Photos
with this posting:
-Photos by
News for CougGroup from WSU at OSU women’s basketball 12/31/2017 in Corvallis
-Photo of part of
sports column in 1/2/2017 (online) 1/3/2017 (in print) Salem Statesman-Journal.
Text for entire column follows.
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Cougs Set
to Begin the New Year Against Colorado Friday night on Friel Court in Beasley
Coliseum on campus of Washington State University in Pullman
Based on
info 1/3/2018 from WSU Sports Info
COLORADO
(10-3, 1-1) vs WASHINGTON ST. (7-7, 0-2)
8 o’clock
in the evening on Friday, January the 5th in 2018
Pullman,
Wash. | Beasley Coliseum (11,671)
GAME NOTES
Opening
the new year at home, the Cougs host Colorado Friday night at Beasley Coliseum.
WSU and Colorado played three times in 2017 (WSU was 2-1) with the two teams
meeting up in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament in a game the Cougs won
79-78 to advance to the second round. WSU came back from 14 down in the first
quarter and held on late to take the victory. Prior to the Pac-12 tournament
game, the Cougs downed the Buffaloes at home to end the regular season, 67-56,
in a game in which WSU set a program record with 14 blocks, 12 of which came
from a record-setting performance from Nike McClure. All-time the Cougars are
8-5 against Colorado including a 4-1 record in Pullman.
LAST TIME
OUT
Despite a
season-best 17 points out of Chanelle Molina, the Cougars (7-7, 0-2 Pac-12)
could not keep a hot start going on the road as No. 17/17 Oregon State (11-2,
2-0 Pac-12) pulled away for a 71-53 victory Sunday afternoon at Gill Coliseum.
For the Cougs, the game was a tale of two halves as an ice-cold second half ended
any chance of an upset after taking a two-point lead into the halftime locker
room. Trailing by just one midway through the third quarter, WSU went nearly
nine minutes of game time without a field goal before Alexys Swedlund, who
posted 13 points in the loss, hit a three from the left wing with 5:25 to play
in the game. With the Cougs' shots not falling, the Beavers went on a 16-4 run,
including 11 points from Marie Gulich, that put Washington State down 57-43 in
the waning minutes of the contest. From there, the two sides trade baskets
while Oregon State hit its free throws to finish off the contest.
ABOUT
COLORADO
Entering
the game, Colorado is 10-3 and 1-1 in Pac-12 play after defeating Arizona last
week to pick up its first conference win of the season. Leading the way for the
Buffaloes is Kennedy Leonard who has posted 14.6 points per game. She is coming
off of a double-double (16 pts, 10 ast) against Arizona last week. Freshman
Annika Jank has put herself in contention for freshman of the year in the
Pac-12 having posted 13.5 points and 8l2 rebounds through 13 games. As a team,
the Buffaloes average 77.5 points per game while allowing 62.7 points per game
to their opponents.
……..
SALEM
OREGON STATESMAN JOURNAL SPORTS COLUMN 1/3/2018
By Gary
Horowitz, Salem Statesman Journal
The Pac-12
likes to market itself as the "Conference of Champions."
Well, for
this season’s bowl cycle at least, a more fitting moniker would be the
Conference of Embarrassing Bowl Results.
We knew
the Pac-12 lacked a dominant team this season, but a collective 1-8 bowl record
is not only the worst in conference history, it’s also the worst-ever mark for
a Power 5 Conference.
Washington
State lost by 25 points to Michigan State in the Holiday Bowl; Arizona State
lost by 21 points to North Carolina State in the Sun Bowl; UCLA lost by 18
points to Kansas State in the Phoenix Bowl; USC lost by 17 points to Ohio State
in the Cotton Bowl; and Oregon lost by 10 points to Boise State in the Las
Vegas Bowl in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.
Granted
some of the games were close, but you would expect most bowl games to be
competitive in what are perceived as evenly matched teams.
For Pac-12
apologists, here are a few excuses:
Oregon running back Royce Freeman elected
not to risk injury and didn’t suit up for the Las Vegas Bowl.
The Ducks’ bowl preparation was hampered by
the uncertainly of their coaching situation. Willie Taggart was hired by
Florida State on Dec. 5, and offensive coordinator Mario Cristobal was promoted
to head coach eight days before the game.
UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen was recovering
from a concussion and didn’t play in the Cactus Bowl, and the Bruins had an
interim head coach for the bowl game after Jim Mora was fired with one game
left in the regular season.
ASU also had an interim head coach in its
bowl game after Todd Graham was fired following the regular season finale
against Arizona.
WSU quarterback Luke Falk (wrist injury)
was held out of the Holiday Bowl.
While I
would prefer to see teams at full strength, I don’t blame Freeman or other top
draft-eligible players for not playing in lower-tier bowl games. There’s too
much money at stake to risk injury, and let’s not forget, Freeman returned to
Eugene for his senior year.
But many
teams were missing key players for assorted reasons, or had pending coaching
changes, and still turned in strong bowl performances.
