Coug Volleyball/ Washington
State will next face the No. 13 ranked Trojans of Southern California, Sunday,
November 11 in Los Angeles with first serve scheduled for 1:30 p.m. PT.
…………………………………………………
Colorado Football still seeking
bowl eligibility as Washington State sends Buffaloes to fifth consecutive
defeat
By Kyle Newman of the Denver
Post
Nov 10, 2018 at 5:08 pm UPDATED:
Nov 10, 2018 at 6:10 pm
BOULDER, Colo. — Travon
McMillian had Folsom Field rocking on the Colorado Buffaloes’ second drive
Saturday, when the senior, following the defense’s fourth-down stop of
Washington State in the red zone, gave the home team a 7-0 lead with two
straight runs totaling 67 yards and a touchdown.
But there was little reason for
hype on the Buffaloes’ sideline from that point. CU sputtered on offense,
wasting the few chances it did have, and the team’s containment of the Cougars’
air raid proved moot as Washington State won 31-7 to send the Buffs to their
fifth straight defeat in a game that epitomized the opposite trajectories of
the teams.
“We’ve got to do a better job
executing,” CU quarterback Steven Montez said. “We had chances and we had some
plays we should have made to make some things happen, and they didn’t go our
way.”
Colorado started Saturday just
as it did its season — with an edge and a 5-0 mark for the first time since
1998 — but the battle against No. 8 Washington State went south, just as 2018
has, for what was once the Pac-12’s last remaining undefeated team.
Following McMillian’s
touchdown, Colorado (5-5, 2-5 Pac-12) punted four straight times to end the
half as the Cougars (9-1, 6-1) paired a Blake Mazza 39-yard field goal with a
Max Borghi 28-yard touchdown reception to take a 10-7 lead into halftime.
All the while, the Colorado
secondary did its part to keep the Cougars’ well-mustachioed quarterback,
graduate transfer Gardner Minshew, from settling in. Previously at East
Carolina University, WSU coach Mike Leach convinced Minshew to flip his
commitment from Alabama after graduating from ECU with the sales pitch of
leading the nation in passing.
Minshew had done just that with
3,517 yards through the air coming into Saturday, but CU’s secondary held tall
amid the Cougars’ various downfield strikes, with some of those misses coming
due to a lack of accuracy on Minshew’s part. Minshew had connected on 70.7
percent of his passes coming into the game but was only 17-for-33 (51.5
percent) for 157 yards through the first two quarters.
“(Our corners) played better,
even though I wish a couple of those pass break-ups would’ve been INTs,” said
CU coach Mike MacIntyre. “But they were up to the challenge even though our
underneath coverage hurt us and we had a couple breakdowns there.”
And even as the Cougars’
passing success picked up in the third, progress remained nonexistent for CU.
Star wideout Laviska Shenault Jr., back in the lineup from injury for the first
time in four games and saying he was “pretty close” to 100 percent, provided
some spark by finishing with 10 catches for 102 yards. But Montez struggled to
find a rhythm while lacking two other top targets in sophomore K.D. Nixon (toe)
and senior Jay MacIntyre (concussion).
“He gutted it out and did well,” MacIntyre
said of Shenault. “He wasn’t able to practice much, so you can tell he’s a
little rusty.”
The energy in the stadium — and
the Buffs’ chances at upsetting the Cougars — were later put to rest for good
when Colorado, down 17-7 late in the third, elected to punt on fourth-and-11
from the Washington State 36-yard line.
Washington State put together a
seven play, 88-yard drive the next possession to make it 24-7 before a Shenault
fumble a few minutes later — the lone turnover for either side — ended another
CU push. James Williams added a late rushing touchdown to extend the score to
31-7 as the Buffs finished 2-for-11 on third-down conversions and only saw two
of their 13 drives last longer than two minutes.
“We’ve got to stay on the field
and convert on third downs,” Montez said.
The Buffs, still needing one
more win to become bowl eligible, host Utah at home next week and then close
the regular season at Cal.
:::::::::::::::::
Washington State freshman RB
Max Borghi’s quickly making a national name for himself — and the Pomona
product’s just getting started
“The individual success is even
better because everyone was projecting us to go 3-9 and have a horrible
season,” Borghi explained.
By KYLE NEWMAN Denver Post
PUBLISHED: November 10, 2018 at
5:49 pm | UPDATED: November 10, 2018 at 6:14 pm
BOULDER — When Max Borghi
departed for Washington State as an early enrollee in January, he did so having
conquered Colorado high school football. He led Pomona to the Class 5A state
title as a senior running back and won the Gold Helmet award for the state’s
most outstanding player.
