Go, Cougs!
WSU Volleyball
Begins 2018 season in North Carolina
Info from
WSU Sports info
-
Washington State begins its 46th season of volleyball when it takes on Virginia
Commonwealth Saturday, Aug. 25 in Raleigh, NC on the campus of North Carolina State.
- WSU
volleyball has won its season-opening match in 27 of the past 31 years.
- The
Cougars have never faced VCU or NC State in regular season action.
- WSU
enters the year coming off of back-to-back NCAA Tournament Second Round
appearances. The team is one of just 19 DI teams to have won an NCAA Tournament
game in each of the last two years.
BACK AND
BETTER THAN EVER
The
Cougars return a veteran squad that is coming off back-to-back NCAA
Championship tournament Second Round appearances and returns 10 letterwinners.
Six seniors dot the roster for the Cougars including outside hitter Taylor Mims
who is fresh off an MVP performance for the US Collegiate National Team-Europe
at the 2018 Global Challenge in Croatia. In 2017, Mims was named to the 2017
All-Pac-12 Volleyball First Team and to the PrepVolleyball.com and
VolleyballMag.com All-America Honorable Mention teams. She was a team
co-captain and the Cougars statistical leader with 4.17 kills per set and 4.75
points per set, both sixth-best in Pac-12, 30th and 26th in NCAA. In addition
to Mims, the Cougars return nearly their entire starting lineup from a season
ago with McKenna Woodford, Claire Martin, Jocelyn Urias, and Ella Lajos give
WSU a potent attack to rival any team in the nation. In the back, Alexis
Dirige, upped her game yet another level over the summer as she won gold,
alongside of Mims, in Croatia as Team USA's libero. The junior enters the year
just outside of the Cougars' top-10 in digs after becoming the fastest player
in program history to reach 1,000 digs.
:::::::::::::::::::::
Volleyball
sets up for new season
WSU begins
season with road trip in North Carolina against two opponents
By COLIN
CONNOLLY, Evergreen
August 23,
2018
WSU
volleyball will head to the East Coast for the opening weekend of its 2018
season. The Cougars will travel to Raleigh, North Carolina, to face Virginia
Commonwealth University as well as North Carolina State University in their
first two matches of the season.
In 2017,
WSU lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to the eventual champions,
University of Nebraska. It was the second-straight season the team made it to
the second round of the NCAA championships.
With all
the success the team has had the past two seasons, along with a class of six
returning seniors, head coach Jen Greeny has high expectations for the upcoming
season.
“That’s
what we are looking at goal-wise right now, is just to take the preseason as it
comes,” Greeny said, “but once we get into conference it will be day-in and
day-out a fight until the end.”
Not only
do the Cougars have good experience and leadership through returning players
coming into the 2018 season, they also have great camaraderie as a team.
WSU went
on a 10-day trip to Europe together this summer where the team played five
matches in four countries. Junior defensive specialist/libero Alexis Dirige
said the team grew a lot together by working through mistakes.
“We
experienced some really good competition here and we did well,” Dirige said. “I
think that is going to give us a lot of confidence.”
Greeny
said the team is looking forward to facing a pair of tough teams this weekend
which will help prepare for conference play.
Greeny
said facing VCU right off the bat will be challenging for the team. First
matches are always difficult because they cannot scout or know what the
opponent is going to do, she said.
“You have
to make adjustments on the fly,” Greeny said. “We had to do that in Europe too,
so I think that [experience] will help us this weekend.”
The team
is looking to play well, be consistent and come away undefeated after the
weekend, she said.
WSU will
face VCU 1 p.m. Saturday and NC State 9:30 a.m. Sunday, both in Reynolds
Coliseum.
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Soccer's Match
With Iowa Moved to 9 A.M.
8/23/2018 |
Women's Soccer from WSU Sports Info
MINNEAPOLIS,
Minn. - Due to inclement weather in the forecast, the Washington State soccer
match against Iowa Friday has been changed to a 9 a.m. PT kick off. The neutral
site game between the two sides will take place at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie
Stadium on the campus of Minnesota. The Cougars are on the road for a pair of
games in Minneapolis as they are scheduled to take on Minnesota Sunday morning.
The No. 22
ranked Cougars enter the weekend 2-0-0 on the year after defeating Seattle,
3-1, and Grand Canyon, 1-0, last weekend at home.
....
First Roadtrip
Sends No. 22 Soccer to Minnesota
8/22/2018 |
Women's Soccer from WSU Sports Info
==#22
WASHINGTON STATE (2-0-0) vs IOWA (1-0-1)
2 p.m. PT |
Friday | Aug. 24
Minneapolis,
MN | Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium
BTN Plus
==#22
WASHINGTON STATE (2-0-0) vs MINNESOTA (2-0-0)
11 a.m. PT |
Sunday | Aug. 26
Minneapolis,
MN | Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium
BTN Plus
ABOUT THE
MATCHUPS The Cougars hit the road for the first time in 2018 with a trip to
Minneapolis to take on Iowa and Minnesota at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium. The
Big 10 foes come into the weekend unbeaten as Iowa went 1-0-1 on opening
weekend with a win over Creighton while Minnesota went 2-0-0 and took down Utah
and Utah State. For the Cougars, their matchup with Iowa marks the first-ever
meeting between the two schools. On Sunday, the Cougars meet the Gophers in a
rematch of an epic battle from last season in Pullman. The Gophers came into
the season opening contest ranked No. 19 in the country and WSU was able to
battle them to a 0-0 draw. In the last three meetings between the two sides the
Cougars and Gophers have played even, each taking one win to go along with last
season's draw.
