Change of practice venue for late-arriving Washington State football
Cougars preparing for Holiday Bowl
By DALE GRUMMERT OF THE Lewiston TRIB 12/24/2017
SAN DIEGO - Among other things, Washington State's new practice site for
the Holiday Bowl will give players a better sense of the diversity of the San
Diego area.
Last year the Cougars staged their pre-bowl practices at Mesa College,
in the quiet, leafy community of Clairemont, 10 miles north of their waterfront
hotel.
This year, after claiming their second consecutive Holiday Bowl berth,
the Cougs are working out at Southwestern College, in the largely Hispanic,
industrial-tinged city of Chula Vista, 14 miles south of their hotel and within
7 miles of the Mexican border.
Both are junior colleges, but WSU equipment manager Milton Neal is
especially impressed by Southwestern's football facilities.
"You wouldn't know it was a juco," he said.
The No. 21 Cougars, who arrived in San Diego several hours later than
expected Saturday night, play No. 18 Michigan State in the 40th Holiday Bowl at
6 p.m. on Thursday at SDCCU Stadium.
Neal and others took the first of two scheduled WSU charter planes from
Lewiston-Nez Perce County Airport to San Diego on Saturday, arriving in time
for him to set up equipment at Southwestern College.
But the second plane, operated by another firm and intended to transport
all of WSU's players and on-field coaches, never arrived in Lewiston for the
Cougars' departure, having been forced to make an emergency landing in Laramie,
Wyo., because of a pressurization issue.
Players were told to return home for a few hours, after which the
Cougars bused to Spokane to catch a different charter plane. They arrived at
the Marriott Marina in San Diego a few minutes before 8 p.m., greeted by a
mariachi band playing "Feliz Navidad."
A rumpled, fatigued-looking coach Mike Leach was the first to disembark
from the bus.
Delayed flights aren't unusual for bowl teams. The Cougars were late in
arriving at El Paso, Texas, for the Sun Bowl in 2015.
"A lot of moving parts in a quick amount of time, but I think it
went fairly well," WSU director of football operations director Antonio
Huffman said of the scrambled plans Saturday. "The players handled it
well. When it's football time, they'll get focused back in."
This time, in contrast to last year when the Cougs arrived in
"America's Finest City," it wasn't raining.
"To go from 12-degree weather to 60-degree weather is always
good," said WSU receiver Dezmon Patmon, a graduate of San Diego's Patrick
Henry High. "I mean, there's nothing not to love about San Diego."
Even before the plane issue, coaches had decided to dispense with a
scheduled practice Saturday night in Chula Vista, choosing instead to do a
walk-through in their hotel.
The Cougars will practice today on the artificial turf at Southwestern
College's DeVore Stadium. They also plan to spend time this week at the
college's natural-turf practice field, to help prepare them for the hybrid
grass of SDCCU Stadium, formerly known as Qualcomm.
Michigan State, which arrived in San Diego on Friday, is considered the
home team in the bowl game, as the Cougars were last year, and the Spartans'
choice of practice fields therefore included Mesa College. That's the site they
chose.
GRINCH STEALING HOME? - The Ohio State branch of a national fan site is
citing three unnamed sources in saying that acclaimed Cougars defensive
coordinator Alex Grinch is leaving to take an unspecified position on Urban
Meyer's coaching staff in Columbus, Ohio.
Sources believe Grinch will be slipped into the 10th assistant's job
that the NCAA will begin allowing next month, according to Bucknuts of
247sports.com. If that's the case, the move is surprising, given Grinch's
burgeoning reputation as a first-time coordinator and his apparent relish for
the job.
On the other hand, Ohio State is 9 miles north of Grinch's hometown of
Grove City, Ohio, and he attended Mount Union College in that state.
Grinch, formerly safeties coach at Missouri, took over a porous WSU defense
three seasons ago, almost immediately raised its performance level and became
increasingly effective as the Cougs acquired better talent and depth. The team
ranks eighth in the country in pass defense this season, and virtually every
opposing coach has lavished Grinch with praise in early-week news conferences,
often before mentioning Leach and his Air Raid offense.
……………………………..
Success after success, Michigan State still wears chip on shoulder
UPDATED: Sat., Dec. 23, 2017, 7:28 p.m.
By Jim Allen S-R of Spokane
For Washington State fans who wear that underdog mentality against the
Huskies like a badge of honor, you’ve just met your match.