But as he acknowledged then —
shortly after spurning a late offer from Stanford — his name and storied prep
accomplishments had zero cache outside the Centennial State. Upon his arrival
amid the often-biting wind of the Palouse, Borghi put his head down and went to
work in spring camp, quickly remaking a name for himself as a unusually ready
freshman.
“Early on, it was a
big-play-at-every-practice type of thing,” WSU running backs coach Eric Mele
explained. “He just kept on showing up every day and making plays, and you were
kind of waiting for him to hit that freshman wall, and he never did. He just
continuously improved.”
After entering spring at the
bottom of the depth chart, by the middle of fall camp Borghi had asserted himself
as the widely utilized second back in the air raid offense alongside redshirt
junior James Williams.
And, as demonstrated by
Borghi’s homecoming Saturday in the Cougars’ victory over the reeling Buffaloes
(5-5, 2-5 Pac-12), the 5-foot-10, 200-pounder with 4.38-second 40-yard-dash
speed isn’t done wowing just yet as No. 8 Washington State (9-1, 6-1) is
turning in the best season in the Pac-12.
“The individual success is even
better, because everyone was projecting us to go 3-9 and have a horrible season,”
said Borghi, who originally committed to CU before flipping to WSU. “It’s been
fun proving everyone wrong, and it’s pretty much us versus everybody, it feels
like.”
In front of some 300-plus of
his family and friends, Borghi had 72 total yards and a touchdown in the 31-7
blowout at Folsom Field. His score came on a swing pass midway through the
second quarter as the running back made several Buffaloes miss to give
Washington State its first lead. His final tally on the day brought his season
total to 283 yards and six TDs rushing with 238 yards with four TDs receiving.
In all, it was just a typical
day for the elusive freshman who arrived in Boulder ranked seventh in the
nation in catches by a running back and missed tackles by a running back on
pass plays.
Borghi’s ability to run, catch
and pass protect — a facet of his game Mele noted has progressed quickly this
season — enabled the 19-year-old to carve out a key role for himself in the
attack coordinated by transfer quarterback Gardner Minshew, despite the fact
that Borghi hasn’t broken more than 100 total offensive yards in any one game
this season.
Ironically, it was during one
of Borghi’s lower-yardage outputs — a three-rush, four-catch night in
Washington State’s lone loss of 2018, a Sept. 21 game at USC — that the
coaching staff knew they weren’t going to see Borghi hit a “freshman wall” at
any point this season.
“That USC game was one of the
final hurdles for us knowing, as far as what he had as an individual,” Mele
said. “He ran over a couple safeties at the goal line, at their place, and it
was like, ‘OK. There’s no sign of this guy slowing down at this point.’ ”
And for a player who has earned
the label of “freak” from his teammates and “Mad Max” for his growing legions
of fans on Twitter, Borghi’s future as one of the centerpieces of the
high-powered Washington State attack is only sure to keep propelling him into the
national spotlight. Everyone, from Martin Stadium in Pullman to the Pomona
practice field in Arvada and eastward from there, should know his name in time.
“Now, it’s about refining his
skills and where he’s at in things like that,” WSU coach Mike Leach said. “Like
anybody, I think he’ll get stronger and faster — and he’s well on his way — but
I don’t know what his ceiling is, because we’re kind of in the business of not
having ceilings.”
:::::::::::::
Back at It, Coug Women's
Basketball Hosts Saint Mary's Sunday
From WSU Sports Info
Women’s Basketball WASHINGTON
STATE (0-1)
vs Saint Mary's (1-0) | Sun.,
Nov. 11 | 1 p.m.
OPENING FIVE
> Washington State looks for
its first win of the season Sunday against Saint Mary's after dropping its
season opener, 72-61, to Utah State.
> WSU looks to get back on
track against SMC after dropping last season's matchup in Moraga. The Gaels
have won for of the last five and six of nine all-time against WSU. SMC won its
season opener 90-84 over Wyoming.
> Borislava Hristova, a
Cheryl Miller Watch List nominee, scored 27 points in the season-opener despite
suffering a minor injury midway through the 2nd quarter. It was her 22nd 20+
point game of her career.
> Ula Motuga, freshly back
from India and a bronze medal at the FIBA Asian Championships, made her
collegiate debut vs Utah State and scored 15 points with 6 rebounds.
> Coming into the season the
Cougars return their top three scorers in Borislava Hristova, Alexys Swedlund,
and Chanelle Molina. Overall, WSU returns six letterwinners from a season ago
while welcoming five newcomers (four true freshman and one redshirt-freshman).
GAME INFORMATION - SEASON
OPENER
Washington State hosts the
Gaels in the 10th all-time matchup between the two sides. Saint Mary's holds
the 3-6 edge in the previous nine meetings including winning four of the last
five. SMC won last season's meeting in Moraga, 81-75. In the game Alexys
Swedlund ped the Cougs with 20 points including hitting 4-of-9 from deep. This
season's meeting marks the fourth-straight season the two sides have met. Two
years ago in Pullman WSU prevailed 85-69.