LAST TIME OUT
The Cougars started the season a perfect 2-0 beating Seattle, 3-1, and Grand
Canyon, 1-0 OT, at Lower Soccer Field. Against Seattle, Morgan Weaver put on a
show as the junior scored a pair of goals and assisted on the would-be
game-winner as WSU tallied three unanswered strikes to win. Sunday, a
dominating effort found the Cougars outshooting GCU 24-2 but struggling to find
the back of the net. Freshman Molly Myers put an end to the madness in the
second minute of overtime to grab her first collegiate goal and the win for
WSU.
.....
WSU Soccer:
Maddy Haro Takes Home Pac-12 Defensive Player Of The Week Honors
from WSU
Sports Info
PULLMAN, Wash.
- For the second time in her career, senior Maddy Haro captured Pac-12
Defensive Player of the Week recognition as announced by the conference office
Tuesday afternoon. Haro also was named the conference's top defender on Sept.
5, 2017, the last weekly award for the Cougars. The award was the first of the
season given out by the conference.
Haro led the
Cougs to a pair of wins on opening weekend that included a 3-1 victory over
Seattle University Friday night to open the season and a 1-0 shutout of Grand
Canyon University (GCU) Sunday to cap the weekend. Defensively, the Cougars
were stellar throughout the weekend but took it to another level Sunday
afternoon when they held GCU to just two shots in 92 minutes of action, the
first of which did not come until the 84' of play. In addition to her defensive efforts, Haro
was the catalyst to the Cougars' offense, assisting on three of the four goals
scored over the weekend.
Friday against
Seattle, Haro assisted on a pair of goals scored by junior Morgan Weaver,
setting up the first goal of the year with a perfectly placed cross into the
center of the box and again later in the game on Weaver's second goal of the
match and the third of the night for WSU. Sunday, Haro was at it again, this
time beating her defender to the baseline where she was able to again slot a
ball into the center of the six, finding the feet of her freshman forward Molly
Myers to end the game.
Last season,
Haro led the Cougars in assists with a career-best seven. She has now totaled
10 for her career, just shy of the Cougars' career top-10 list.
The Cougs and
Haro will hit the pitch again Friday, August 24 in Minneapolis when they take
on Iowa in a neutral site game at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium on the campus
of Minnesota.
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Important
Rule Changes for 2018 College Football Season
CFO and NFF
team up to highlight the changes designed to improve the game and increase
player safety.
Tweet this
release from National Football Foundation:
http://bit.ly/2Lem6ul
IRVING, Texas
(Aug. 23, 2018) - As the season draws near, it is time for the National
Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame to highlight the key rule
changes that will take effect during the 2018 college football season.
Since 2011,
the NFF has partnered with Rogers Redding, the national coordinator of College
Football Officiating (CFO), to help generate awareness for the rule changes in
college football through a series of regular columns distributed by the NFF.
The CFO functions as the national professional organization for all football
officials who work games at the collegiate level, and the organization held its
annual winter meeting of conference coordinators for football officials in late
January for the sixth consecutive year at the NFF headquarters in Irving,
Texas.
Having
officiated football for more than three decades, Redding started his career
working high school football in Texas. He later officiated in the Southwest
Conference from 1988-93, served as a referee in the Southeastern Conference for
nearly a decade and worked three national championship games. He received his
bachelor's degree from Georgia Tech and later obtained a master's and Ph.D. in
physical chemistry from Vanderbilt. Redding was honored with the NFF's
Outstanding Football Official Award in 2010.
The NCAA
football rules committee has completed its work on the rules for the 2018
season and has received approval from the Playing Rules Oversight Panel for a
number of changes. Because this is an even-numbered year, the committee was
able to consider changes for all aspects of the game. Under the guidelines for
the two-year process, only player-safety rules may be changed in odd-numbered years.
Here are the 2018 rule changes as summarized by Rogers Redding:
Fair Catch on the Kickoff
The kickoff
return continues to be the play with the highest risk of head injuries, and
there have been a number of rule changes in recent years intended to provide
incentives for a team not to return the kickoff. One such rule was made in
2013: after a touchback on the kickoff, the ball is brought out to the 25-yard
linerather than the standard 20. In response, some kickers have perfected the
art of the "pooch kick," lofting the ball deep in the receiving
team's space in an attempt to pin them down with poor field position or
effectively force a return.
