San
Diego Union Tribune sports 12/27/2017 by Kirk Kenney
5
Things to watch in the Holiday Bowl: No. 18 Michigan St. vs. No. 21 Washington
St.
The
40th annual San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl once again matches teams
from the Pac-12 and Big Ten conferences. No. 21 Washington State (9-3) returns
for the second straight year while No. 18 Michigan State (9-3) makes its first
bowl appearance here. The Spartans are 1 1/2-point favorites in the game.
Here are five things to
watch:
1. Washington State’s
quarterback situation
When Washington State coach Mike Leach was in town two weeks ago
for a Holiday Bowl news conference, he was asked about the absence of the
team’s top two wide receivers — Tavares Martin Jr. and Isaiah Johnson-Mack —
who had been dismissed from the team.
When Leach stepped to the
podium for Wednesday’s news conference, the first question was about the status
of starting quarterback Luke Falk.
Falk was photographed
with a cast on his left (non-throwing) forearm as he headed into Tuesday’s
practice at Southwestern College.
“He’s doing great,” Leach
said of Falk. “You can use your imagination all you want about the cast.
“He has had something on
his hand all year and hence we named him the Kingslayer (a ‘Game of Thrones’
reference).”
Pressed further, Leach
said, “We don’t talk about injuries, anyway, so you’re on your own with that.
He’s had his glove on his hand all year long, so, yeah.”
So Falk is good to go for
the game?
“He’s doing exactly what
we want him to do, and he looks good to me,” Leach said.
Falk (357-for-534
passing, 3,593 yards, 30 TDs/13 INTs) averaged nearly 300 yards a game passing
this season, although he was replaced a couple times this season by sophomore
backup Tyler Hilinski (91-for-129, 904 yards, 5 TDs/6 INTs).
Hilinski led the Cougars
to a triple overtime win over Boise State in September. He also threw four
interceptions in a late-October loss at Arizona.
After that game, Leach
told the Spokesman-Review: “Hilinski does a good job of bouncing around,
pushing the ball downfield, but he gets reckless. ... Falk tries to way
over-analyze everything to the point where that can be counterproductive, so if
I could slice the two of them in half and mold them into one guy, we’d probably
have been in a pretty good situation today.”
2. Air Raid! Air
Raid!
Washington State comes to town with its “Air Raid” offense, the
uptempo, everybody-into-the-pattern, quick-throw scheme that tires out defenses
and scoreboard operators. The Cougars rank No. 2 in the nation in passing with
374.8 yards/game.
Given the depleted
receiving corps and potential issues at quarterback, what should observers
expect from Washington State’s “Air Raid” offense?
That’s a good question.
Couple that with Michigan
State film study of last year’s Holiday Bowl, when Minnesota effectively
limited Washington State to short, underneath passes in a 17-12 win over the
Cougars.
Falk was limited to 264
yards — nearly 100 yards below his average — while going 30-for-51 passing in
last year’s bowl game. He had passed for fewer than 200 yards until a touchdown
drive in the game’s final minutes.
“What they do is cutting
edge conceptually,” Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said, “so we are going
to have to play well and play up here (referencing mentally by pointing to his
head). They are going to have to play fast, but play with their minds as well.”
3. Michigan State’s
low-scoring offense
Michigan State sophomore quarterback Brian Lewerke (233-for-396
passing, 2,580 yards, 17 TDs/7 INTs/110 carries, 486 yards, 5 TDs) has drawn
praise for his passing and running ability and his leadership. He is supported
in the run game by junior LJ Scott (183 carries, 788 yards, 6 TDs), among others.
Despite its offensive
balance, Michigan State has averaged only 23.1 points a game this season (105th
in the FBS). It’s been enough to be successful because the Spartans defense has
allowed but 20.2 points a game.
Washington State’s
offense gets most of the attention, but the Cougars defense has been solid.
They rank 14th in the nation in total defense and are No. 1 in third-down
efficiency.
“They get on you, they
play you tight, they provide pressure,” Dantonio said. “A lot of different
pressure, a lot of different people running from different places and you’ve
got to beat them. So we’ve got to make plays on 50/50 balls much like they do.
You’ve got to put the ball in the vicinity and the receiver has to make the
tough catch and that run after catch is very important as well.”
4. Where’s Hercules?
When you have a guy named Hercules on your defense, you want him
on the field as much as possible.
Washington State junior
defensive lineman Hercules Mata’afa earned All-American honors this season
after leading the Cougars with 9 1/2 sacks among his 43 tackles, along with two
forced fumbles.
Mata’afa must sit out the
first two quarters against Michigan State, however.
