It’s been a while, but your Washington State Cougars are back home to host the Utah State Aggies for a late night affair. The Cougs are No. 21 in the first installment of the College Football Playoff rankings thanks to a 7-1 record. And if all goes well tonight, the Cougs will wake up tomorrow with a nice 8-1 score.

The chances of the College Football Playoff are long, but it’s a good thing the Cougs are in the discussion.

But first! The Cougs have business to take care of against a 2-6 Utah State team that earned a two-point win over equally woeful Wyoming. The Aggies, shall we say, are very bad. Their defense is being shredded at the rate of 498 yards per game. There are only two teams worse than them on that side of the ball: Oklahoma State and historically bad Kent State.

There isn’t much to distinguish between their defense against the rush or the pass; they are both terrible. And on the offensive side of the ball, leading receiver Jalen Royals is injured and done for the season.

Iowa transfer Spencer Petras is at quarterback and has 13 touchdowns to go with seven interceptions in six games. (Howard Cosell voiceHowever, the Aggies rank 13th in the nation in yards per game on offense with 458. We’ll see if the Royals absence takes them further, but the WSU defense will have to be alert, as Utah State likes does go fast.

The Cougs have enough offensive weapons to break through the porous Aggie defense. The return of Carlos Hernandez was a boost and this is the perfect opponent to get the running game back on track.

It’s the Cougs and the Aggies. Talk about it here.

When

This is another late night as it starts at 7:30pm under the chilly Pullman sky. Fun fact: This is the last college football game of the day. Let’s end on a high note.

Where

Gesa Field at Martin Stadium for the penultimate time this season. There are still plenty of seats available.

How to watch

Another one on The CW with Ted Robinson and Ryan Leaf in conversation.

The line

WSU -20.5, O/U is 69.5

Do you remember him?

Lined up for the Aggies is former WSU defensive end Lawrence Falatea, who spent three years in Pullman. Falatea played in 14 games in the Crimson and Gray, but missed the entire year with injury before transferring to Utah State, which is much closer to his hometown of Sandy, Utah (I’ve been there!). He has had limited playing time this season and has 15 total tackles, including two tackles for loss.