To counter
this trend, the committee this year created a new rule: if a kickoff receiver
makes a fair catch inside his 20-yard line, his team will have the ball at the
25-yard line - just as if the ball had been caught and downed inside the end
zone for a touchback. So for example, if a receiving team player makes a fair
catch of a kickoff at his 5-yard or 10-yard line, his team will put the ball in
play at the 25. The hope is that this change will encourage teams to take
advantage of the better field position rather than return the kick.
Penalty Enforcement on Field Goal Plays
Under the
current rules, if the defense commits a personal foul or unsportsmanlike
conduct during a field goal, the kicking team must either take points off the
board and continue the drive with a first down, or decline the penalty and keep
the three points. However, the penalty would not carry over to the kickoff
after the successful field goal. Beginning in 2018, there is the option to keep
the three points and enforce the penalty on the kickoff-just as with such a
foul during a touchdown. The effect of this change is to make penalty
enforcement the same on all scoring plays.
Blocking Below the Waist
The rules
about low blocks are sometimes a challenge because they are situational. That
is, whether a particular block below the waist is legal depends not only on the
block itself, but also on the situation. Without exception, blocking below the
waist is always illegal during a kick play and after a change of possession,
such as an interception return or the return of a recovered fumble. However,
the identical block might be okay in a different situation.
This year, the
rules committee took some steps to try to make the rule not only simpler but,
much more importantly, safer. Setting aside changes of possession, here is the
rule for the team that snaps the ball.
Linemen who
are inside the tackle box at the snap may block below the waist from the front
or the side until the ball leaves the tackle box.
All others may
block below the waist only if the force of the block is directly from the front
- that is, in the region between "10 o'clock and 2 o'clock" forward
of the concentration area of the player being blocked (there are some
exceptions-see below).
Here is the
major change for 2018: Downfield, more than five yards beyond the line of
scrimmage, any block below the waist is illegal.
The exceptions are:
If a player is
outside the tackle box or in motion at the snap, he may not block below the
waist back toward the location of the ball at the snap - this is the crackback
block. Even if the block is directed from the front, it is illegal.
Once the ball
has left the tackle box, no player is allowed to block below the waist toward
his own end line - this is the peelback block.
For the team
on defense, the rule is quite simple: these players are allowed to block below
the waist only within a 10-yard belt, which extends five yards behind and five
yards beyond the line of scrimmage. If they are outside this belt when they
block below the waist, it's a foul-even if the block is directly from the
front.
One final
note: clipping (i.e., blocking below the waist from behind) is essentially
always illegal. The rules we are discussing here are for low blocks from the
front or the side.
Uniforms: Knee Pads and Pants
Over the past
several years, we have seen a trend in players' pants getting shorter. This has
a safety component as exposing the knees without padding means a risk of knee
injuries and lacerations, and it is detrimental to the look of the game. In
2017, the rules committee declared that beginning this year, the legal uniform
will include knee pads in the pants with the knee pads and pants completely
covering the knees. Officials are mandated to enforce this rule strictly by not
allowing players to be in the game with pants that do not completely cover the
knees. Uncovered knees indicate illegal equipment: players must leave the game
for at least one down, and they may not return until the equipment is legal.
Pace of Play
The rules
committee continues to try to reduce the overall length of games by gaining
efficiency during "dead" times. This year, the rules have changed to
shorten the time between the touchdown and the extra point, and between the
kickoff return and the first play from scrimmage. In both cases, the 40-second
play clock will start as soon as the ball is dead. Instead of pausing for one
minute between the touchdown and the extra point, the 40-second play clock will
begin counting down as soon as the touchdown is scored. Similarly, when the
ball becomes dead after the kickoff the 40-second play clock will start. This
should have a significant impact on the amount of time it takes to
"manage" a touchdown and the ensuing kickoff.
Cap-Cam: TV Camera on Officials
For many
years, the rules have allowed the umpire to wear a small TV camera (no audio)
on his or her cap. Based on experiments during one of the bowl games, this year
the rule has been expanded to allow any official to wear such a
"cap-cam," subject to the approval of the two teams and the
official's conference.
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WSU language
classes cut due to low enrollment
By ANGELICA
RELENTE, Evergreen reporter
August 23,
2018
Several
foreign language courses such as French, Arabic and Japanese were cancelled due
to insufficient student enrollment.
WSU
requires all courses to have a minimum of 15 students enrolled for the classes
to operate, said Carmen Lugo-Lugo, director of the School of Languages,
Cultures and Race, in an email to The Daily Evergreen. The department must
comply with the university’s minimum enrollment mandate, she said, and the
department is trying to avoid unnecessary expenses.
“We are
trying to be fiscally responsible while simultaneously keeping the needs of
students’ [majors and minors] in mind,” Lugo-Lugo said.
Students
would have to take another language course or wait for specific classes to be
offered again the following semester, she said.
In
addition to the language courses, comparative ethnic studies classes were also
cancelled due to low enrollment.
That low
enrollment in some classes may have been caused by the two departments planning
more classes than were needed, she said.
Sixty
courses were under-enrolled in the beginning of June, Lugo-Lugo said. Twenty
out of the 60 courses were cancelled, but 15 under-enrolled courses were kept
when the school year started.
