The numbers behind Washington State's impressive turnaround

An explosive rushing attack led by Gerard Wicks has eased the burden on Washington State quarterback Luke Falk.The biggest turnaround team in the Pac-12 this year is Washington State.

After a disappointing 2-7 conference season a year ago and a season-opening loss to Portland State, the Cougars have pulled a 180 and become one of the most exciting teams in the Pac-12 and one that will finish far higher than its predicted 11th-place finish.

“I think they have an underrated group of players,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “Look across our conference. There are a lot of good players on a lot of good teams and this is the group that not a lot of people talk about as far as their talent level.…