LAST TIME OUT
A late run proved to be too
much for WSU to overcome at Beasley Coliseum as Utah State came away with the
72-61 win over the Cougars. Leading by four heading into the final quarter, the
Cougars could not hold on to their advantage as the Aggies closed the final
five minutes of action on a 17-7 run to pull away for the win. In the loss
Borislava Hristova led the way with 27 points while freshman Ula Motuga added
15 points and six rebounds in her collegiate debut.
:::::::::::::::::::::
WSU football
Analysis: With three turnovers,
No. 10 Washington State buries Colorado in second half for 31-7 win
UPDATED: Sat., Nov. 10, 2018,
9:44 p.m.
By Theo Lawson Spokane S-R
➤Saturday, Nov. 17: Arizona Wildcats at Washington State
Cougars, TBA TV: TBA
BOULDER, Colo. – This was the
remedy for all the nerve-wracking, heart-thumping moments the 10th-ranked
Washington State Cougars have put their fans through this season.
By the final stages of the
fourth quarter Saturday at Folsom Field, WSU and Colorado had backup
quarterbacks running the offense. A majority of the 45,587 fans in attendance
were either in their vehicles or headed there.
And the Cougars were rejoicing
on the visitors’ sideline – something they’ve seldom done this season. Four of
their six Pac-12 games had been decided by six points or less. A fifth, against
Oregon, came down to last five minutes of the final quarter.
It was about time the Cardiac
Cougs had a week off.
Washington State’s defense
forced three turnovers and quarterback Gardner Minshew overcame a sporadic
first half to lead the offense into the end zone three times in the second half
as the Cougars kept their magical season alive 5,000 feet above sea level,
cruising past the Buffaloes 31-7.
“It felt real good, because
these last three weeks have been super close,” running back James Williams
said. “I’m too young to have heart attacks like I’ve been having.”
It was a mostly drama-free
affair for WSU after halftime.
The Cougars, ranked No. 10 in
the Associated Press Top 25 poll and No. 8 in the College Football Playoff
rankings, outscored the Buffaloes 21-0 in the second half to preserve a
six-game winning streak and improve to 9-1 overall and 6-1 in Pac-12 play.
Colorado (5-5, 2-5) lost for
the fifth consecutive time and heard about it throughout the course of the
game. Home fans booed the Buffaloes after their offensive drives stalled and
droves of them left for the exit early in the fourth quarter when Minshew ran
for a 10-yard touchdown run, effectively sealing the decision.
WSU’s Heisman Trophy candidate
probably enhanced his chances of a trip to New York in December. The day won’t
go down as the most accurate game of Minshew’s season, but even if he lacked
his usual precision, Minshew still accounted for 21 points, throwing two
touchdown passes and running for another.
Minshew finished 35 of 58 for
335 yards and picked up 26 more yards with his feet.
“The second half was (typical
of Minshew),” WSU coach Mike Leach said. “… I don’t know what his completion
percentage came out, but I know a whole bunch of people would like to have a
completion percentage like that one time in their career. This was pretty
good.”
The offensive start for WSU
wasn’t, though.
Before the Cougars could get a
snap off, they’d already called their first timeout.
“We got the play in, we just
didn’t have time to run it,” Leach said. “And they stood over the ball. It
wasn’t good. Rather than take the minus-5 (yards), we had to take a timeout.”
The Cougars whiffed on two
early opportunities to score touchdowns, twice moving the ball inside
Colorado’s 20-yard line without finishing the job. On one of those drives, WSU
turned over the ball on downs. On the second, the Cougars squeezed out a
39-yard field goal from Blake Mazza.
By that point, though, the
Buffaloes were already in front. CU took its first and only lead on the game
after Travon McMillian’s big run up the middle netted the Buffs 64 yards – and
allowed McMillian to rumble in for a 3-yard touchdown on the next snap.
It was the only crack in an
otherwise complete game for Tracy Claeys’ defense.
“We just do our jobs and stop
the run,” defensive lineman Logan Tago said. “That’s what we talk about a lot –
stopping the run. Then when they pass, we’ve got guys on the edge who can
affect the quarterback.”
It was a futile game for the
Buffaloes on the ground. The 64-yard run by McMillian accounted for all but 11
of CU’s net rushing yards.
The Cougars finished with six
tackles for loss and added to their Pac-12-leading sacks total, taking down
Steven Montez three times behind the line of scrimmage.
WSU finally made good on its
goal of forcing a few turnovers. There were three – the most in a single game
this season for the Cougars – and two led directly to touchdowns.