Out of the
classes that were cancelled, some had no students, while the highest enrollment
for a cancelled class was seven.
Alongside
the language classes that are still offered this fall, tutoring services for
foreign languages will continue this school year, said Jim Martin, director of
the Language Learning Resource Center.
Currently,
there are Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese and Russian tutors, but they are
still searching for more in German and Korean, he said.
Tutors are
usually upperclassmen or native speakers, Martin said. The number for each
language depends on the need.
“[The
resource center is] kind of slow starting out in the semester,” he said. “I
think some students just don’t realize they need a tutor until it might be a
little too late.”
::::::::::::
WSU
President Schulz talks mental health, budgets, enrollment
He spoke
as new academic year begins, addressed athletics deficit
BY IAN
SMAY, Evergreen reporter
August 23,
2018
WSU
President Kirk Schulz fielded questions regarding mental health resources,
budgets and this year’s largest-ever freshman class during an hour-long press
conference to mark the beginning of the school year Wednesday morning at the
Lewis Alumni Centre.
Budget and
athletics
Schulz
said the university markedly reduced its spending in the past year.
“We don’t
have final figures yet, but we will definitely exceed our goal in fiscal
spending,” he said.
Final
numbers on how well the deficit-reduction plan has been carried out in the
first year should be released in the coming days, according to a news release
handed out at the press conference.
Schulz
touted the university’s 2018 fundraising efforts, which garnered $145.1
million, and thanked faculty and staff members who had helped in reducing
spending across the university.
In
athletics, the Board of Regents approved a plan to reduce the department’s debt
by fiscal year 2023 during their final monthly meeting in June.
The
president said he thinks the Cougar Athletic Fund, which had its best year ever
with $7.76 million in revenue, will continue to increase.
“We expect
to see that grow aggressively in the next few years,” Schulz said.
He praised
Director of Athletics Pat Chun for his efforts to increase revenue through
fundraising.
“I want to
accelerate [reducing the deficit] as much as possible,” Schulz said. “We have
the best fundraising AD that WSU has ever had.”
He also
spoke about the possibility of having additional student fees implemented to
help address the deficit, which would need to be approved by ASWSU and voted on
by the student body.
“I would
like to have, at some point, our students assist us with the funds needed for a
competitive athletics program,” he said.
Other
schools, such as the University of California, Berkeley, have been in as bad or
worse spots and still managed to field competitive teams, Schulz said.
He also
said the university would bring in an independent group to complete an audit of
the athletics department following results from an internal audit showing
inflation of attendance numbers and possible state law violations with
recordkeeping and the distribution of tickets.
“I want us
to be completely credible in all that we do,” he said.
Mental
health
WSU worked
to raise awareness of suicide prevention and mental health resources on campus
following the January death of quarterback Tyler Hilinski by suicide, according
to a WSU fact sheet.
Four new
initiatives were listed in the fact sheet, including a second mental health
screening for football players, a full-time clinical psychologist, free mental
health first-aid training for students and collaboration with the JED
foundation to increase awareness.
Schulz
said the university wants to make sure all students, not just athletes, are
aware of the mental health resources available on campus. He also wants
students to be trained to spot signs of mental health issues or suicidal
tendencies in their peers.
Phil
Weiler, vice president of marketing and communications for WSU, also said the
university was looking at how to address mental health issues and suicide
without increasing the risk of suicide contagion, in which more people commit
suicide after a high-profile or locally-known person takes their own life.
Conversations
were held between Schulz and Chun on how to address the issue of chronic
traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, with Cougar football players, Schulz said.
Student
body
There were
concerns about a lack of housing for the freshman class, as some dorm rooms
will have three students and resident advisors in some halls will have
roommates this year.
While
there was initially a waitlist for some to get housing through the university,
Weiler said the issue has been resolved.
“As of
[Tuesday], that waiting list is down to zero,” Weiler said.
It was
important to find rooms for freshmen to ensure they had a smooth start to their
academic careers at WSU, Schulz said.
“We don’t
want someone’s first experience to be ‘welcome, we don’t have anywhere for you
to stay,’ ” Schulz said.
The issue
arose with more people choosing WSU after receiving acceptance, not from the
university accepting more applicants, Weiler said.
Schulz
said he thinks the reason so many students wanted to come to WSU was because of
the university’s reputation.
“I think
the university had a pretty substantial party image for a while,” he said. “I
think we’re seeing a little bit of the result of positively increasing our
academic stature.”
In
addition to a larger student body, Schulz also said Provost Dan Bernardo had
helped increase the academic strength of the class by giving tours and
successfully recruiting highly-sought freshmen to Pullman.
He also
covered how the university would move forward in regard to students in the
country under DACA or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which protects
those who entered the country illegally as minors with their parents. Schulz
said WSU would play it by ear based on national policy decisions.
“I think
that’s going to be based on what we hear out of Washington D.C.,” he said.
“We’re going to need to be flexible.”
He also
spoke about student debt and preparing students for life after graduation, whether
it be graduate school or the workforce. He said he wants to ensure graduates
aren’t burdened by debt when they leave WSU.
