**Editor’s Note: Each week during football season, we feature an essay from the opponent’s student newspaper on why Oregon will lose. This week’s edition is from Beau Baily, a football reporter at the Daily Evergreen.**

First of all, you’re welcome.

“Why WSU will beat Oregon.” I bet that gave you a nice laugh. WSU hasn’t won more than six games in a season since 2003. And Oregon, well, you don’t need me to tell you about the recent success the Oregon football program has enjoyed in the last decade or so.

So why do I think the Cougs have a shot to knock off No.2 ranked Oregon this Saturday? I’ll start with an anecdote.

Two years ago, in Mike Leach’s first season, the team inexplicably blew a 14 point fourth quarter lead to one of the worst teams in the conference’s history — Colorado.

After ripping up my student I.D. card and coming within one click away from withdrawing from all my classes, never to step foot in Pullman again, I bet my roommate 100 dollars that we would beat Oregon the following week in Seattle.

At halftime, the Cougars were down just 23-19, with momentum and within striking distance. Now, everyone knows that Oregon went on to win 51-26, but the point is, throughout the last four years, WSU has played Oregon tougher than most.

The last time the Ducks came to Pullman was 2010. Pullman can be a tough place for visitors to play. Teams often must fly to Spokane, take an hour and a half bus ride south through some wheat fields and not much else, and then stay in a hotel 20 minutes outside the city limits.

With a capacity around 38,000, WSU’s Martin Stadium is far from the biggest in the conference—in fact, it’s the smallest. However, it’s one of the loudest when the team is good, and students make up a higher percentage of the crowd than any other school in the conference.

If the game is close, those students will even stay for the second half.

Last year in Eugene, Connor Halliday torched Oregon’s secondary for 557 yards. The Cougars’ offense is going to put up points, and hopefully the defense can force some turnovers like last year to keep the air raid within striking distance.

Since 2010, the Cougars have thrown for more yards, and in the long run scored more points each time they’ve faced Oregon.

Additionally, since 2010, the Ducks have never led the Cougs by more than 12 at the half. This means, that the Cougar players are un-intimidated by what has consistently been one of the best football teams in the nation. In 2011, the Cougars trailed by five points. In 2012, they trailed only four. The next test is putting two halves together.

I also like the matchup between Oregon’s running attack and WSU’s front seven, especially with the potential of four Duck linemen out. Last year, the Cougars sacked Marcus Mariota three times, and forced his first two fumbles of the season.

Finally, the rumor around campus is that the Cougars are going to come out in white helmets. The last time the Cougars wore white helmets The Beatles were still touring. Combine that with a sellout crowd and a late 7:30 start giving the fans plenty of time to tailgate, the Cougars could be the most fired up to play than they’ve been in quite some time.

The story of the WSU vs. Oregon series the last four seasons has been the Cougars playing well for a half and then tailing away in the second, leading to a lopsided score. If this can be the year that the Cougars put two halves together, they win the game and Mike Leach gets his first marquee win in Pullman.