Peyton Pelluer scooped up
McMillian’s third-quarter fumble – forced by Jahad Woods – and Minshew drove
the offense into the end zone minutes later with a 1-yard touchdown pass to
Renard Bell.
“It’s like a chain reaction. We
do something for them, they do something for us,” Williams said. “And it goes
like that back and forth.”
Later in the second half, rush
linebacker Willie Taylor III caught CU standout receiver Laviska Shenalt Jr.
from behind and popped the ball out. Pelluer was there again to pounce on it,
giving the offense possession with 10:10 left. A long, drawn-out drive finally
ended when Williams pushed his way into the end zone from 3 yards out to make
it 31-7.
“Especially games on the road,
it’s hard to win on the road and that’s what we have to do as a defense,” Tago
said. “We talk about it every practice, ‘Take away, take away,’ so we can help
the offense.”
:::::::::::::::
Coug football: John Blanchette:
In era of eye-popping offenses, Washington State defense as good as they need
to be
UPDATED: Sat., Nov. 10, 2018,
11:42 p.m.
By John Blanchette S-R of
Spokane
➤Saturday, Nov. 17: Arizona Wildcats at Washington State
Cougars, TBA TV: TBA
BOULDER, Colo. – There’s
something to be said for slogans and sobriquets, and also for sober
assessments.
And truth be told, that “Speed
D” thing at Washington State never much captured the imagination at large.
Nicknames require more siccum to be marketed effectively to an easily
distracted public, as evidenced in our recent congressional kerfuffle.
But then, it’s not all about
ferocity and dazzle. Sometimes it can just be a simple truth, and the simple
truth about the Cougars’ defense of 2018 is that it’s as good as it needs to
be.
As good as it needs to be.
Nope, it’s no billboard or
bumper sticker. But, really, isn’t anything beyond addressing a need just
showing off?
Which was almost the case
Saturday as the 10th-ranked Cougars waxed Colorado 31-7 at Folsom Field for
their sixth consecutive victory on this toll road to an unexpected destiny.
That’s right, the Wazzu defense came within one communications breakdown of a
shutout, which was far more “D” than was required to bulldoze the Buffs.
As a result, the Cougs didn’t
even seem to feel bad – or mad – about missing out.
“Nah, we always talk that
adversity is going to hit and that was the adversity for us,” defensive end
Logan Tago said.
The hiccup in question – let’s
get the blemish out of the way early – came on Colorado’s second possession,
running back Travon McMillian coming upon a break in the Cougars’ line that
seemed to have been cleared out by Ralphie the buffalo himself. Sixty-four
yards later, Marcus Strong finally dragged him down at the WSU 3, but McMillian
got the last of it on the next play for a 7-0 CU lead.
What happened?
“Just a miscommunication,” Tago
insisted. “We told Peyton (Pelluer, the defensive captain) we couldn’t hear his
calls and all that, so we got that right.”
So it was really loud out
there?
“No,” Tago said.
Hmm. Miscommunication must be
going around.
In any event, there was no more
of it. In fact, the defense got the message of the day loud and clear – that it
was going to have to sit on the Buffs until Gardner Minshew and the offense got
their act together, which happened in fits and starts throughout the game’s
duration.
No last-drive, last-minute
flourishes were needed. This one was over with a quarter still to play.
But seeing as the Cougars
controlled the ball for nearly 42 minutes and ran 94 plays to CU’s 54 and
turned it over not even once, there was no reason the score shouldn’t have been
131-7.
Except they didn’t have to be
that good.
“The defense was getting them
off the field so fast,” Minshew marveled. “Hats off to them for getting us the
ball and handing us a lot of possessions.”
In the first half, this took
the form of Colorado going 0 of 5 on third down – in part because the Buffs
always needed 7 yards or more. After intermission, the Cougsforced three
Colorado turnovers – WSU’s highest takeaway count of the season.
Even getting back Pac-12
receptions leader Laviska Shenault Jr. after three games lost to injury
couldn’t save the Buffs. He did flag down 10 more passes – but then dropped a
pair back-to-back beyond midfield with the game still in doubt, and fumbled
away another. Maybe his turf toe morphed into turf hand.
Meanwhile, the Cougs survived
their own anomaly: Pelluer, in his record-tying 51st game, managed not a single
tackle – a first since his freshman year. But he had both of Wazzu’s fumble
recoveries.
No co-dependency among these
Cougs, then. Lots of teammates to clean up in their leader’s place.
And no need to do too much. If
they’ve had their ordinary moments – USC, Stanford, Oregon State – they’ve been
a cut above at the right times against Utah, Oregon, Cal and now the Buffs.
“We kept them off-balance,” WSU
coach Mike Leach said. “This was one of the better games our defensive line has
played. I thought they affected the quarterback – they didn’t all result in
sacks, but they affected him and moved him and made it difficult. And we did
get them in a number of third and longs as a result of that and that was pretty
critical.”