“How
successful can a person be if they are going into a job that doesn’t pay six
figures when they’re $100,000 in debt?” Schulz said.
He also
said the university is working to increase inclusivity and diversity on campus,
noting that the press conference was almost a year to the day after a student
sit-in took place at the French Administration Building to protest a lack of
diversity in the WSU faculty, staff and student body.
Schulz
said the university will never stop looking at how it can foster diversity and
ensure everyone is given the same opportunities.
“Our
students were expressing disappointment at the pace of change on campus,” he
said about diversity. “You don’t ever check a box and say you’re done.”
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Tickets on
sale Friday for WSU Dad’s Weekend concert featuring artist who recorded “Back
Home”
From
Pullman Radio News
Tickets go
on sale Friday for the Dad's Weekend concert at WSU featuring the artist who
recorded the song that's become wildly popular at Cougar football games. Andy
Grammer will take the Beasley Colisuem stage on Saturday night, November 2nd.
Grammer's song "Back Home" is featured on the highlight video that's
shown between the 1st and 2nd quarter. Tickets go on sale at 10:00 Friday
morning at ticketswest.com or by calling 800-325-SEAT. Cougar football hosts
Cal that Saturday for Dad's Weekend.
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Repairs to
WSU tunnels steam ahead
Deteriorating
portions of underground network near completion
By Katie
Short, Moscow Pullman Daily News
Aug 23,
2018
Repairs to
several crumbling sections of Washington State University's 14-mile steam
tunnel network is on budget, on time and expected to be completed by October, a
WSU official said.
Phil
Weiler, WSU vice president of marketing and communications, said the roughly $1
million project will repair three steam tunnels on the WSU campus.
The
university's steam tunnels, which snake below the roads and sidewalks
throughout WSU's campus, are primarily used to heat WSU buildings. The tunnels
distribute up to 400,000 pounds of steam per hour to nearly every building on
campus, except for a handful of facilities that run off of their own boilers.
The three
steam tunnels in need of repairs are located next to the old WSU Steam Plant,
just off Northeast College Avenue.
Weiler
said the poor state of the tunnels stemmed from age but was exasperated by
water intrusion.
Weiler
said the tunnels undergo a maintenance inspection every year and earlier this
year, during the most recent check-up, the damage was discovered.
He said
the maintenance inspection did what it was supposed to do and caught the
problem before there was any serious damage, but as a precaution, vehicle
access to the roadways above the tunnels has been closed off. He added access
to campus was minimally impacted by the closures as there are several
alternative routes around the construction.
Weiler
said the construction on the steam tunnel directly next to the WSU Steam Plant
- which impacts students most - is nearly complete.
"Just
asphalt paving, curbs and gutters are left," Weiler said.
Construction
on the other two steam tunnels, which were built in the 1930s, is expected to
finish by the end of September.
In
addition to providing heat for buildings and heating sidewalks for students and
faculty during the winter, the tunnels also house high voltage distribution
chords and communication cables, Weiler said.
………...
Air
quality alert remains in effect, cleaner air may be on the way
Aug 23,
2018 Moscow Pullman Daily News
The air
quality alert issued by the National Weather Service earlier this week remains
in effect with “unhealthy” to “moderate” air quality throughout eastern
Washington and the Idaho Panhandle.
Under the
alert, sensitive groups like children, the elderly, and individuals with
respiratory illnesses are most at risk of health effects.
A cold
front passage expected to push through the region tonight may scour out some
smoke and haze.
The NWS
anticipates air quality to improve some by Friday and into the weekend, but
that is dependent on regional fire activity.
:::::::::::::::::::
WSU
football
Attrition
may have changed the appearance of Washington State’s defensive line, but not
the mindset
UPDATED:
Wed., Aug. 22, 2018, 10:16 p.m.
By Theo
Lawson
Spokane
S-R
PULLMAN –
By the time they arrive in Laramie, Wyoming, on Aug. 31, the Washington State
Cougars will have spent upward of 70 hours laboring away on hot – and sometimes
hazy – practice fields in Idaho and Washington.
Do the
math and it amounts to thousands upon thousands of developmental reps for each
position group. Seemingly an infinite amount of preparation time and maybe
still not enough for the Cougars’ embattled defensive line.
This is
the time of the year teams devote to establishing depth and finding concrete
solutions at every spot on the depth chart. But Jeff Phelps is dealing with the
same problem of a puzzle-builder who keeps losing track of the small cardboard
pieces.
Even
though he’s lost three pieces – one permanently and two others for the
foreseeable future – the second-year defensive line coach has no choice but to
continue building his puzzle.
“The
formula stays the same as it’s always been and next man up mentality,” Phelps
said Wednesday. “We’ve got enough able bodies to do what we need to do and so
it’s business as usual, really.”
A day
after the 2017 Holiday Bowl, it wouldn’t have been totally misguided to think
the defensive line could emerge as one of the Cougars’ strongest position
groups in 2018.