It is the penalty for a
targeting foul committed against Washington quarterback Jake Browning last
month. Since it came in the second half, Mata’afa must sit for the first half
of the bowl game.
5. What will Leach
say next?
In a story posted Wednesday on The Players Tribune, Leach wrote
about a pet raccoon he had as a kid. He named it Bilbo Baggins after the title
character in J. R. R. Tolkien’s novel “The Hobbit.”
“I grew up out in the
country in Wyoming, and there was a guy near us who had a baby raccoon he
wanted to get rid of, so my family took it in,” Leach said in the story. “I
will say Bilbo did a fabulous job as a house pet. Got along great with the dog,
got along great with the cats and he usually got along with the people, too.”
Leach said he and his
father finally had to release Bilbo when the critter started to get a little
feisty in his advanced years.
“They hit kinda raccoon
teenage years and it’s time for them to head off into the sunset,” Leach said,
adding, “I kinda would like to have a pet raccoon again, but, you know,
bouncing around the country it makes it tough.”
Raccoons have been
spotted around these parts, but Leach is more likely to come across a skunk at
the stadium. They have been known to interrupt a game or two, and they aren’t
likely to be as friendly as Bilbo.
…………….
FOOTBALL
Sure enough, it's Pac-12 vs. Big Ten
As with their teams, Leach and Dantonio go about
their business in different manners
By DALE GRUMMERT
Lewiston Trib
Washington State coach Mike Leach talked about
childhood pet raccoon, Bilbo Baggins, during a portion of Wednesday’s Holiday
Bowl news conference. His counterpart, Mike Dantonio, stuck to football topics.
SAN DIEGO - For all the wit and wisdom imparted by
the two coaches in a pre-Holiday Bowl news conference Wednesday at the
Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel, it was perhaps more entertaining to watch them
during down time.
While Mike Leach of Washington State fielded his
usual mixture of routine and oddball questions, Mark Dantonio of Michigan State
sat almost motionless at the head table, grimly looking straight ahead.
Later, while Dantonio spoke, Leach tinkered with his
beverages. He removed the lid from his tall coffee cup and blew into it. He
poured water into another cup. He used his fingers to scoop ice cubes from the
second cup and drop them into the first.
The contrast in head coaches in this bowl matchup is
vaguely reminiscent of previous Big Ten vs. Pac-12 affairs involving Washington
State - say, Lloyd Carr vs. Mike Price in the 1997 Rose Bowl. Midwest elocution
vs. West Coast improv.
Of course, where Leach is in the mix, no real
comparison exists.
Suffice to say Leach's No. 21 Cougars and Dantonio's
No. 18 Spartans, both 9-3, will take different offensive and defensive
approaches to their game tonight (6 o'clock, FS1) at SDCCU Stadium in the 40th
Holiday Bowl.
"They remind me of Utah and Stanford,"
Leach said of Michigan State's offense. "They're not exactly like that,
but they have some power-run philosophy like Stanford and Utah."
The Cougars can only hope the Spartans resemble
Stanford and Utah, since they defeated those teams in back-to-back games in
early November, assuring themselves of a relatively prestigious bowl like the
Holiday.
But the Wazzu defense, in what appears to the Cougar
swan song of unit coordinator Alex Grinch (reported to be Ohio State-bound),
will also be wary of the quarterback run game with Spartans sophomore Brian
Lawerke, who has rushed for a gross 614 yards.
"He's an explosive guy," Leach said.
"He can move his feet some, he's got a pretty good arm, and the other
thing is he gets hot. There are times when he gets on streaks when he's pretty
hot. He's one of the best quarterbacks in that league and definitely a key on
offense."
Lawerke's counterpart for WSU, Luke Falk, will be
tempted to throw even more frequently than usual, facing a defense allowing
only 101 rushing yard a game, second-best in the Big Ten. The weather should
cooperate: Sunny conditions have prevailed all week, and the temperature at
kickoff will probably be in the 60s or high 50s.
Leach was asked about the long, slender cast Falk
has been wearing on his left forearm the past couple of days. The senior
quarterback has nursed some type of left-wrist issue for weeks, and there have
been rumors he underwent surgery after the regular season.
Bowl festivities, of course, don't act as truth
serum on Leach's stance toward injuries.
"He's doing great," he said of Falk.
"You can use your imagination all you want on the cast. He's had something
on his hand all year, hence we gave him the name Kingslayer."
The primary king he'll be trying to slay is
6-foot-2, 233-pound linebacker Joe Bachie, the leader of the Spartans' staunch
defense as a sophomore.
