Oregon St. vs. Washington St. Game Thread

Centurylink Field, Seattle, WA / ROOT Sports & FSN / KEJO 1240 AM / KPAM 860 AM (Streamed)

Oregon St. (1-5, 1-2) meets Washington St. (3-3, 1-2) at the home of the Seattle Seahawks. Washington St. traditionally now plays one "home" game on the west side, and starting this year, they are playing a conference game in hopes on increasing interest and attendance. (Even though 9 of the 10 west side games, including this one [based on pre-sales], have drawn in excess of capacity at Martin Stadium.)

Ironically, Seattle is closer, both in terms of mileage and driving time, to Corvallis than Pullman, so Beaver Nation, which historically travels well to Seattle, should have a healthy turnout.

It's the first off-campus meeting between the two schools for football since Washington St. beat Oregon St. 26-13 on Oct. 26, 1942, in Portland. For a number of years, Washington St. played some games in Spokane, but not the Oregon St. game.

The "Struggle in Seattle" features two teams that are indeed struggling.

The Beavers come in off a 38-28 loss to a BYU Blue Cougar team that out-physicaled them. Oregon St. has now lost 7 of their last 8 games, and 10 of their last 13, including last year's 31-14 loss to Washington St. Now, its time to take on the non-denominational Cougars.

The Crimson Cougars lost to seventh ranked Stanford 44-14 last week in Pullman. It was literally Washington St.'s Homecoming, as well as nominally, as this game being in Seattle means last week was the Cougars' only appearance in Martin Stadium in a stretch of over 2 months. The Cougars are on a 2 game losing streak, but are also a 63 yard touchdown strike from Marshall Lobbestael to Marquess Wilson with just over a minute left in Boulder from a 4 game losing streak.

But despite the recent losses, things are still trending up for the Cougars, who have lost 35 games in three and a half seasons under coach Paul Wulff. The 3 wins they have posted this season are already more than in any of the 3 previous campaigns. The Cougars are 3-28 in the Pac-10/12 under Wulff, but 2-3 since that win last Nov. 23 at Reser. Washington St. is a 3 point favorite.

The Beavers on the other hand have won only 6 of their last 20 games, and if they can play .500 ball the rest of the season, they will still have had their worst season since coach Mike Riley's first season in 1997.

So there's plenty for the northwest's 2 land grant schools to struggle for tonight in Seattle.

The winner between the teams tied for 4th. place in the Pac-12 Northern Division gains sole possession of the 4th. slot.

Here's the place to chat about the game, the prospect of playing in an NFL venue, and where the fortunes of the Beavs and Cougs are headed.

Buildingthedam.com will be at the game, and be back after wards, with complete coverage and analysis.

Go Beavs!