Written by Sean Hawkins | 16 September 2004

Every week from here on out, I think we should all pick the northwest schools games, plus the next opponent for WSU. Here are my picks for this week:

IDAHO - Cougs - I've got a funny feeling this one will be very close early, as we might really force things and make more mistakes. However, in the 2nd half, WSU's talent level and depth will take over, the running game will get loose, and we'll roll. Knowing Doba, he'll never run up the score on his neighbor, so look for something in the 38-10 or 42-14 neighborhood.

UCLA @ UW - VERY tough game to call. UCLA looked a heck of a lot better last week, but that was against what is considered the worst team in the Big 10, Illinois. Then again, UW looks like ONE of the worst teams in the Pac-10, so who knows! UCLA has been successful against UW lately, and they still have serious offensive weapons. It's the D that worries me, particularly the D-line. Look for UW to totally reign in the offense and run it about 50 times, with Paus throwing maybe 15 or 20 times, TOPS. They will control the clock, control the ball, wear out UCLA's soft defense, and ultimately, win it 28-24.

Oregon @ Oklahoma - YUCK (and I'm not talking about Oregon's uni's!). Oregon blows one to the (W)Hoosiers, at home??? Are you kidding me? What happened to Auzten anyway? Didn't that used to be a tough place to win for a visitor? Weird. Anyway, Oklahoma will run and throw at will and Clemens will throw about 3 picks in the first half, and it'll be ugly. The Ducks will get drilled this week, I'm thinking 44-16, something like that.

New Mexico @ Oregon State - Another hard game as well. New Mexico just had one of their biggest wins ever, beating Texas Tech last week on the last play of the game. Meanwhile the Beavs are absolutely lost. They are missing Steven Jackson and now that they have to rely on Derek Anderson, the turnovers are coming in bunches. New Mexico will be pissed after their embarrassing loss on ESPN last year to the Beavs in their bowl game, but will it be enough? I think the Beavs will be ready, playing at home and dying for win #1, and will pull out a tough one, 23-20.

Finally, WSU's next opponent - Arizona hosts Wisconsin.
Wisconsin will be without Anthony Davis, but it shouldn't matter that much. They have a lot of talent and many people like Wisconsin in the Big 10 this year. Their defense is really strong, especially up front, and will manhandle Arizona. The Mildcats played Utah tough last week, but still lost 23-6. Look for something similar this week, probably WISC 24, ARZ 10, something in that area.

Fire away with your picks! Just click on Comments, and enter what you think will happen.

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