"If you run anything at him or he hits you, he
doesn't move - the other object moves," Leach said. "And I think he
does a great job. Just a good classic physical linebacker."
No news conference with Leach would be complete
without a nonfootball question, and this one addressed an article he wrote,
"5 Thoughts that Have Nothing to Do with Football," published
Wednesday in the Derek Jeter-founded online platform, The Players' Tribune. It
was led by Leach's memories of a pet raccoon he had as a child, named Bilbo
Baggins.
Yes, Leach replied, he'd like to have another pet
raccoon someday. But "bouncing around the country makes it tough."
Dantonio, the Spartans' dignified and stern-looking
11th-year coach, paid his compliments to Leach ("outstanding coach")
and his Air Raid offense ("cutting-edge conceptually") as well as
Grinch's defense.
"They get on you," he said. "They
play you tight. They provide pressure - a lot of people running from different
places. You've got to beat them. So we've got to make plays on 50-50 plays,
much like they do. You've got to put the ball in the vicinity and the receiver
has to make the tough catch."
The Spartans' challenge against Falk is to make the
senior QB uncomfortable, he said.
"Get him off the dime, get him off his
landmark, and good things happen for a defense," he said. "If he's
able to throw with time, bad things happen for our defense."
At one point, as a TV reporter addressed Dantonio,
the coach recognized him as the fellow who'd delivered the most offbeat query
to Leach.
"Raccoon question?" he said.
He never broke the hint of a smile. Neither did
Leach.
……………………….
HOLIDAY BOWL NOTES: Cougs haven't gone pedal to the
metal with pre-Holiday practices
By DALE GRUMMERT OF THE TRIBUNE of Lewiston
Dec 28, 2017
SAN DIEGO - If nothing else, the Cougars should have
a spring in their step tonight.
Washington State conducted only 12 postseason
practices ahead of its Holiday Bowl pairing with Michigan State, a fairly low
number for a game as late as Dec. 28. So the Cougars aren't likely to be
fatigued early in the game.
Nor were their practices as lengthy as, say, typical
Tuesday or Wednesday sessions during the regular season. As usual during bowl
prep, coach Mike Leach doled out plenty of reps to third-teamers and
redshirting players.
"Part of it is you've been through a whole
season, and you've had other practices too (before heading to the bowl
site)," Leach said. "You're reasonably polished up. There is some
time lapses (between practices), which makes you nervous. We've always cut back
a little."
It's likely that many bowl teams this season curtailed
practices a bit because of the early signing period introduced by the NCAA.
Teams announced their signings last week.
THIRD-DOWN PARSIMONY - As Michigan State coach Mark
Dantonio pointed out Wednesday, his opponent is the stingiest team in the country
on third down. Washington State's opponents have converted only 39 of 157 times
in that situation.
Closely related to that statistic is the Cougars'
8.2 tackles for loss per game, tied for seventh in the nation. Defensive tackle
Hercules Mata'afa, who will sit out the first half tonight on a targeting
suspension, provides 1.8 of those, sixth-most in the country.
Short possessions, in fact, could be frequent on
both sides. Michigan State ranks 16th nationally in third-down defense.
FALK, OF COURSE - Each year the Holiday Bowl
presents the Admiral U.S. Grant Sharp Trophy to a member of each participating
team who displays "unselfish commitment, motivation and teamwork that
ultimately leads to the team's overall success."
The WSU winner was quarterback Luke Falk, who
arrived on campus as a walk-on and wound up the Pac-12 career passing leader.
The Michigan State award went to strength and
conditioning coach Ken Mannie. That's not unprecedented. Before the Cougars
upset Texas in the 2003 Holiday Bowl, their Grant Sharp Trophy went to
then-strength coach Rob Oviatt.
………….
Michigan State University and WSU are kindred
colleges with similar rivals
Thu., Dec. 28, 2017
By Jonathan Brunt Spokane S-R (a 1999 graduate of MSU’s journalism
school_
WSU v. MSU facts
Established:
MSU: Feb. 12, 1855
WSU: March 28, 1890
Fall 2017 enrollment:
MSU: 38,966 undergraduate; 11,023 graduate
WSU: 25,277 undergraduate, including 17,646 on the
Pullman campus; 4,198 graduate students on all campuses
Landmarks:
MSU: Beaumont Tower, The Spartan (statue known as
Sparty at MSU), Red Cedar River, W.J. Beal Botanical Garden, Eli and Edythe
Broad Art Museum
WSU: The Bryan Hall Clocktower, Cougar Pride bronze
statue, Terrell Library atrium
Available on-campus flavors of ice cream:
MSU Dairy Store: 22, including Dantonio’s Double
Fudge Fake, plus 11 seasonal, including Final Four Fudge Dribble.
