Washington State quarterback Gardner Minshew
Mike Leach and the Washington State Cougars (7-1) have moved all the way up to No. 8 in the AP Poll with wins against Oregon and Stanford in the past two weeks. After a tough road victory last week, the Cigars return home to host the California Golden Bears (5-3) in a showdown of Pac 12 powerhouses on Saturday night.
The game is scheduled to start at 10:45 p.m. ET and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. If you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can still watch a live stream of the game (or DVR it) on your computer, phone or streaming device by signing up for one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
In addition to a Netflix-like on-demand streaming library, Hulu also offers a bundle of 50-plus live TV channels, including all the ESPN channels. You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, “Hulu with Live TV” also comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
ESPN and ESPN 2 are both included in the “Sling Orange” channel package. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Sling TV app.
If you can’t watch live, you can get 50 hours of cloud DVR storage as an additional add-on.
ESPN Platforms
Additionally, you can also watch a live stream of the game on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app. You’ll need to log in to a cable provider to watch this way, but if you don’t have that, you can still sign up for one of the above options and then use your Hulu or Sling TV credentials to sign in and watch on the ESPN digital platforms.
Preview
Washington State boasts the nation’s leading passer in Gardner Minshew. Minshew under Leach is averaging 397.9 passing yards per game.
Leach, who usually holds his passers to incredibly high standards, is pleased with Minshew’s performance up to this point this season.
“As far as production and performance, I think he’s the best (quarterback), I guess folks are kind of dancing around that a little bit. It doesn’t really affect anything that we do. I think he needs to improve and I think he needs to improve as fast as he can, but you know all of these comparisons and stuff, he’s got the best numbers so he’s the best one.”
Cal is coming off a surprising two-point upset win against Washington last week. In the Golden Bears’ past two games, wins against the Oregon State Beavers and Huskies, they have allowed under 250 total yards in each win, something head coach Justin Wilcox was proud of.
“I thought you saw a lot of toughness out there, just grit and determination. We weren’t perfect, but we found a way to win the game. I loved it. Obviously, you want to go out and score every time, but we knew against Washington’s defense, it was going to be tough. There were going to be times when 2 or 3 yards were good.”
The Golden Bears enter Saturday as streaky a team you’ll find. After winning three straight games to start the season, they lost three straight before winning the past two.
Matchup to Watch: The Cougars are better on defense than most analysts give them credit for despite playing in the offense-heavy Pac 12. Washington State allows 196.4 passing yards per game, which is a respectable 34th in the country.
Freshman quarterback Chase Garbers has not thrown an interception since September, but that comes with missing two games because of injury during that span. Cal’s youngster will likely have to match Minshew throw for throw early in order to have a chance at another upset.