Football traditionalists claim that the team who runs the ball more effectively will finish on top more times than not. New school football dogma dictates you must pass to get ahead and run to stay ahead.
Regardless of who you ask, most football analysts and fans will agree that you need to be successful at running the football to have sustained success.
Introducing the Washington State Cougars – the team challenging this long-held truth.
Saying WSU Loves to Pass is an Understatement
Since head coach Mike Leach was given the keys to the Cougars in 2012, Washington State has passed, passed, and passed some more. The following chart will tell you everything you need to know about Leach’s run-pass balance.
| Year | Pass Attempts/G (NCAA Rank) | Rush Attempts/G (NCAA Rank) |
| 2018 | 53.7 (1st) | 21.7 (130th – last) |
| 2017 | 54.8 (1st) | 23.3 (130th – last) |
| 2016 | 51.1 (1st) | 27.8 (124th) |
| 2015 | 56.8 (1st) | 22.6 (128th – last) |
| 2014 | 64.3 (1st) | 20.3 (128th – last) |
| 2013 | 58.2 (1st) | 18.7 (126th – last) |
| 2012 | 52.0 (1st) | 21.0 (124th – last) |
| AVG | 55.8/Game | 22.2/Game |
That balance I mentioned – it hardly exists. Leach is definitely a pass-on-all-three-downs kind of guy. He has led the nation in pass attempts each year he has been at WSU. Not only that, but he has been dead last in rushing attempts in each year save 2016.
I did not research the following claim, but c’mon, it has to be true: Mike Leach is the only coach to lead the nation in passing attempts and finish dead last in rushing attempts 6 times. I dare you to find the proof to refute that.
Leach Has Fared Remarkably Well
The Cougars suffered through a few rough seasons from 2012-2014 while Leach worked to transform the offense and get his preferred recruits in there. Since 2015, WSU has been a very winning team.
Of course, passing in high volume is only going to be effective if you pass well. Likewise, if you can gain large chunks on the ground when you do finally decide to run the ball, you can overcome a lack of rushing attempts.
I will now show the passing and rushing yards numbers along with the Cougars’ records from 2012-2018 to illustrate how their success hinges on both passing and rushing effectively.
| Year | Record | Pass Yds/G (NCAA Rank) | Rush Yds/G (NCAA Rank) |
| 2018 | 9-1 | 392.3 (1st) | 77.7 (129th) |
| 2017 | 9-4 | 366.8 (2nd) | 68.0 (129th) |
| 2016 | 8-5 | 362.5 (3rd) | 120.0 (114th) |
| 2015 | 9-4 | 389.2 (1st) | 80.5 (128th – last) |
| 2014 | 3-9 | 477.7 (1st) | 39.8 (128th – last) |
| 2013 | 6-7 | 368.0 (4th) | 53.4 (126th – last) |
| 2012 | 3-9 | 330.4 (9th) | 29.1 (124th – last) |
| AVG | 54.7% | 383.8/Game | 66.9/Game |
After rushing for the fewest yards in the nation each of his first 4 seasons, Leach has ran the ball a few more times per game and has had much better success. How much better?
Despite still being in the nation’s bottom-10 in rushing attempts, Washington State ran for more yards in 2016 than in 2012, 2013, and 2014 … combined!
Since 2015, the Cougars have been in the bottom-2 in rushing attempts 3 times and yet are 35-14 over that stretch. This season, WSU currently sits at 9-1 and is ranked #8 in the year’s second College Football Playoff ranking, proving they do not need to run very often to win games.
WSU Plays Better With a Run-Pass Balance
As much as Mike Leach loves to throw the ball, his team fares much better when they run the ball a decent amount.
I decided to dig up games since 2012 in which a team threw at least 25 passes but rushed 20 times or less in a college football game. Not surprisingly, the Cougars have led the nation in this type of game each season since Leach took the reigns.
| Year | # of Games* (NCAA Rank) | SU Record | ATS Record |
| 2018 | 5 (1st) | 5-0 | 4-1 |
| 2017 | 3 (1st) | 1-2 | 1-2 |
| 2016 | 2 (1st) | 1-1 | 1-1 |
| 2015 | 4 (1st) | 3-1 | 2-2 |
| 2014 | 6 (1st) | 0-6 | 1-4-1 |
| 2013 | 6 (1st) | 3-3 | 4-2 |
| 2012 | 5 (1st) | 0-5 | 1-4 |
| Total | 13-18 | 14-16-1 |
* with at least 25 pass attempts and no more than 20 rush attempts
Before this season, Mike Leach was 8-18 SU and 10-15-1 ATS in imbalanced games, proving that even the Cougars played better when they prioritized the run.
This season, the Cougars are as imbalanced as ever, already with 5 such games. The difference is that they are now winning these games they statistically should not win.
At 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS in imbalanced games, Washington State is simply tearing up opponents through the air with little attention paid to establishing an effective ground attack … and it’s working.
I would be careful in putting too much faith in a team that defies statistics. They will eventually regress back to the mean.
Since 2012, teams that have thrown at least 25 passes but rushed no more than 20 times have won a dismal 13.7% SU and only 27.3% ATS.
Mike Leach may have beaten the odds so far this year, but he cannot continue to do it forever, can he?
Kreighton loves sports, math, writing, and winning — he combines all of them as a writer for WagerBop. His favorite sports to review are MLB, NFL, NBA, NCAAF, and NCAABB.
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