Ferdinand’s Ice Cream Shoppe at WSU: 15, including
Cougar Tracks and Apple Cup Crisp, plus five seasonal.
When students first started attending medical
school:
MSU: 1966
WSU: 2017
Football stadium capacity:
Spartan Stadium: 75,005
Martin Stadium: 32,952
Campus acreage:
East Lansing: 5,200 acres
Pullman: 1,675 acres
Spartans in the Inland Northwest
Michigan State estimates it has about 550,000 living
alumni. There are about 300 in the Inland Northwest, said Patrick Bisson,
president of the Inland Northwest MSU Alumni Association.
Bisson graduated from MSU in 1987 with a marketing
degree and earned an MBA from WSU in 2010. He’s a big fan of both, but he’ll be
rooting for MSU on Thursday from Michigan where he’s visiting family. Other
members of the club will watch the game at their usual hangout: The Swinging
Doors.
In 2013, the University of Washington’s president
had the audacity to question Washington State University’s ability to start a
medical school.
“Good luck. That’s a multimillion-dollar task,”
then-UW President Michael Young said, sparking a public spat that may have
given WSU all the motivation in the world to start a medical school. “They’d be
very low-rated for a long time. It would take a lot of time before they’d be
able to attract quality students. I’d be surprised if Washington wanted to use
its resources that way.”
And then – again from the Cougar perspective – Young
had the audacity to question the intelligence of revered WSU President Elson
Floyd, saying that words spoken by Floyd showed him “not understanding how a
medical school is run.”
If ever there is another institution of higher
education that would understand WSU’s frustration in dealing with a perceived
arrogant sibling university, it’s Michigan State.
At most every important turn, Michigan State
University has been fought – often in the shadows – by the University of Michigan.
Among the milestones achieved by MSU that were
opposed by Michigan:
Changing its name from Michigan Agricultural College
to Michigan State College.
Changing its name to Michigan State University.
Joining the Big Ten.
Getting a medical school.
MSU’s fight song originally was focused on Michigan:
“Smash right through that line of blue.” The line didn’t work so well against
Purdue or Ohio State, so it later was changed.
By the middle of the 20th century, MSU
administrators hated Michigan so much that Welcome Week for freshmen partly
became a training camp for Wolverine bashing.
Sharing similar enemies, however, isn’t what really
makes MSU and WSU kindred universities. Instead, it’s their status as
land-grant institutions.
Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act, providing
federal land to each state in the union for the creation of agricultural
schools.
Michigan State was founded in 1855, and in 1863 it
officially became a land-grant school, making it the nation’s first.
WSU was founded as a land-grant school in 1890.
Before the the Morrill Act, most colleges focused
mostly on the arts and letters, not so much agriculture and science, said M.
Peter McPherson, president of the Association of Public and Land Grant
Universities.
Land-grant colleges helped changed that, bringing
farmers into the classroom.
“These schools provided access for education and,
ultimately, research for engineering, agriculture and science,” said McPherson,
who served as MSU’s president from 1993 through 2004. “They also evolved to do
more and more outreach and problem-solving in their states.”
Of course, other universities also have adopted many
parts of the land-grant philosophy. But land-grant institutions, including MSU
and WSU, promote their land-grant missions for most of what they do. (Note that
WSU’s medical school is aimed at bringing more doctors to underserved areas.)
There are, of course, big differences between MSU
and WSU. MSU has many more students than WSU and is in a larger urban area.
East Lansing has about 50,000 people, and it’s only a mile or so from Lansing,
the state capital, which is home to 115,000, according to the last Census.
Pullman’s population is about 30,000.
McPherson notes another difference.
WSU’s main rival is across the Cascades, making it
appear that WSU and UW represent different parts of the state. MSU and the
University of Michigan are only an hour’s drive apart on the freeway (you may
prefer “expressway,” if you’re from Michigan).
McPherson downplays the MSU-Michigan rivalry, at
least off the playing field.
As MSU grew up and gained a reputation of its own,
the universities began working better together, McPherson said.
Of course, that is what university administrators
always say about their rivals in public, Michael Young notwithstanding.
As a proud MSU political science graduate, however,
McPherson isn’t fully above the rivalry.
As MSU president, he created the MSU Tuition
Guarantee, a promise not to raise tuition above the rate of inflation as long
as the Legislature maintained MSU’s funding at inflation. This was promoted as
something a land-grant school should do to promote broad access to state
residents.