In this case, “little brother” has six national football titles and an
enrollment of 51,000, yet still craves respect.
Meet Michigan State, the nation’s ninth-largest university, with a rich
football tradition that still ranks a distant second in its own state to
archrival Michigan.
How distant? This year, the Spartans spent the final game of the regular
season at Rutgers, while the Wolverines were playing their annual grudge match
with Ohio State.
Spartan fans are accustomed to that, but they got another slap in the
face the next day when the bowl pairings were announced.
Expecting to play on New Year’s Day in the Outback bowl in Tampa, the
19th-ranked Spartans (9-3) were snubbed in favor of – wait for it – an 8-4
Michigan squad that MSU beat 14-10 on the road.
The reasons were familiar: Michigan is, well, Michigan – even if MSU has
beaten the Wolverines in eight of 11 meetings under coach Mark Dantonio.
The Spartans were vocal about the snub. Five days later, they still
couldn’t hide their disappointment and being shipped to San Diego and
Thursday’s date with Washington State.
“It was kind of the fact that the other team that we beat got into the
one that we kind of wanted to get in. That was just the biggest thing.” Brian
Lewerke said.
Actually, the biggest thing was the day-after Twitter feud between UM’s
Jim Harbaugh and Dantonio, who said that he would “continue to concentrate on
beating Michigan.”
Harbaugh countered with sarcasm: “Congrats on turning around a 3-9 team
plagued with off-the-field issues,” he Tweeted.
Dantonio’s rejoinder was all about that chip-on-the-shoulder with UM:
“For all Spartans, it’ll never be over, it’s just getting started.”
MSU’s parallels with Washington State are eerily similar. Founded in
1855 as one of the first land-grant schools in the nation, Michigan
Agricultural College began its football program in 1896. The first meeting with
UM came in 1898, a 39-0 win for Michigan that the Detroit Free Press described
as “essentially a practice game.”
It got worse.
Just as the Cougars took their lumps from Gil Dobie and the Huskies
early in the 20th century, Michigan State was getting pummeled by Fielding
Yost’s “Point-a-Minute” Michigan teams.
There was humiliation off the field as well for MSU, which wasn’t
admitted to the Big Ten Conference until 1953. As part of an unequal deal with
Michigan, the Spartans got to host their rivals six times in the first 52
meetings.
But times were changing. MSU enjoyed its greatest success under legends
Biggie Munn and Duffy Daugherty during the 1950s and 60s, winning six national
titles (though only three, in 1952, 1965 and 1966) are widely recognized.
MSU reached the mountaintop in 1966, playing No. 1 Notre Dame to a 10-10
tie in “The Game of the Century.”
Over the next four decades, MSU managed to reach just one Rose Bowl.
Dantonio turned things around with nine bowl appearances in 11 years, including
a Rose Bowl win in 2014 and an appearance in the College Football Playoff two
years ago.
………………………………………………………………..
Sports
MSU QB Lewerke heads into Holiday Bowl as rising star
By Tod Leonard, San Diego Union Tribune
The redshirt sophomore starting quarterback can likely claim to more
time spent here than any other Spartan.
Lewerke grew up in Phoenix, and like so many other ’Zonie families, his
clan packed up the car on those 100-degree-plus summer days and headed to San
Diego. Lewerke figures they visited at least 10 times.
“Mission Beach was a big spot,” Lewerke said. “In high school, I
remember all my friends would come out and hang out there.”
Lewerke could have spent his entire college career with his toes in the
sand. After throwing for 7,090 yards and 87 touchdowns at Pinnacle High School,
UCLA was among the 15 scholarship offers he got, and there were plenty more
from programs all around the West.
Too, it’s incredibly rare for an Arizona player to choose MSU. Fewer
than 10 have done so in the 121-year history of Spartans football.
Lewerke wasn’t looking for a chill experience, even if it would get more
than chilly in East Lansing, Mich. – where the high temperature for this week
is forecast to be 21 degrees. (Low of 1.)
He’d long had his eyes on playing in the NFL, and he believed the cold
weather, the huge, fervent crowds in the Big Ten, and Michigan State’s growing
quarterback legacy would provide the platform for success.
It has been that, and more.
“It’s been awesome,” Lewerke said.
