Washington State Football Preview 2025: New Coach, Pac-12 Expansion - Here Comes the Pivot

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Washington State Offense Breakdown
Washington State Defense Breakdown
Season Prediction, Win Total, Keys to Season

Would Washington State be a major player in the Big 12? Eh, maybe it would’ve had a few fun moments.

How about the ACC? Stanford and Cal didn’t set the world on fire right away, and forget about how Wazzu would do in the Big Ten.

The upcoming new Pac-12 has just enough heft with Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Texas State, and Utah State - to go along with Oregon State - to make the winner a potential fit in the expanded College Football Playoff world.

And now it’s up to new head coach Jimmy Rogers to use this season to get the program up to speed for when it really counts.

He won an FCS national title at South Dakota State in 2023, and got to the semifinals last year in a 27-3 run with a fantastic ground game and an even better defense.

So here comes the pivot.

More running, more defense, and even more wins should be on the way. But it could take this season to get there.

And then the fun really starts. Think of it this way. Wazzu started 8-1 with the only loss coming to Boise State.

It beat Texas Tech and Washington, and had it not fizzled over the last three games against New Mexico, Oregon State, and Wyoming - all teams that finished with losing seasons, and the three losses coming by a total of seven points - it MIGHT have been able to sneak into that 12th seed as an 11-1 team that went 2-0 against the Power Four, and …

Nah, it wouldn’t have happened. But go 11-1 - or 12-1 - next year, and things will be different.

But first, the team and the fan base need to be ready for a stylistic offensive shift … 

Washington State Offense Breakdown
Washington State Defense Breakdown
Season Prediction, Win Total, Keys to Season