Ohio State
All-American cornerback Denzel Ward opted not to play in the Cotton Bowl after
declaring for the 2018 NFL Draft. The Buckeyes’ turned in a dominant defensive
performance, sacking USC quarterback Sam Darnold eight times — he also lost two
fumbles and threw an interception — in a 24-7 victory over the Pac-12
champions.
Central
Florida coach Scott Frost, who announced during bowl preparation that he would
be leaving for Nebraska next season, was on the sidelines as the Knights
completed an unbeaten campaign with a victory over Auburn in the Peach Bowl.
Only Utah,
which defeated West Virginia in the Heart of Dallas Bowl, came through for the
Pac-12.
Bottom
line: The Pac-12 can't use excuses to mask a disastrous bowl season.
To be
fair, conference bowl game results vary from year to year. Last season, the
Pac-12 was 3-3 and the Big Ten stumbled in with a 3-7 mark. The Big Ten turned
it around this bowl cycle and was 8-1.
Still, the
Pac-12 is trending in the wrong direction.
It’s been
13 years since a Pac-12 team won the national championship (USC in 2004, later
vacated for a violation of NCAA rules), and the conference has had a
representative in only two of the four College Football playoffs.
Perhaps
this season's bowl results are an aberration for the Pac-12, but there was a
common theme in most of the defeats.
A
conference with arguably the top-rated draft-eligible quarterbacks — Darnold
and Rosen — needs to get much stronger in the trenches. If that doesn’t change,
the Pac-12 could be in for a sustained run of bowl struggles.
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Start the
New Year off right with a trip to the WSU Meats Lab
JAN 3,
2018 WSU Announcements
This
Thursday, from 3-6 p.m., Cougar Quality Meats at the WSU Meats Lab is selling:
NEW- WSU
Spice Rubs- Everything Spice Rub or Espresso Rub: $6.95/bottle
Cougar
Smokie Sausages: $7/package
Pork
breakfast sausage: $3.50/lb
Pork
Bratwursts: $4.99/lb
All beef
pepperoni sticks: $12/package or 2 for $20.
WSU
Premium Angus Ground Beef: $4.75/lb
WSU
Premium Wagyu Ground Beef: $6/lb
Variety
Meats: Liver and heart- $2/lb, Tongue- $4.50/lb
Stop by
the Meats Lab any Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m. or contact the Meats Lab at
cougar.qualitymeats@wsu.edu to reserve your product ahead of time. Cash, check,
and card accepted. The WSU Meats Lab is
a brick building located at the end of Wilson Rd between the Alumni Center and
WSU Green Houses.
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Report:
WSU’s Roy Manning leaving to join Chip Kelly’s UCLA staff
Originally
published January 3, 2018 at 12:09 pm Updated January 3, 2018 at 2:05 pm
Roy
Manning, the Cougs’ outside linebackers coach, hadn’t worked or lived further
west than Houston when suddenly he had to recruit the Los Angeles area for WSU.
Washington State University)
WSU's Roy
Manning is leaving for UCLA to become the Bruins' new special teams coordinator
By
Stefanie Loh Seattle Times
Washington
State rush linebackers coach Roy Manning is leaving to join Chip Kelly’s staff
at UCLA, Bruce Feldman reported Wednesday.
Manning
will join the UCLA staff as special-teams coordinator, Feldman reported, adding
that several schools have tried to hire Manning this winter.
Manning,
35, just completed his third season at WSU, making a base salary of $301,500 in
2017. He joined the staff shortly after Mike Leach hired Alex Grinch as
defensive coordinator in 2015 and helped Grinch overhaul the WSU defense, which
finished 16th nationally in total defense this season.
Under
Manning’s tutelage, WSU’s rush linebackers have blossomed. Frankie Luvu
switched from inside linebacker to rush linebacker before this season and
finished his senior year with a career-high 12 tackles for loss — second on the
team behind Hercules Mata’afa. Manning also coached the nickelbacks, and this
season he helped junior Hunter Dale grow into the starting spot. Dale had eight
tackles for loss, three sacks, one forced fumble, one interception and four
pass breakups.
Manning
came to WSU from Michigan, where he coached outside linebackers and cornerbacks
from 2013-14. Manning graduated from Michigan in 2004 and played three seasons
in the NFL, with the Bengals, Jaguars, Bills, Texans and Packers.
Manning
has been a prolific recruiter at WSU. As the Cougars’ San Diego area recruiter,
the list of players he helped bring to WSU includes safety Jalen Thompson,
defensive end Derek Moore and defensive end Will Rodgers.
His
energetic personalty also has struck a chord with Cougars fans on Twitter.
Manning is
the first WSU assistant reported to leave the staff this offseason. Grinch is
expected to join Ohio State as the Buckeyes’ 10th assistant after new NCAA
rules permitting an extra coach go into effect Jan. 9.
Manning’s
reported departure, Grinch’s pending departure and the new rules permitting a
10th assistant would give Leach three positions to fill for the 2018 season.
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