All-American
defensive tackle Hercules Mata’afa hadn’t tossed his named into the NFL Draft
pool yet and was poised to return as one of the country’s standout
pass-rushers. The Cougars were excited about the gradual development of
high-motored defensive end Nnamdi Oguayo and the loss of nose tackle Daniel
Ekuale was somewhat mitigated by the addition of Jonathan “Pono” Lolohea, a
coveted three-star junior college transfer who’d grabbed the attention of at
least 10 other Power Five schools before landing on the Cougars. Plus returning
junior defensive end Derek Moore was a nice depth piece behind Oguayo.
Had you
taken a stab at the depth chart on Dec. 29, Mata’afa (DT), Oguayo (DE) and
Lolohea (NT) would have probably been easy picks at D-line. A starting front of
Nick Begg (DT), Taylor Comfort (NT) and Will Rodgers III (DE) would have drawn
odds of 1,000/1 from Las Vegas.
Slowly but
surely, the first trio began to morph into the second one just three days after
the Holiday Bowl when Mata’afa made an early leap to the NFL, opening up the
first vacancy on the defensive line.
Comfort,
at the time still a walk-on, outplayed Lolohea during spring camp – a surprise
given the transfer’s sparkling recruiting profile – and remained the top choice
at nose tackle through the first two weeks of camp. Lolohea left the football
program early last week, 18 days shy of the season opener.
Underscoring
the unit’s adversity, Oguayo and Moore both vanished from the practice field
less than a week into preseason camp. Mike Leach stated on Aug. 10 the Cougars
“expect to see them shortly,” but neither participated in Tuesday’s practice –
the last one media members and fans were able to observe – and the coach hasn’t
offered any other details on their absence.
That’s a
lot for a group to endure over the course of 12 games, let alone before the
season opener, but Phelps said the attrition hasn’t altered his unit’s
demeanor.
“To be
honest, it hasn’t come up in our meeting room,” Phelps said. “You move on and
you worry about the guys that are here and that’s all you can do. You kind of
leave it at that.”
The guys
who are still around – and active – feel confident there’s enough depth to go
around.
“There’s
guys all over, from end, nose, tackle – we’ve got good guys backing up each one
of us,” Begg said. “And I trust everyone on our D-line to rotate in and get the
job done right now. And even some of the guys that are down on scout team, I
know that if they end up getting the call up to come play defense with us,
they’d be able to contribute.”
It still
doesn’t change the fact the group is largely unproven – and won’t be until
WSU’s first defensive series at Wyoming.
Together,
the projected starters registered only nine tackles, two tackles for loss and
one sack last season. Seven of the tackles, both TFLs and the sack belonged to
Begg, a senior who didn’t become a part of the D-line rotation until last year.
Rodgers III and Comfort have special teams experience, but they’ll be playing
their first meaningful defensive downs this season.
“I have
faith in our D-line, for sure,” Begg said.
Tago, a
senior who’s played in 33 games, could be considered the group’s fourth starter
– and he’s seen time at just about every level of defense as a former nickel
safety and linebacker. But at 6-foot-3, 247 pounds, he probably isn’t capable
of spelling Comfort at nose tackle, where the depth is paper-thin after
Lolohea’s abrupt exit.
The
Cougars have been training Misiona Aiolupotea-Pei, a junior college defensive
end, at the position and Leach has emphasized the importance of carving out a
role for the former rugby player, who’s “a real strong, explosive guy” the
coach said.
“His size
helps him and how quick he is,” Begg said. “He’s really quick off the line and
he’s getting little things about our defense, how we run certain plays. … I
think once he gets the experience, and I think this mock week will help him,
this experience will help him gradually this season to get used to other
offenses.”
…………………..
Pac-12
preview: Washington State lands East Carolina QB to replace Logan’s Luke Falk
Gardner
Minshew is the apparent winner of the job, over Lehi’s Cammon Cooper and
others.
By Kurt
Kragthorpe
SALT LAKE
TRIBUNE
Washington
State coach Mike Leach is fascinated by pirates, having titled his
autobiography “Swing Your Sword.” Gardner Minshew is an ex-Pirate, having
transferred from East Carolina.
That
swashbuckling connection is not the reason Minshew has become WSU's likely
starting quarterback, but there's no question he's a central figure in Leach's
QB-driven offense as the Cougars regroup this season.
WSU lost
record-setting quarterback Luke Falk, a Logan High School alumnus who started
for parts of four seasons in Pullman. The death of Tyler Hilinski, Falk’s
probable successor, shook the program in January and launched the search that
landed Minshew. He apparently has won the job of three other contenders,
including freshman Cammon Cooper of Lehi.
Minshew is
“really accurate,” Leach said last month during the Pac-12 Media Day, and his
experience and familiarity with a scheme that’s somewhat similar to WSU’s have
elevated him as the starter.
PAC-12 PREVIEWS
This is the sixth installment in a series
previewing Pac-12 football teams. Today: Washington State.
Minshew
played in part of the Pirates' win over BYU last October, throwing two
touchdown passes, and then took the job in the next game at Houston, completing
52 of 68 passes for 463 yards and three scores. So he’s accustomed to the
high-volume passing of Leach’s scheme.