To be honest, the Buffs are
pretty critical – that is to say, in critical condition. They’re 5-5 after a
5-0 start to the season and only Minshew’s mustache is a hotter item than the
seat under Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre, even though injuries have robbed them
of nine potential starters.
And while Leach continues his
tub-thumping for the woebegone Pac-12 – “In this conference, we don’t have any
below-average opponents” – five straight losses make a team exactly that.
That’s hardly the Cougs’
problem. They have to answer only to themselves – and their own needs.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Peyton Pelluer ties Washington
State football record for career games by making 51st appearance at Colorado
UPDATED: Sat., Nov. 10, 2018,
9:35 p.m.
By Theo Lawson of the S-R of
Spokane
BOULDER, Colo. – More than
1,500 days after making his debut in crimson and gray threads, linebacker
Peyton Pelluer tied Washington State’s record for career games played Saturday
against Colorado at Folsom Field.
The fourth-generation Cougar
matched former teammates, defensive lineman Daniel Ekuale and wide receiver
Gabe Marks, by appearing in the 51st game of his career. Pelluer will stand
alone atop the WSU record book when he plays in game No. 52 next week at home
against Arizona.
Pelluer’s debut for the Cougars
came on Aug. 28, 2014, when WSU opened the season with a neutral-site game
against Rutgers at CenturyLink Field in Seattle. The middle linebacker
redshirted in 2013, then played 10 games in 2014, 13 in 2015, 13 in 2016 and
three in 2017.
Pelluer’s redshirt senior year
was cut short after he sustained a season-ending foot injury in week three
against Oregon State, but the linebacker was able to get the season back
through a medical redshirt.
“It’s good to see he beat out
his uncles, his dad, his grandparents and his great grandparents. So
congratulations to Peyton, I’m happy he’s on top,” WSU coach Mike Leach said
after the Cougars’ 31-7 win over the Buffaloes.
Leach is obvioulsy
embellishing, but not by much. Father Scott Pelluer played linebacker for WSU
from 1977-80, grandfather Arnie suited up for the Cougars from 1953-55 and
great grandfather Carl Gustafson was a flanker for WSU from 1925-27.
“I didn’t have the honor of
coaching those guys but I do him, so we want him to have that,” Leach said.
“And he’ll probably have to take one of his family members’ trophy off the
mantel if they’re going to give him one for that.”
The sixth-year senior came into
Saturday’s game against the Buffs as WSU’s leading tackler with 71 stops on the
year. Pelluer cracked the school’s top-10 for career tackles earlier this
season against Oregon and entered the CU game No. 7 on the all-time list with
325.
Astonishingly, Pelluer didn’t
record a single tackle on Saturday – just the third time that’s happened in his
career and the first time since his freshman season. But he still left an
imprint on the 24-point win, notching two fumble recoveries in the second half.
Both turnovers eventually led to touchdowns for the offense.
“I love Peyton, man,” defensive
lineman Logan Tago said. “He inspires me a lot.”
Fellow inside linebacker Jahad
Woods praised his teammate for the milestone – and slipped in a jab Pelluer’s
heard all too often this season.
“He’s an old guy, man,” Woods
said. “He plays his heart out, he’s played every single game he’s been able to
play and he’s just a tremendous guy on and off the field. I look up to him,
everybody on the team looks up to him.”
The Cougars have posted an impressive
record – 31-18 – in games with Pelluer on the field.
:::::::::::::::::
Recap and highlights:
Washington State powers past Colorado, 31-7, in Boulder
UPDATED: Sat., Nov. 10, 2018,
9:33 p.m.
Story by Theo Lawson of Spokane’s
S-R
BOULDER, Colo. – Washington
State’s magical season continued Saturday 5,000 feet above sea level in the
Rocky Mountains.
The 10th-ranked Cougars played
a complete game on defense, forcing three turnovers in the second half and
quarterback Gardner Minshew accounted for three touchdowns and 335 passing
yards as WSU rolled over the Buffaloes 31-7 at Folsom Field.
WSU, ranked No. 10 in the AP
poll and No. 8 in the College Football Playoff rankings, won for the sixth
consecutive time and improved to 9-1 and 6-1 in Pac-12 Conference play. CU lost
its fifth straight game, falling to 5-5 and 2-5 in league play.
The Cougars missed on two early
opportunities to score touchdowns, twice moving the ball inside Colorado’s
20-yard line. WSU turned the ball over on downs the first time, then squeezed
out a 39-yard field goal from Blake Mazza on the second.
By that point, though, the
Buffaloes were already in front. CU took its first and only lead on the game
after Travon McMillian’s big run up the middle netted the Buffs 64 yards.
McMillian capped off the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run.
