Just about every time Washington State looks like it’s on the ropes, it bounces back swinging. It happened after losing to Cal, when the Cougar defense rebounded from a nightmare performance to blank Colorado. On Saturday it happened again as the defense flushed an Arizona game that saw the Wildcats run and throw all over them to shut down the Stanford Cardinal. And make no mistake about it, Saturday’s win over Stanford was courtesy of the defense.
Facing a Cardinal team that relies heavily on Heisman-hyped running back Bryce Love and an offensive line that’s created a reputation, over the last decade, for pushing people around, Washington State spent its night in the backfield.