Let the Post “Stache” Era Begin

September 1, 2018. He takes his first snap as the starting quarterback for Washington State University.

Nearly 4,500 passing yards, 39 total touchdowns, and one Mississippi mustache later, Gardner Minshew is now an NFL quarterback, primed to be the backup for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Transferring from East Carolina University, in no way did Minshew believe that he would raise to stardom level by leading the Cougars to an 11-2 record and a bowl victory in his lone season at WSU.

Now, Coach Mike Leach is hoping for some more magic through the transfer portal with newly acquired Gage Gubrud from Eastern Washington University.

However, the past few days have told us that Gubrud was outdueled in the QB competition by three-year backup, Anthony Gordon.

Gordon has thrown a total of five passes throughout his career.

On the other hand, Gubrud has thrown for just shy of 10,000 yards, including over 5,000 yards and 48 touchdowns in 2016 to lead Eastern Washington to a 12-2 record.

Nevertheless, Anthony Gordon was named the starter for week one when the Cougs play host to New Mexico State in Martin Stadium.

I don’t have enough information about either quarterback to make a judgement call myself, but I will give more insight on Gordon after the first start of his career.

Looking elsewhere on this team, WSU is poised for another exceptional season with several returning starters, led by sophomore running back, Max Borghi.

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Borghi was a spark on offense last year, rushing for 366 yards and eight tds, as well as 374 receiving yards with another four scores.

This was accumulated while splitting carries with former back, James Williams.

Borghi looks to be the centerpiece of this offense for 2019, and I predict his numbers to be 600 plus yards on the ground, with another 500 through the air.

Let’s throw on another 15 total touchdowns and that would be a darn good season from the sophomore running back.

The sports junkie’s father has high praise for Borghi and believes he will be the next Christian McCaffery.

The receiving core is also back and better than ever.

Led by redshirt senior Easop Winston Jr., Dezmon Patmon, and Tay Martin, each receiver that looks to see the field this season is a returner from last year.

This air raid offense is in great hands with experienced receivers, especially with a new starting quarterback for the 3rdstraight year.

The only other positive for a new quarterback would be a stellar offensive line…oh wait, that is exactly what the Cougs have.

Yes, Andre Dillard has moved on to the NFL, but the rest of the line is ready to continue their dominance as a top group in the nation last season by allowing just 13 sacks the entire year.

The WSU defense has continued to be a force over the past three seasons and that should continue during 2019.

I am not extremely knowledgeable about the “Speed D” playing for the Cougs, but there should not be a drop off in energy or fight from the other side of the ball.

In summary, a new quarterback can always be tough to implement into a system, especially one of Mike Leach’s.

Thankfully, this QB has been with this program for quite some time and he understands how to run this air raid offense.

Along with one of the nation’s best wide receiving groups and offensive lines, Gordon should have ample opportunities to showcase his skill set and why he earned the starting job.

Normally, at this time I would make a prediction for the season.

However, I am going to hold off on that until I take a look at the first game of the year.

I need to see how Anthony Gordon takes over for Minshew and then I can make a strong prediction for the year.

In terms of this game, I do not see any scenario in which the Cougs are upset at home vs New Mexico State, who had one of the worst defenses in the nation last year.

I predict a final score of 45-10. Let’s see if Gordon can start off with a 300 to 400-yard passing game to get the Coug faithful excited about the 2019 football season.

Tune in on Sunday for a recap of game one and as always…

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