But the Cougars took the lead
for good early on in the second quarter when Minshew threw a swing pass to
Borghi, who scooted to the sideline and eluded a few Buffalo defenders before
stomping into the end zone for a 28-yard score.
Both offenses were stagnant the
rest of the half and WSU went into the locker room at halftime with a 10-7
lead.
Colorado got the ball to open
the second half, but the Buffaloes didn’t hold onto it long. WSU linebacker
Jahad Woods stripped the ball from McMillian and Peyton Pelluer hopped on it,
giving the Cougars possession on the 32-yard line.
Minshew and the offense made
short work of CU on the ensuing drive, and the WSU QB completed passes to three
different receivers before going to Renard Bell on a quick out route on the
goal line for a 1-yard touchdown.
The Cougars continued to pour
it on.
A screen pass from Minshew to
Patmon netted WSU 48 yards and the Cougars’ QB scored five plays later,
scrambling for a 10-yard touchdown that made it 24-7.
WSU’s defense followed with its
second turnover of the half when Rush linebacker Willie Taylor III forced CU’s
star receiver, Laviska Shenault Jr., to fumble on the 32-yard line. Seven plays
and 56 yards later, the Cougars were back into the end zone on a 3-yard rushing
touchdown from James Williams.
The Buffaloes eventually pulled
Montez from the game with less than four minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
The Buffaloes finished with fewer than 300 yards of total offense after being
shut out in Pullman 28-0 last season.
CU backup quarterback Sam Noyer
was intercepted by WSU nickel Kedron Williams with 2:11 to play, giving the
Cougars their third turnover of the game – a season-high
“””””””””””””””””
Colorado’s Nate Landman ejected
for targeting after hit against on Washington State QB Gardner Minshew
UPDATED: Sat., Nov. 10, 2018,
9:35 p.m.
By Theo Lawson …. Spokane S-R
BOULDER, Colo. – A Colorado
linebacker was punished for an illegal hit to the head on Washington State
quarterback Gardner Minshew in the second quarter of Saturday’s Pac-12 game
between the Cougars and the Buffaloes.
Sophomore inside linebacker
Nate Landman drilled Minshew in the earhole on a designed quarterback run from
the Buffaloes’ 33-yard lineman. Officials immediately signaled for targeting
and didn’t take long to confirm the call after an official review.
The penalty moved the Cougars
16 yards to the 49-yard line and helped set up WSU’s only touchdown of the half
– a 28-yard scoring pass from Minshew to running back Max Borghi. Landman had
two tackles for the Buffaloes when he was disqualified from the game.
Only one targeting penalty led
to an ejection in Saturday’s game, but two others were called and subsequently
overturned.
Early in the fourth quarter,
WSU safety Jalen Thompson was flagged after he hit CU receiver Tony Brown on an
incomplete pass near the sideline. Then, with the Cougars leading 31-7 later on
in the fourth, officials thought CU backup quarterback Sam Noyer made
head-to-head contact with Kedron Williams after the WSU nickel intercepted
Noyer’s pass. It too was overruled following a review.
The Cougars have been involved
in two targeting ejections this season. WSU Rush linebacker Dominick Silvels
was ejected for a hit on Cal quarterback Chase Garbers near the end of the
first half of the Cougars’ 19-13 win in Pullman last week.
WSU’s Logan Tago was initially
called for targeting in the Cougars’ loss at USC earlier this season, but
officials reversed the call after a highly-disputed review in which Pac-12
General Counsel Woodie Dixon reportedly phoned in to overrule the penalty. Later
that game, USC linebacker Porter Gustin made head-to-head contact with Minshew,
but was not penalized – another decision that caused widespread controversy.
:::::::::::::::::::::
Washington’s future winemakers
have 4 in-state college options
Originally published November
10, 2018 Seattle Times
Viticulture students now have 4
choices that are especially suited to Washington’s wine industry.
By Andy Perdue special to The
Seattle Times
ONE SURE SIGN that the
Washington wine industry is reaching another level of maturity is that we now
have four schools providing winemaking and viticulture education.
Before this development,
Washington relied on other regions — typically California — to provide
education and training to our winemakers.
The dominant university on the
West Coast has been the University of California at Davis, just west of
Sacramento. Davis has played an important role in the development of the
California wine industry, not only in educating a generation of Golden State winemakers,
but also providing vital research and advice that helped California develop
into a world-class wine region.
As good as Davis’ program is —
and it’s world-renowned — it’s not set up to train someone to make wine in
Washington, whose fruit brings its own challenges.
Rob Griffin, owner/winemaker at
Barnard Griffin in Richland, grew up in Northern California and earned his
winemaking degree from Davis in the early 1970s. He worked at the famed Buena
Vista Winery in Sonoma before moving to Washington in 1976 to work at Preston
Premium Wines in Pasco. As he was packing up to head north, he didn’t receive a
lot of encouragement.
