FanHouse BrandonGibson

The projected airshow hit Tucson alright, but it was extremely one-sided. Arizona's Willie Tuitama absolutely shredded the hapless WSU passing defense to the tune of 346 yards and five TD passes in the 48-20 domination. All told, Arizona would total an astounding 567 yards of total offense against a WSU defense that is, without a doubt, completely overmatched against above-average competition.

It's not so much that Arizona had success through the air. You knew going in that they would rack up yards in bunches against this Cougar pass defense. But Arizona's ground game took off behind true frosh running back Nicholas Grigsby, who had 186 impressive yards in his first home start of his career. Grigsby averaged 6.2 yards per carry, and oh yeah, he led Arizona in receptions with nine, including a touchdown. Arizona only punted one time, and that's now just one punt over the last eight quarters that the WSU defense has "forced". When you can't get the other team's offense off the field, how can you ever expect to win?

The Cougar offense did what it could, and Alex Brink kept them in the hunt into the 3rd quarter. His TD pass to Brandon Gibson would tie it up at 20 on the first drive of the second half, and it looked like momentum swung WSU's way. But Arizona just kept doing whatever it wanted to, possession after possession, and when the WSU offense stalled, that was all she wrote. Brink would finish with 347 yards and three TD passes, very respectable numbers against a veteran Arizona defense. And WR Brandon Gibson continued his excellent 2007 start with 11 catches for 127 yards and a TD. Gibson is one of the best WR's in the conference and even an all-conference cornerback like Arizona's Antoine Cason couldn't slow him down.

Meanwhile Mike Stoops can at least dial down the temp on his hot seat to medium after Arizona's best offensive show in Stoops' four-year tenure. This new Texas Tech spread offense seems to fit Tuitama like a glove, and after some bumpy spots early in the season, there's no telling how many good things are coming for Arizona the rest of the way. In the offense-happy Pac-10, the Wildcats have the look of a team that could cause some major headaches over the rest of the season. But the temp on WSU's Bill Doba's hotseat is now officially turned up to the max. With Arizona State up next, and the ASU offense under Dennis Erickson rolling into Pullman next Saturday, the 2007 season for WSU is now on life support. A couple of more nights like this one and it will be plug-pulling time in the Palouse.

If you are a fan of prominent passing attacks, then tune in Saturday night as WSU faces Arizona down in Tucson. Both teams love to air it out, and while the Cal-Oregon game gets the hype this week for Pac-10 offensive fireworks, the Cougars and Wildcats aren't to be overlooked.

Arizona leads the Pac-10 in passing offense, at just over 318 yards per game. But WSU is third, at 282 yards per game, so, doing a little math, that's 600 total passing yards combined that is a regular day at the office for these teams. With the game starting at 7 PM pacific time, Bill Doba quipped "We might not get back until Monday".

However, often in match-ups like this, it's not necessarily the obvious strengths that will decide this one, but more so it's how teams handle their weaknesses that factor in the most. The most troubling thing from a Cougar angle is that WSU's defense, especially against the pass, has been not only among the worst in the conference, but one of the worst pass defenses in the nation so far this year. As we pointed out earlier this week, WSU is 101st in the country in passing yards allowed, and dead last at 119th in opponent third-down rate, allowing an unfathomable 57.9 percent. That third down rate is especially troubling, as everyone knows, in that it shows how long the opposing team can keep their offense on the field. That's really bad news in that it also plays keep-away from the WSU offense, which is clearly the strength of the team in 2007.

So much for wearing a life jacket and wading into the shallow end of the pool. Bill Doba is instead grabbing his young WSU defense by the back of the neck and tossing them off the diving board. The head coach and defensive coordinator is taking the tough-love route with his fresh young faces, as the Cougars will start three newcomers in the secondary as WSU gets set to take on Wisconsin at Camp Randall.

The scary part for Coug fans? Two of the newcomers couldn't be any "newer" at one of the toughest positions to play in a BCS conference. That's right, Doba has chosen to start a true frosh in Chima Nwachukwu at one corner spot, and JC transfer Devin Giles at the other. Chima is thought of as a rising prospect, and clearly had a fine camp by passing the upper class-men ahead of him on the depth chart (for sake of spelling errors, we'll just go with Chima this year). He's earned the right to start based on what coaches have seen thus far. But it's hard to envision a true freshman coming in and excelling right away. It might be a feat if he can simply tread water and not get beat too badly. But Doba certainly has confidence in the young prospect who has played on a big high school stage:

Nwachukwu is from Allen, Texas, and Doba said big-time high-school football in Texas has prepared him to step into pressure situations. Doba said Allen High School has a 50-yard indoor practice facility, a 15,000-seat stadium, 17 assistant coaches and a football-program receptionist.

"It's a different type of intensity," Doba said, comparing it to other high-school programs.

Giles may be a JC guy, but he didn't even play football last year, instead taking a redshirt and running track at Coffeyville JC in '06. The third new face in the secondary is JC transfer Alonzo Jackson. At least Jackson played JC football last year at Blinn College, and has shown the WSU coaches a lot thus far in camp. However Terry Mixon, the five-star JC recruit thought to be a starter immediately at strong safety when he signed with the Cougars, has battled weight and injury issues since the beginning of camp. That opened the door for Jackson, so he will get the start.

This list wasn't as easy as it might seem. As fellow FanHouse contributor Jeff Adams clearly stated in his Big 12 write-up, the word "underrated" is a spot that can go in many directions. Is it a good player in a lousy situation, one who gets little ink because of the program he's part of? Maybe a strong player who is simply the victim of a small media market? As Jeff pointed out, there isn't a single, true definition. That said, here's the FanHouse view on the top five Pac-10 players who are recognized as deserving of some preseason buzz, even if they normally fly under the radar: