be sure, but not a potential College Football Playoff team as their early showings would have you believe. In beating USC, they seemed to firmly establish that’s not the case this season. Put simply, they’re for real as they head into a matchup with the 4-1 Oregon Ducks.

Perhaps the biggest revelation of the upset was how legitimate Wazzu’s defense is this season. They welcomed the Trojans and a ton of offensive firepower to town and took every blow that they had. Thus, playing another high-powered offense in Oregon seems like it shouldn’t be that much of a concern — especially when the Ducks starting quarterback, Justin Herbert, is out due to injury. Now it’ll either be Taylor Alie or Braxton Burmeister getting the start.

However, there are things working against Washington State in this matchup. For starters, this is somehow their first road game of the season. So not only have they played until friendly confines until now, but they have to go to raucous Autzen Stadium. On top of that, USC’s best source of offense last Friday was their rushing attack with many people crying for more Ronald Jones. Meanwhile, Oregon star running back Royce Freeman looks good to go for this game.

If Freeman can control the game with Willie Taggart committing to the run, that could be an effective way to pick apart the Cougars defense, but also to keep their offense off of the field. Thus, it could be a short-lived high for Mike Leach and the Cougars.

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