In his first season as the fulltime starter, Lewerke has been the
centerpiece of a tremendous turnaround. The 16th-ranked Spartans bounced back
from a shockingly bad 3-9 season in 2016 to 9-3 this year, and they have a
chance to become only the eighth team in school history to reach double digits
in wins if they beat No. 19 Washington State on Thursday in the Holiday Bowl at
SDCCU Stadium.
Powerfully built at 6-feet-3 and 212 pounds, Lewerke is a dual threat,
but not like so many who get that reputation and are far better with their
legs.
He’s run for more yards than passing in some games this season (and has
five rushing TDs), but Lewerke also had consecutive performances -- against
Northwestern and Penn State – in which he threw for more than 400 yards.
Only three Big Ten quarterbacks have accomplished that in the last 20
years. (Drew Brees did it for Purdue in 1998.)
Lewerke (17 passing TDs, seven interceptions) ranks third in the Big Ten
and 38th in the FBS in total offense by averaging 255.5 yards per game (215
passing and 40.5 rushing).
“He’s a go-to guy,” Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio said. “When he
goes, our offense goes. He’s got that ability to play within the scheme of the
offense, and then go beyond that and create something special.”
Lewerke smiled when he recalled making the choice to go to Michigan
State and not realizing just how far that was away from home. But he also said
he found an instant family with Spartans, which may have been the biggest
factor in him heading to the Midwest.
“The staff is kind of what made the difference compared to other
places,” Lewerke said. “They cared about you and wanted to develop you into a
person and not just a football player.”
Said Dantonio, “I think he’s faith-based, and our program is faith-based.”
The football element was clear. MSU has become a haven for drop-back,
pro-style passers, and since Drew Stanton was a second-round pick of the
Detroit Lions in 2007, the parade of future NFL QBs from MSU went like this;
Brian Hoyer, Nick Foles, Kirk Cousins and Connor Cook.
Cook, now a backup with the Raiders, was the starter and coming off a
Big Ten championship and Rose Bowl win over Stanford when Lewerke arrived as a
freshman.
The denizens of the message boards have opined that Lewerke will have a
difficult time reaching the high bar set by Cook and Cousins, the Washington
Redskins starting QB.
“I didn’t look at it like that,” Lewerke said of when he came to MSU. “I
saw this as an opportunity for me. If I was put in the right position, I could
follow in their footsteps.”
Spartans fans couldn’t ask much more of a player who’s started 14 games.
This season, Lewerke led wins over then-No. 7 Penn State, and then-No. 7
Michigan – at Ann Arbor.
“That’s why you come here, to beat them,” Lewerke said with a smile.
Lewerke believed that playing in hostile, noisy stadiums would steel him
for the NFL, as would bad weather. He had plenty of the latter this year, with
four of nine Big Ten games played in heavy rain or snow.
The Phoenix kid takes pride in that, but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t
appreciate being in San Diego in late December. He made a point to look up into
the sunshine as he walked toward the practice field at Mesa College on
Saturday.
“I love it,” Lewerke said.
…………
Mike Leach expects NCAA to grant Peyton Pelluer another season
Medical redshirt for standout linebacker? ‘I expect it to happen’
By Barry Bolton, Cougfan.com
MIKE LEACH VIRTUALLY BY ALL ACCOUNTS scored big with the 19 new signings
in his 2018 recruiting class this past week. But another 'very big get' for
2018 at Washington State, according to the head football man, should also be in
the cards. Indeed, Leach is confident
it’s going to happen.
Leach, on his final radio shown of the year, told host Matt Chazanow
he believes WSU’s case for a sixth year
for middle linebacker Peyton Pelluer is downright compelling.
“We filed the papers – I think the odds are extremely high,” said Leach.
“He’s pretty much the definition of why they have six years of eligibility.
We’ll see what the committee decides.
"But not only do I think it should happen -- I expect it to
happen.”
Pelluer (6-0, 228) suffered a broken navicular bone in his foot early in
the Week Three win over Oregon State on Sept. 16.
Sources back in mid-November told CF.C (see related story below) that
Pelluer, dinged up during his true freshman redshirt season in 2013, was the
opening needed to apply for the sixth year.
A sixth year requires missing most or all of two seasons due to medical
injury or hardship.
The week before he was lost for the 2017 season, Pelluer's 36-yard
return to the house was the catalyst in sparking the Cougs' comeback win for
the ages over Boise State.