The guarantee forced the Legislature’s hand, and
gave the University of Michigan fits when trying to lobby for its chunk of
state money.
Remembering battles with the University of Michigan
for funding in the Legislature during an interview last week, McPherson was a
bit nostalgic.
“It was fun, wasn’t it?” he said.
/////////////
John Blanchette: All the world’s a stage and Mike
Leach’s Cougars are merely players
Thu., Dec. 28, 2017, 6 a.m.
By John Blanchette Spokane S-R
Holiday Bowl NCAA FOOTBALL
At SDCCU Stadium, San Diego
➤ Thursday, Dec. 28:
Washington State Cougars vs. Michigan State Spartans, 6 p.m. PT TV: Fox Sports
1
SAN DIEGO – It was a couple of weeks ago in a TV
interview here that Mike Leach claimed to have booted wide receiver Tavares
Martin Jr. from Washington State’s football roster “because he created drama.”
Nothing like the coach calling the pass-catcher
Coug.
Drama has been responsible for most of Wazzu
football’s forward momentum since its unfortunate-yet-increasingly-typical
undressing in the Apple Cup last month.
It’s the wave the Cougs are riding into Thursday’s
Holiday Bowl against Michigan State, which has moved from a 4 1/2-point
underdog to a 1 1/2-point favorite since the bowl announcement, mostly because
coach Mark Dantonio managed to keep his fuss confined to Twitter spats with Jim
Harbaugh.
(And just think how much more fun it would have been
to have the Cougs lining up against Outback Bowl-bound Michigan, starting with
Leach vs. Harbaugh – which would have happened if the Spartans had a better
record and had beaten the Wolverines head-to-hea … oh, wait. They did. Thanks a
lot, Treasured Bowl Culture.)
Take, for example, Wednesday’s Holiday Bowl press
conference.
As Leach stood at the lectern, Dantonio sat
expressionless. Well, not so much expressionless as looking thoroughly
constipated.
When it was Dantonio’s time, Leach turned his
attention to a large cup of coffee or tea, which apparently had been brewed
beyond Papa Bear temperatures. So the Wazzu coach initiated cooling measures,
removing the lid and then blowing repeatedly, as if administering CPR for what
seemed like five minutes.
By the time Leach poured a glass of ice water from a
pitcher, then fisted out some ice cubes and dropped them into his venti, not a
soul in the room had heard a thing Dantonio had to say.
Which wasn’t much. It was a bowl game presser, for
heaven’s sake.
But it showed again that while Mike Leach won’t
comment on injuries in part because he considers such talk to be a distraction,
he’s a PhD in the distractive arts.
Take all the December hoo-ha – not all of it Leach’s
doing, but enough. If nothing else, it served to divert attention from the fact
the Cougars were returning to the scene of their crime of a year ago, a Holiday
Bowl egg so large it wasn’t laid so much delivered by Caesarean section.
This time they come with their defensive heart and
soul benched for a half after a targeting call in the Apple Cup, and
quarterback Luke Falk wearing a mysterious wrist cast on his non-throwing arm.
Drama!
“He has had something on his hand all year,” Leach
demurred on Wednesday, suspending the banishment threats he usually levies for
injury questions. “Hence, we gave him the nickname the Kingslayer. Beyond that,
you’re on your own.”
OK, but wasn’t Kingslayer a derisive name because he
stabbed the monarch in the back? And wasn’t it Kingslayer’s sword hand that was
chopped off? What are we missing here?
This is just the last nudge of nonsense to get the
Cougs to kickoff in a month that included, in no particular order:
Martin and fellow Floridian wideout Isaiah
Johnson-Mack asking for their releases from the program. Martin said Leach
tossed him because of the request; Leach said he cut him before. Johnson-Mack
tweeted that Leach initially denied his release, deleted the tweet, then got
cleared to transfer to Florida FBS schools or an FCS school anywhere. Because, you
know, that should really be Leach’s decision.
Landing his “best signing class,” or at least a
portion of it, during the NCAA’s new early period. So that’s good drama. Except
if Leach is really the sound-bite national treasure everyone insists, shouldn’t
he come up with material different than the stuff trotted out by every other
coach in America?
Falk proposing to his girlfriend. For a guy who’s
been benched twice this year, his confidence remains unassailable.