Quarterback
is not the only position that needed a replacement, though. The Cougars are
rebuilding throughout the offense, explaining why they were picked fifth in the
Pac-12 North in the media poll. WSU hosts Utah on Sept. 29, after a
nonconference schedule of Wyoming on the road and San Jose State and Eastern
Washington at home and the Pac-12 opener at USC.
The
Cougars will succeed if:
Minshew
proves to be a plug-and-play QB as a graduate transfer and the offense develops
quickly around him. He’s unproven at the Power Five level, and Athlon Sports
ranked WSU’s quarterback, offensive line and receivers No. 9 or lower among
position groups the Pac-12. Tay Martin, who caught 31 passes last season, is
the top returning receiver.
The
Cougars won’t succeed if:
A defense
with a new coordinator is not good enough to carry the team in the early stages
of the season. Former Minnesota coach Tracy Claeys replaced Alex Grinch as the
coordinator, after Grinch impressively turned the WSU defense into a strong
unit and then left for Ohio State. The Cougars will need the conference’s No.
1-ranked defensive line, led by end Nnamdi Oguayo, to have a big impact.
:::::::::::::::::::::
Rundown of
all you need to know about Pac-12 football 2018
Aug 16,
2018
By Kyle
Bonagura, ESPN staff writer
After
making the playoff two years ago, Washington returns its rugged defense and
powerful run offense, as well as quarterback Jake Browning's strong arm. The
Huskies may struggle through the air, but their defense should get them to the
conference championship. The teams that could challenge the Huskies for the
title, USC and Stanford, have some uncertainty at the quarterback spot and on
the defensive front, respectively. But the Cardinal's Bryce Love could very
well be the best player in the country.
The new
coaches in the conference should make for an interesting season out west as
well.
With
kickoff just a few weeks away, here's everything you need to get you ready for
the Pac-12 season, which kicks off with Utah hosting Weber State on Aug. 30.
Power rankings
1.
Washington
2. USC
3.
Stanford
4. Oregon
5. Arizona
6. Utah
7. Cal
8. UCLA
9.
Colorado
10.
Washignton State
11.
Arizona State
12. Oregon
State
Five most
important conference games
Sept. 8:
USC at Stanford
It's
unfortunate that this game is played so early in the schedule each year because
it's routinely one of the season's most important games but doesn't generate
the buzz that it would if played later. It's especially important for Stanford
this year because Washington, the favorite in the North, doesn't play USC -- a
clear advantage for the Huskies in the divisional race.
Oct. 12:
Arizona at Utah
USC will
begin the season as a deserving favorite in the South, but both Arizona and
Utah should be considered contenders as well. It's easy to envision a scenario
where the winner of this game goes on to win the division. It should be an
electric atmosphere for this Friday night game at Rice-Eccles Stadium, where a
win could provide the Utes with plenty of momentum heading into another home
game against the Trojans the following week.
Oct. 13:
Washington at Oregon
After 12
straight losses to the Ducks, Washington has completely flipped the script in
this rivalry over the past two years, winning by 49 and 35 points. With both
programs considered conference title contenders, could this be the most
consequential game in the series since the conference expanded in 2011? Don't
bet against it.
Nov. 3:
Stanford at Washington
For
Washington, Stanford will likely be its toughest test over the final five weeks
of the season (it's sandwiched between games against Colorado/Cal and Oregon
State/Washington State) and could serve as either a stumbling block or résumé
booster for the College Football Playoff. Last year, the Huskies were 8-1 and
alive in the playoff discussion before a 30-22 loss on the Farm.
Nov. 3:
UCLA at Oregon
If both
teams are still in contention, even better, but Chip Kelly's return to Autzen
Stadium in powder blue will be appointment viewing either way. He's a man who
is absolutely revered in Eugene, where he guided the Ducks to a 46-7 record in
four seasons as the head coach before jumping to the NFL. He's the coach all
future Ducks coaches will be measured against, making this game a huge
opportunity for new coach Mario Cristobal to ingratiate himself to the school's
fan base.
Heisman
hopeful
Traditional
logic says running backs with NFL talent should, more often than not, jump at
the first opportunity to go to the next level. There are only so many hits one
man can take, the saying goes, before his body breaks down. And it makes sense
for those hits to come while collecting an NFL paycheck. That's why it
surprised a lot of people when Bryce Love, after rushing for 2,118 yards and 19
touchdowns last year, decided to return to Stanford for his senior season. He
likely would have been a first-round draft pick and on the receiving end of a
life-changing amount of money. No one in the history of college football has
rushed for that many yards in a season and returned for another year -- and
he's just the third to come back after rushing for 2,000-plus. Coincidentally,
former teammate Christian McCaffrey (2,019 yards in 2015) is one of the others.
For
college football fans, Love needs no introduction. He finished second in the
Heisman Trophy voting last year and deserves not only to be considered the
Pac-12's best shot at winning the award this year but to be the national
favorite. The same, though, could have been said about McCaffrey and former
Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. Both players returned to school after
second-place finishes in the Heisman voting and neither won the award the
following year.