“When I announced my intention to come up to
Washington, my major professor — a very kind man — privately advised that it
may not be a good idea because the climate was too cold for sustained
viticulture this far north,” Griffin says.
Thankfully, Griffin ignored
this advice and came to Washington, leading such wineries as Preston, Hogue
Cellars and his own brand for the past four decades.
For Griffin, understanding how
to make wine in Washington was different than in California. The soils are
different, the climate is vastly different, the chemistry of the fruit and
resulting wine are different. Unfortunately for Griffin, there was little way
to learn about his new wine region, aside from experience.
“At the time, there were two or
three major textbooks on winemaking and, of course, no internet and very little
in the way of industry publications that had useful information,” he says.
“Knowledge about such things as yeast metabolism, interaction with sulfur and
pH, and dozens of other subjects was not particularly advanced. Concepts of
quality were entirely different at the time.”
The only way to learn was to
run endless trials in the ensuing four decades.
PROBABLY THE CLOSEST thing to
UC Davis in Washington has been Washington State University. Both are
land-grant universities, focused on agricultural education, and with long ties
to their regional wine industries. In the case of WSU, the connection to wine’s
agricultural side was natural and significant. It’s fair to say that without
WSU, it’s unclear what the Washington wine industry would look like.
In 1937, WSU (then Washington
State College) appointed Walter Clore as assistant horticulturist to the
school’s irrigation station in the Yakima Valley town of Prosser. He went on to
champion wine-grape growing in the valley and now is memorialized as “the
father of Washington wine.”
WSU started its Viticulture and
Enology program in the 1960s, split between the Prosser, Richland and Pullman
campuses until this year. Even today, a V&E student can complete the first
two years of a bachelor’s degree in Pullman and then finish it on the Richland
campus.
WSU’s showpiece is the Wine
Science Center at its Tri-Cities campus in Richland. The $23 million facility
opened in 2015 with a focus on education and research. Fundraising took place
during the recession, and was led by Ted Baseler, recently retired CEO of Ste.
Michelle Wine Estates in Woodinville. Already, the program has 300 students,
including 30 in the master’s and Ph.D. programs.
When the Wine Science Center
opened its doors, it was considered among the best facilities in the world,
thanks in no small part to the folks at UC Davis.
“Davis was very supportive of
that,” Baseler says. “They really, really helped the WSU plan go into effect
and were extremely collaborative. They were fantastic. They said the United
States ought to have a dozen of these facilities, so at least now we’ll have
two.”
And when we look at the
European model, Davis’ position makes sense. Throughout Europe, there are
universities and research centers that have pushed forward the wine industry
for centuries in France, Germany and Italy.
Griffin’s daughter, Megan
Hughes, who now works in the family business as a winemaker, was accepted into
Davis’ program and considered heading south to Dad’s alma mater before instead
going to Pullman in 2006, where she earned a degree in enology. The deciding
factor was the cost of out-of-state tuition.
Hughes says she felt the
education she got in Pullman taught her a lot about winemaking she could apply
in Washington or beyond.
From left, students Grant
Bailey and Madeleine Higgins taste wines in a “blended learning” class with
instructors Thomas Henick-Kling and Bhaskar Bondada, at Washington State
University’s Wine Science Center. Henick-Kling is director of the program.
Bondada is associate professor of viticulture. The red cups are for spitting,
which students under the age of 21 are required to do during any tastings. (Ken
Lambert / The Seattle Times)
From left, students Grant
Bailey and Madeleine Higgins taste wines in a “blended learning” class with
instructors Thomas Henick-Kling and Bhaskar Bondada, at Washington State
University’s Wine Science Center. Henick-Kling is director of the program.
Bondada is associate professor of viticulture. The red cups are for spitting,
which students under the age of 21 are required to do during any tastings. (Ken
Lambert / The Seattle Times)
She is quick to point out that
her education in winemaking didn’t end when she got her diploma. She heads back
to the Wine Science Center a couple of times a year for seminars about the
latest research that could affect her winemaking.
While WSU has the longest
history and the deepest ties to the state wine industry, three other state
colleges have created winemaking programs to help feed the fast-growing
industry.
At Walla Walla Community
College’s Institute for Enology and Viticulture, Joel Perez, director of
viticulture and vineyard manager, is up early and looking at petit verdot
grapes that students are picking (1.5 tons on this day). Where some might see
winemaking as a glamorous or easy course load, Perez says the goal is to
graduate students ready for a highly competitive, difficult and risky business.
“You have to love the grind,” he says. (Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times)
At Walla Walla Community
College’s Institute for Enology and Viticulture, Joel Perez, director of
viticulture and vineyard manager, is up early and looking at petit verdot
grapes that students are picking (1.5 tons on this day). Where some might see
winemaking as a glamorous or easy course load, Perez says the goal is to
graduate students ready for a highly competitive, difficult and risky business.