Leach flirting – and possibly accepting – the job at
Tennessee until the school decided to fire athletic director John Currie for
flirting with – and possibly agreeing to hire – Leach. Which led to …
Panicked fans losing their minds and hollering “give
him anything he wants,” and Wazzu president Kirk Schulz doing pretty much that,
bumping Leach’s salary to nearly $20 million over the next five years, plus a
$750,000 retention bonus. Why the dough wasn’t conditional on Leach actually
winning an Apple Cup seems like a negotiating fail, but having given away WSU’s
Performing Arts program Schulz apparently felt no qualms about giving away the
store.
Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch taking an as yet
unspecified job at Ohio State, but staying to coach the bowl game, which would
seem to be a distraction maybe a tiny bit bigger than acknowledging someone’s
hamstring pull or sprained ankle.
If Tavares Martin created drama, it’s a surprise
Leach didn’t name him captain.
…………………
Two minute drill: Keys to victory for Washington
State against Michigan State
UPDATED: Wed., Dec. 27, 2017, 6:11 p.m.
By Theo Lawson S-R of Spokane
The pick: Why Washington State will beat Michigan
State in the Holiday Bowl
Washington State versus Michigan State a study of
contrasting styles, coaches
Holiday Bowl
Don’t take your eyes off…
“X” and “Z” for the Cougars. Those are WSU’s outside
receiver positions and for the first time this season, Tavares Martin Jr. or
Isaiah Johnson-Mack won’t be occupying either. The dismissal of Martin Jr. and
the departure of Johnson-Mack have forced the Cougars to turn to true freshman
Tay Martin at “X” receiver and sophomore Dezmon Patmon at “Z.” Martin has
flourished as a rookie, with four touchdown catches in his last five games, and
Patmon, a San Diego native who played at Patrick Henry High, will be eager to
show out in front of a home audience while making the first start of his
career.
When Michigan State has the ball…
The Cougars have to deal with a dual-threat
quarterback in MSU’s Brian Lewerke. The first-year starter has made his
sophomore mistakes – twice this year Lewerke’s passed for under 100 yards – but
WSU won’t want to see him at his best. On two other occasions, he threw for
400-plus and in five games, he’s been able to muster 50-plus on the ground.
When Washington State has the ball…
All eyes are on Luke Falk, the Pac-12 record-holder
in passing yards, attempts, completions, touchdown passes and total offense.
Falk was seen wearing a cast before practice in San Diego on Tuesday and he’s
been careful to keep his left, non-throwing hand in his pocket during many of
the team’s public appearances throughout the week. Falk’s injury is unknown,
but if it hampers him at all against Michigan State, don’t be surprised to see
an early cameo from backup Tyler Hilinski.
Did you know?
A 10-win season is on the table for the Cougars for
just the sixth time in program history. WSU went 10-2 under Babe Hollingberry
in 1929 and didn’t manage the feat again for another 68 years. But Mike Price
delivered a 10-2 record in 1997, then went 10-2 in 2001 and 10-3 in 2002 before
handing the keys to Bill Doba. Doba led the Cougars to 10-2 the following season.
A victory in the Holiday Bowl would give Mike Leach the second 10-plus win
season of his career. Leach’s 2008 Texas Tech team went 11-2 before losing in
the Cotton Bowl. The WSU coach is an even 6-6 all-time in bowl games.
////////
These WSU seniors turned around Cougar football. Now
it’s time to pass the torch
Originally published December 27, 2017 at 6:52 pm
Updated December 27, 2017 at 8:33 pm
What’s the next step for the Cougs after
establishing themselves as one of the tougher outs in the Pac-12? To establish
themselves as a legitimate national contender.
By Matt Calkins Seattle Times columnist
SAN DIEGO — Washington State’s senior class has been
part of a program that went from feeble to feared in four years flat. It has
been part of a team that was ninth in Pac-12 total defense in 2014 and second
this season. It has been part of a group that has wowed not just the
conference, but the nation with its ability to pass the ball.
And now, it’s about to pass the torch.
The WSU football program is officially rebuilt. It
enters its Holiday Bowl matchup vs. Michigan State as the No. 21 team in the
country.
At 9-3, the Cougars will post a winning record for
the third consecutive season. They are playing in their second straight Holiday
Bowl after falling one victory shy of the Pac-12 North title for the second
consecutive season. This comes after going 11 straight years without a winning
record, the longest skid in program history.
So what’s the next step for the Cougs after
establishing themselves as one of the tougher outs in the Pac-12? To establish
themselves as a legitimate national contender.
If this Luke Falk-led senior class represents the
steps Washington State football has taken forward over the years, the class
coming in represents the potential giant leaps.
The freshmen headed to Wazzu for the 2018 season
appear to be the most naturally talented bunch coach Mike Leach has ever lured
to Pullman.