Love's
biggest obstacle might actually be the reason he came back: Stanford. For all
the school's advantages, recent history suggests the football program's lack of
visibility -- particularly on the East Coast -- hurts its Heisman candidates.
Since Toby Gerhart started the trend in 2009, a Stanford player has finished
second in the voting five times. Only Oklahoma has that many runner-up finishes
in Heisman history.
New
coaches rundown
Mario
Cristobal, Oregon: The Ducks dipped back into a familiar hiring strategy,
elevating their offensive coordinator to replace a departing head coach. It's
something that worked, briefly, with Mark Helfrich, who guided the Ducks to the
national title game in the wake of Chip Kelly's tenure. But then, of course, it
went downhill quickly and Helfrich was replaced by Willie Taggart, who didn't
even stick around for an entire season. With the Ducks recruiting at a high
level under Taggart, it was easy to see the Cristobal hire as a move to save
the class (it did). The question now: Does he have the chops to turn Oregon
into a perennial contender again? We'll see.
Herm
Edwards, Arizona State: The Great Herm Edwards Experiment is nothing if not
interesting. The 64-year-old hasn't coached at the college level since serving
as an assistant at San Jose State in 1989, nor at any level since being fired
as the Kansas City Chiefs coach in 2008. But athletic director Ray Anderson,
Edwards' former agent, was unfazed by the obvious question marks about his
readiness. He's betting on a born leader and football lifer to find success at
a place where mediocrity has been the expectation.
Chip
Kelly, UCLA: Kelly was, without question, the best possible coach on the
market, and the fact that UCLA was able to lure him to Westwood was a coup that
could ultimately define athletic director Dan Guerrero's legacy. The book on
UCLA has long been that it hasn't played anywhere near its potential. As one of
the top academic institutions in the country, in one of the most fertile
recruiting regions, UCLA, it seems, has the potential to be a national power.
While the previous staffs didn't necessarily generate much excitement from the
fan base, this one has -- for good reason.
All-Pac-12
team
Pos. Name Team
QB Khalil Tate Arizona
RB Bryce Love Stanford
RB Myles Gaskin Washington
TE Kaden Smith Stanford
WR N'Keal Harry Arizona
State
WR Vic Wharton Cal
OL Nate Herbig Stanford
OL Kaleb McGary Washington
OL Trey Adams Washington
OL Walker Little Stanford
C Toa Lobendahn USC
DL Christian Rector USC
DL Bradlee Anae Utah
DL Greg Gaines Washington
DL Jalen Jelks Oregon
LB Cam Smith USC
LB Peyton Pelluer Washignton
State
LB Troy Dye Oregon
DB Byron Murphy Washington
DB Marvell Tell USC
DB Jalen Thompson Washington
State
DB Taylor Rapp Washington
Jonathan
Smith, Oregon State: Gary Andersen's bizarre midseason mutually agreed-upon
departure was probably for the best. He seemed like a great hire when he
arrived in Corvallis from Wisconsin, but the marriage just didn't work. In
Smith, Oregon State is handing the keys to one of its own. A star quarterback
for the Beavers from 1998 to 2001, Smith is best remembered for quarterbacking
the 2000 team to an 11-1 record, the Pac-10 title and a No. 4 finish in the
final AP poll. After his career, he went right into coaching as a graduate
assistant at Oregon State and has spent the past six seasons on Chris
Petersen's staff at Boise State and Washington.
Kevin
Sumlin, Arizona: When the Arizona State job opened up, Sumlin was one of the
most high-profile names associated with the opening. It seemed like a good fit.
At that time, there didn't figure to be an opening at Arizona with Rich
Rodriguez having the Wildcats on an upward trajectory, but that changed quickly
when he was dismissed on Jan. 3. Less than two weeks later, despite it being so
late in the hiring window, Arizona hired Sumlin, who guided Texas A&M to
six straight bowl games.
Freshman
to watch
He hasn't
even won the starting job (yet), but there is a sense around USC that it's only
a matter of time before J.T. Daniels becomes a household name. After winning
the Gatorade National High School Player of the Year for arguably the best team
in the country last year -- famed Mater Dei in nearby Santa Ana -- Daniels
could have returned for an encore, developed for another season and enrolled at
USC in January.
But that
also would have meant USC would have a returning starter at quarterback with
either two (Matt Fink) or three (Jack Sears) years of eligibility remaining.
That's obviously not an ideal situation for an incoming quarterback, but
Daniels maintains that wasn't the reason for his decision to graduate high school
early. His reasoning aside, Daniels has all the attributes coach Clay Helton
looks for in a quarterback -- or at least he did in high school and has shown
so far in training camp. He's accurate, makes good decisions and is blessed
with the physical attributes needed to become a top-flight college quarterback.
Predicted
order of finish
Predicted
order of finish
North South
1.
Washington* 1. USC
2.
Stanford 2. Utah
3.Oregon 3. Arizona
4.
California 4. UCLA
5.
Washington State 5. Colorado
6. Oregon
State 6. Arizona State
*Washington
defeats USC and advances to the College Football Playoff
#