Before Pelluer’s return for score, with WSU trailing 31-17 with less than
six minutes left in the game, ESPN gave Boise State a 99 percent chance of
winning. Instead, WSU won 47-44 in
triple overtime. Pelluer was named Pac-12 defensive player of the week for his
14-tackle outing and seismic interception against BSU: http://pac-12.com/videos/washington-states-peyton-pelluers-pick-six-earns-him-pac-12-defensive-player-week-honors
PELLUER HAS RACKED UP 254 CAREER TACKLES at Washington State, 52 shy of
entering the top 10 all-time in program history. He led the Cougars in tackles
in both 2015 and 2016 and ended both those seasons among the Pac-12’s tackle
leaders. He has been named Pac-12 honorable mention twice.
Pelluer also last month was named Pac-12 All-Academic for the
fourth-straight year, with a first-team selection and a trio of second-team
honors.
Pelluer was introduced on Senior Day before the Nov. 4 game vs. Stanford
in case the NCAA should deny the application.
NOTABLE NOTE:
Peyton is a fourth-generation Cougar football player. His dad, Scott, was a 6-2, 215-pound
linebacker who finished his WSU career among the all-time leading tacklers in
WSU history. At the start of this season, Scott still ranked No. 7 all-time in
sacks at WSU (19.0). Also, grandfather Arnie played end for the Cougars from
1953-55 and was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams. Peyton's great-grandfather, Carl Gustafson,
played fullback and linebacker for the Cougars from 1925-27 and was dubbed
"King of the Campus" for his heroics in WSC's 9-6 upset of Washington
in 1926.
…………………..
Cougar football notes: bowl practices, ticket sales, recruiting
How many bowl practices Cougs figure to get in
COUGFANcom - 20 hours ago 0
2016 Holiday Bowl (Photo: USAToday/Lee)
WASHINGTON STATE TOOK FLIGHT on Saturday to San Diego but after a delay
in getting the charter out, the practice scheduled for Saturday evening has
been cancelled. WSU has three more
practice sessions scheduled in the San Diego area before squaring off against
Michigan State Thursday in the Holiday Bowl (6 pm, Fox Sports 1).
Sandwiched between the coaches’ recruiting trips, and navigating final
exams week, the Cougs held nine bowl practices in Pullman.
With three more in San Diego, the Cougars figure to get in 12 bowl
practices before Thursday’s finale.
The line for No. 18 Washington State vs. No. 16 Michigan State on
Saturday at press time was pick ‘em.
WASHINGTON STATE ENDED the early signing period in recruiting with 19
new Cougars in the fold.
One we expected to sign by Friday who did not was wide receiver Calvin
Jackson, but he’s still likely to be in the fold soon, a junior college prep
source tells CF.C.
While the early signing period for prep recruits ran from Dec. 20-22,
the early signing period for midyear junior college transfers continues,
running from Dec. 20-Jan. 15.
The spring semester at WSU starts Jan. 8.
MICHIGAN STATE ARRIVED in San Diego on Friday and held their first bowl
practice in California today.
TICKET SALES for the Holiday Bowl continue at a slow pace.
As of Friday, WSU had sold just 3,700 of its 7,000 ticket allotment, and
400 tickets over the previous 11 days, according to Matt Zollinger in the WSU
ticket office.
Last year's Holiday Bowl match up vs. Minnesota, in the first 24 hours
after tickets went on sale, saw WSU sell 4,800, with the entire allotment of
7,000 sold out within 48 hours.
A look at the CF.C premium forum shows many Cougar fans this year have
instead bought their tickets directly from the Holiday Bowl. And that’s because
last year they found themselves sitting in the less-than-prime seats the bowl
committee assigned to the two participating schools. Bowl organizers typically
retain the best seats, ostensibly for distribution to corporate sponsors, civic
leaders and others, often leaving actual fans of the teams far from the 50s.
The Pac-12 will cover up to 50 percent of unsold bowl ticket
allotments for each school in a
Pac-12-contracted bowl game like the Holiday. The money every Pac-12 team earns
from its respective bowl goes to the conference, where it is pooled. All bowl
expenses are then deducted from the total and the remaining money is split
equally 13 ways, with 12 shares going to each member school and one share staying
with the Pac-12.
The Holiday Bowl payout to the Pac-12 conference is expected to be $3.25
million.
