Sep. 12—DALLAS — Off the top of his head, Max Baloun couldn’t think of a hotter environment he’s played in. It was earlier this week, after Washington State wrapped up a practice to prepare for a road test at North Texas, and the Cougars’ sixth-year defensive tackle was racking his brain.
In five years at his previous stop of South Dakota State, had he played in temperatures in the low-90s, which is the kickoff time forecast for WSU’s third game of the season? Baloun couldn’t think of an example right away, so he opted for the Jackrabbits’ game last season against Oklahoma State, in Stillwater. Temperatures at kickoff that day: high 80s.
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“We were lucky, though,” Baloun said. “It was pretty cloudy that day, so it wasn’t super hot.”
When the Cougars tangle with the Mean Green, set for a 12:45 p.m. PT kickoff on ESPNU, the visitors will have no such fortune. Searching for a third straight win to open the season, WSU will have to contend with both the heat and North Texas’ sizzling offense, which has keyed the Mean Green’s spotless start to the season under head coach Eric Morris, who worked as WSU’s offensive coordinator three years ago.
The Cougs, coming off a close season-opening win over FCS Idaho and a more cushiony win over San Diego State last weekend, would do well to limit Morris and UNT’s fast-paced offense. The Mean Green average 21.2 seconds per play, making theirs the fifth-fastest offense nationwide, relying on quarterback Drew Mestemaker to make plays with both his arm and legs.
It amounts to the stiffest challenge of the season yet for WSU coach Jimmy Rogers and the Cougs, who will be playing their first road game of the season. They face several questions: Can their defense produce the way it did in its first two showings, permitting a combined 166 passing yards? Can they trust their offense to play the way it did last week, not the game prior, when it needed a last-second field goal to eke past an FCS foe?
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For WSU, those are the questions that begin to loom large with this portion of the schedule. The Cougars face a road tilt this weekend. After that: Home matchup with rival Washington, then road games against Colorado State, Ole Miss and Virginia, a daunting stretch of away contests that would challenge scores of teams across the country.
With a win over the Mean Green, the Cougars could set themselves up nicely for not only that slate, but also for bowl eligibility, which the program has done in nine of their last 10 full seasons. In Rogers’ first year, with 74 newcomers trying to integrate new systems on both sides of the ball in a wacky schedule, that would likely add up to a meaningful accomplishment.
With a loss on Saturday, though, WSU’s upcoming stretch could go from difficult to ominous. It’s a real priority for Rogers and athletics brass to keep the program’s bowl tradition intact, and for the Cougs, getting there this fall becomes far more difficult if they return to Pullman 2-1.
The good news for WSU: The group’s defense, which has already shown up in compelling ways through two games, should be even better on Saturday. Veteran safety Cale Reeder is expected to make his season debut, Rogers said earlier this week, adding even more athleticism and experience to a safety room already chock full on those fronts.
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It’s especially important against North Texas’ offense, which tallied 51 points in a shutout win over FCS Lamar and 33 in a road overtime win over Western Michigan last weekend. In those, Mestemaker racked up 553 passing yards and five touchdowns, but his squad’s rushing attack flourished too, posting 182 hashes.
UNT got 102 of those from running back Makenzie McGill II, who needed only 16 carries to reach that number. The other 80 came from backs Kiefer Sibley (38), Mestemaker (24) and Jayden Becks, the last of whom played his previous two seasons at FCS Missouri State, where he ran into Rogers’ SDSU team twice in the last two seasons. His totals in those two games: 55 yards on 19 attempts.
“It’s not hard to turn on the film and see those guys fly around,” Rogers said. “They’ve got, for one, just great team speed, and that’s in all units. The quarterback is really good and makes plays with his legs, and makes quick decisions and understands where to throw the ball and throws it on time. We gotta do our best to have the game plan to kinda keep him off balance and make him earn everything that he’s getting and make it hard on him.”
On the other side of the ball, it’s another chance for WSU quarterback Jaxon Potter to prove coaches made the right decision in naming him the winner of a four-way quarterback competition during fall camp. After a shaky outing in Week 1, Potter followed with a sharp showing in Week 2, throwing for 257 yards on 42 passes — the most by a QB in Rogers’ 32 games as a head coach.
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For Potter and the Cougars to keep those good times rolling, they’ll have to hold off the North Texas pass rush, which has pocketed six sacks on 33 pressures in two games. Edge rusher Ethan Day has two sacks, giving WSU tackles Ashton Tripp and Christian Hilborn another handful.
If WSU’s offensive line can keep Potter upright and away from sacks — he hasn’t been brought down yet this season — the visitors could put themselves in a good spot. But they’ll need a similarly strong performance from their defense, which might be getting its tallest task yet.
