Washington State @ Oregon State preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 12, 2013 ) Oregon State 52, Washington State 24

What should have been a marquee quarterback matchup in the Pac-12 is no more after Washington State's Connor Halliday suffered a season-ending ankle injury in a 44-17 loss to USC last weekend. The Cougars will begin life without the nation's passing leader Saturday as former walk-on Luke Falk gets the start at Oregon State opposite Sean Mannion, who became the new record-holder for career passing yards in the Pac-12 with 1,254. Mannion passed former Trojan Matt Barkley for the accolade in a 45-31 loss to California last Saturday.

The Beavers overcame a 27-10 deficit in the final quarter before the Golden Bears pulled away with 18 unanswered points to send Oregon State on a three-game skid in conference play. With four games remaining on the schedule, the Beavers need two more wins to become bowl-eligible for a third straight year under Mike Riley. Washington State's offense will have a new look with Falk, but the freshman showed promise in his debut against USC with 346 yards and two touchdowns in Mike Leach's air-raid offense.

TV: 4 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network. LINE: Oregon State -7.5.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE (2-7, 1-5 Pac-12): Three of Washington State's receivers currently reside on the Biletnikoff Award watch list as Vince Mayle, Isiah Myers and River Cracraft each have totaled more than 500 yards receiving and six touchdowns. With Halliday out, the passing game could see a slight drop-off with Falk in the driver's seat, but going to the run might be a favorable approach for Saturday. The Beavers surrendered 269 rushing yards and four scores against California, and leading rusher Daniel Lasco averaged 6.3 yards on 30 attempts.

ABOUT OREGON STATE (4-4, 1-4): Mannion's decision to forgo the NFL for his senior season hasn't paid dividends as the Beavers own one conference win over lowly Colorado and have been outscored 147-78 in losses to USC, Utah, Stanford and California. After becoming the Pac-12's new leader in career passing yards, Mannion didn't feel the need to celebrate his own personal gain, telling reporters, "It's meaningless to me. We lost." Mannion is 3-0 in his career against Washington State, and in last season's meeting in Pullman, he threw for 493 yards and four TDs in a 52-24 blowout victory.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Oregon State has outscored Washington State 115-51 in their last three meetings.

2. Mannion needs three TD passes to pass Derek Anderson (79 from 2001-04) and become the all-time leader at Oregon State.

3. Mayle became the 11th player in Cougars history to reach the 1,000-yard mark as he currently leads the Pac-12 with 1,009 receiving yards.

PREDICTION: Oregon State 30, Washington State 27