“You have to love the grind,” he says. (Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times)
THE BEST-KNOWN is Walla Walla
Community College’s renowned winemaking program. It was launched in 2002 by
Myles Anderson, who co-founded famed Walla Walla Vintners. At the time, there
were fewer than 20 wineries in the valley. Today, there are more than 100. The
program has a working winery (College Cellars) and estate vineyards. It teaches
winemaking, viticulture, marketing, sensory evaluation and more.
The growth of the wine program
follows the growth of the valley and the state industry. With the size of the
local industry, Walla Walla students have plenty of places for internships,
harvest jobs and ways to get their feet in the door.
In a typical year, the program has
60 students, with 80 percent entering the workforce each spring.
Of the nearly 300 graduates of
the program, 64 percent are working in the wine industry, according to Tim
Donahue, director of winemaking for the program. Those students come from
across the country and around the world, and they work in wine regions across
the country. About 40 grads own their own wineries.
Walla Walla is a two-year
program that prepares students to get into the workforce upon graduation. The
state’s community college programs work with WSU for students who want to
transfer there to work toward a four-year degree.
In addition to teaching
winemaking and viticulture, Walla Walla also holds seminars on the latest
winemaking trends and plays host to ETS Labs, a Napa Valley-based wine-analysis
company.
ABOUT 90 MILES to the west is
Yakima Valley College’s Grandview campus. This is a perfect location for a
winemaking program, in the cradle of Washington’s wine industry. This area of
the valley is where the state’s first wine grapes were planted, and the first
wineries opened. There’s a rich history here, and you can still find echoes of
it if you know where to look.
That’s one reason the Vineyard
and Winery Technology program was established here in 2007 rather than at the
college’s main campus in Yakima, says Trent Ball, chairman of the college’s
agriculture program. In Grandview, the program has a teaching winery and a
small vineyard, to give the 20 to 25 students annually the hands-on experience
they need to join the wine industry.
Ball says many of his wine
students are older, often looking at a second career. To accommodate this, most
of the classes are held in the evening, and it can take students a few years to
get through the two-year program. The challenge, Ball says, is getting them to
finish, because many students get hired by wineries before they complete the two-year
program — a good problem, he notes. While his program does attract students
from out of the area, most come from the Yakima Valley.
Because of the program’s
location, Ball can get members of the industry to teach classes and offer
direction on classes and curriculum.
SOUTH SEATTLE COLLEGE in West
Seattle is by far the most urban winemaking program in the state. Known as the
Northwest Wine Academy, it sees 150 to 180 students per quarter in the program,
some taking one or two classes.
Jane Rockhold, program
coordinator, went through the program a decade ago, and is typical of a South
Seattle student. She was leaving a career in coffee to go back to grad school
in California, and chose to learn about wine during her professional
transition. Similarly, she says, about half the students at South Seattle
already have bachelor’s degrees and are looking for a second or even third
career. At the school, they can earn a two-year degree or go through a one-year
certificate program. Students can learn winemaking, compliance, business,
sales, marketing and viticulture.
Being so far from the
vineyards, South Seattle focuses on winemaking. Of course, the dynamic
Seattle/Woodinville wine scene is in the same boat, with the wineries far from
their grape sources. And South Seattle works with area winemakers to make sure
its program caters to what potential employers need from future employees.
South Seattle’s program brings
in enough fruit to produce 1,000 cases of wine. The wines regularly win gold
medals in competitions. While some of the wine is sold through retail outlets,
most is sold through the on-campus tasting room.
Most classes are in the
afternoon or evening to accommodate students in transition from their current
careers.
South Seattle College’s
Northwest Wine Academy student Jens Hansen is learning winemaking with cabernet
sauvignon grapes during a class on the West Seattle campus. (Ken Lambert / The
Seattle Times)
South Seattle College’s
Northwest Wine Academy student Jens Hansen is learning winemaking with cabernet
sauvignon grapes during a class on the West Seattle campus. (Ken Lambert / The
Seattle Times)
WITH FOUR COLLEGES teaching our
future winemakers and winery owners, the state’s industry is strengthened.
These colleges also play a role in boosting the state’s wine culture by
offering courses and seminars that appeal to new and future wine consumers. And
with the four colleges producing graduates each year, having learned their
winemaking with grapes from our vineyards, the quality of our wines can only
improve.
Through the years, Ste.
Michelle often has recruited winemakers from California and beyond because
that’s where the knowledgeable winemakers were. With the increase of wine
programs in the state, the reliance on outside sources undoubtedly will
decrease, as wineries will prefer to use homegrown talent.
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