According to 247sports.com, the 2018 class is ranked
39th in the country and has the No. 15 quarterback in Cammon Cooper. Leach has
never recruited a signal caller ranked that highly in his head coaching career
— not even former Texas Tech star Graham Harrell, who amassed 15,793 passing
yards in his four-year career.
Recruits, you see, don’t feel like they’re rolling
the dice when signing with the Cougs anymore. They’re not crossing their
fingers that Leach will move the Cougs forward — they’ve been witnessing
concrete evidence.
And though nobody is pretending Wazzu is an elite
football program (how can it be when it has lost five consecutive Apple Cups,
including three straight by at least 27 points?), most acknowledge it’s
trending upward.
If that weren’t the case, why would running back Max
Borghi have signed with WSU? Borghi idolized Christian McCaffrey during his
high-school days and once dreamed of playing for Stanford. But even though the
Cardinal came after Borghi — who compiled 6,473 all-purpose yards and a
Colorado 5A state championship at Pomona High — he went with Washington State.
Stuff like that doesn’t happen. The Palouse rarely
sees such fortune. Perhaps that explains the reaction WSU running-backs coach
Jim Mastro had when Borghi put down his John Hancock.
“I’ve been
coaching 28 years,” Mastro said, “and it’s probably the most ecstatic I’ve ever
been, because it was so unexpected.”
Borghi isn’t the only incoming Coug capable of a
surprise, though. Safety D’Angelo McKenzie chose Washington State over Notre
Dame. Historically speaking, that’s like opting to see a musical in Omaha
instead of on Broadway. But nowadays, these recruits aren’t betting on the
success of Cougars football — they’re banking on it.
Obviously, Thursday’s game isn’t about the players
coming in but rather those on their way out. Beating Michigan State — the No.
18 team in the country — would be a glistening, techno-colored feather in the
Cougars’ cap.
Forget that Sun Bowl victory two years ago, which
capped a 9-4 season for WSU. Topping a Big Ten power to log its first 10-win
season since 2003 would be regarded as a first-class send-off.
But a victory shouldn’t be looked at as anything
more than that. If Leach maximizes his players’ potential, Thursday won’t be
the proverbial “end of an era.” It will be a building block for the future of
the program — a sort of “We got it to this level, now you lift it higher” moment.
I’m not trying to say that the Cougs are on
Washington, USC or even Stanford’s echelon yet. But they were the only Pac-12
team to beat the Trojans this year, and have now downed the Cardinal in
consecutive seasons.
They’re not far off. Leach has cultivated something
in Pullman, and this senior class will have one last game to show what it can
do.
But in four years, this next class could very well
show them u
………………..
One final Holiday Bowl showcase: How WSU’s Jamal
Morrow helped redefine the term ‘Air Raid RB’
Originally published December 27, 2017 at 3:40 pm
Updated December 27, 2017 at 4:21 pm
Jamal Morrow came to WSU because he believed in Jim
Mastro's vision. He'll leave as the best pass-catching running back the Cougars
have ever had, and thanks to his success, WSU even has his replacement, Max
Borghi, waiting in the wings.
By Stefanie Loh Seattle Times
SAN DIEGO – When highly-recruited running back Max
Borghi out of Pomona High in Arvada, Colo., announced last week that he’d
picked Washington State over Stanford, Jamal Morrow was one of the first
Cougars to congratulate him.
“Muhhhh boy! Congrats brotha!” Morrow tweeted at the
back who’s touted as the next iteration of himself – a running, pass catching
maestro who has redefined what it means to play running back in Mike Leach’s
Air Raid offense.
Quite a lot has changed in the five years since
Morrow signed with WSU in 2013 to the skepticism of many.
“People were like ‘Why you going there as a running
back? It’s the Air Raid,” Morrow recalls.
Holiday Bowl | 6 p.m., FS1
Morrow and Gerard Wicks, who also signed in 2013,
bought into the vision WSU running backs coach Jim Mastro sold: That the right
type of running back could thrive in the Air Raid, and that pass catching
skills honed along the way would make him valuable to NFL teams that want a
multidimensional tailback.
On Thursday, Morrow, the quintessential Air Raid
running back, will go into his final college game in the Holiday Bowl against
No. 16 Michigan State (9-3) as the third-leading receiver in school history.
And WSU has signed Morrow’s replacement based in
part on its ability to show Borghi an extensive body of work by arguably the
most versatile running back to ever play for WSU.
“Watching him over the past years in the Air Raid
has really drawn attention to running backs because of how they’re used,”
Borghi said. “He has proved that running backs can put up freakish numbers in
the offense because he is a very versatile player.”
With 198 receptions, Morrow trails only wide
receivers Gabe Marks (316) and River Cracraft (218) on WSU’s all-time
receptions list.
“It’s very special,” Mastro said. “It’s a tribute to
the kind of kid Jamal Morrow is. For one, you have to stay healthy, which he
has for four years. And you have to be dedicated to your craft. Besides the
quarterback position in this offense, running back is the most complex, unique
position we have because we ask you to do so much.”
Establishing the run in the Holiday Bowl could be
key to WSU’s success against a tough Michigan State defense that has allowed a
stingy 101.3 rushing yards per game. Only four teams – Ohio State, Michigan,
Notre Dame and Western Michigan – have managed to rush for triple digits
against the Spartans.
The 18th-ranked Cougars (9-3) hope to find traction
with their running backs, but they won’t do it just on the ground.
WSU’s running backs – Morrow, Wicks and James
Williams – combined for 1,660 rushing yards, 1,034 receiving yards and 31
touchdowns last year, and became the first backs in WSU history to collectively
finish with 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in a single season.
This year, WSU has run less, with the three backs
combining for 14 touchdowns, 1,082 rushing yards and 981 receiving yards. But
Morrow has risen to the top of the heap in more of a feature back role.
“Jamal played a lot more snaps this year because he
was so hard to get off the field,” Mastro said. “In crucial situations, we
wanted Jamal in the game this year.”
WSU has run less also because, Mastro says, “teams
for the first time, are prepared to stop our run game. There was another
linebacker in the box, another safety at nine yards. And we never saw that in
the past. That’s why we had a lot of receptions.”
WSU’s running backs have 132 receptions this year –
compared to 125 last season – and need 19 receiving yards in the Holiday Bowl
to post a second-consecutive 1000/1000 season.
Morrow leads the running backs with 479 receiving
yards along with 522 yards, and he’s scored five receiving and four rushing
touchdowns. His 4,192 career all-purpose yards are third in school history, and
his exploits helped the Cougars win over Borghi, who is expected to enroll at
WSU in January.
Morrow’s play showed Borghi what he might accomplish
at WSU and how he might best position himself for an NFL career.
“The offense is attracting many different running
backs because what they are doing with the running backs is a lot like what
some NFL teams are switching to with their running backs,” Borghi said.
For instance, Christian McCaffrey, the back Borghi
is frequently compared to because of their similarly versatility, and whom
Borghi looked up to while growing up in Colorado, leads the Carolina Panthers
with 75 receptions this season.
Morrow points to Super Bowl LI, and Patriots’
running back James White’s 14 receptions, as yet another example of the NFL’s
evolution toward running backs who can catch passes out the backfield.
“You kinda see how that translates from us to the
NFL running backs, where you have to be able to catch at the next level,”
Morrow said.
Mastro says the NFL’s evolution toward more savvy
pass-catching tailbacks has really caught on over the last four years.
“It started with Colin Kaepernick, when the 49ers
went to the zone read and pistol stuff, and it’s taken off,” Mastro said.
“That’s what everyone is going to now – the Chiefs, the Patriots, they’re all
looking for that kind of kid.”
There are stats to support Mastro’s claim.
With one week left in the NFL’s regular season,
eight running backs are listed among the NFL’s top-50 pass catchers in
receptions – the most since 2003, when seven NFL running backs finished the
regular season among the league’s top 50 in receptions.
Five of the NFL’s eight top pass-catching running
backs this season – Carolina’s McCaffrey (75 rec), Cleveland’s Duke Johnson (68
rec), Los Angeles Rams’ Todd Gurley (64 rec), San Francisco’s Carlos Hyde (57
rec) and Buffalo’s LeSean McCoy (57 rec) – lead their teams in receptions.
“The old days of ground-and-pound are gone. They
want the Jamal Morrow types,” Mastro said. “The pro scouts who come through
love that kid, and the one thing they talk about is how competitive he is.”
Morrow has accepted an invitation to play in the
NFLPA Collegiate Bowl on January 20. But before that, he’ll have one final
opportunity to display his unique skillset in the Holiday Bowl.
As a neat bonus, Morrow’s last college game will
take place at the stadium where he watched his first live pro football game.
Morrow grew up in Murrieta, about 65 miles north of
San Diego, and was 4 years old when his father took him to see the Chargers
play at Qualcomm Stadium for the first time.
The Chargers are no longer in San Diego, but Morrow
will close out his college career in that same building, now renamed San Diego
County Credit Union Stadium.
“That’s kinda cool,” Morrow said, grinning.
