Lyrics:
WSU FIGHT
SONG (previously known as the WSC Fight Song)
Fight,
fight, fight for Washington State!
Win the
victory,
Win the
day for Crimson and Gray!
Best in
the West
We know
you'll all do your best,
So on, on,
on, on!
Fight to
the end!
Honor and
glory you must win!
So fight,
fight, fight for Washington State and Victory!
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
New QB
joins the fray as Cougs open camp
Senior
transfer Minshew jumps into crowded competition for Falk's old job
By Dale Grummert, Lewiston Trib Aug 3rd
2018
When it
comes to quarterback scenarios, Mike Leach doesn't often plead ignorance. But
this is an unusual situation even for him.
A senior
transfer student, having arrived on campus just a few weeks ago, will plunge
into preseason camp and speed-read his way through Leach's offensive system,
while also familiarizing himself with new teammates. And when September rolls
around, maybe he'll be the starter.
Or maybe
not.
Gardner
Minshew, a graduate transfer from East Carolina, will join an already crowded
competition for the Cougars' starting QB role when Washington State opens
preseason football workouts today at Pullman.
After that
practice, the Cougs will decamp to Lewiston for their annual series of workouts
at Sacajawea Junior High, this time stretching from Saturday through Thursday,
before they resume Pullman practices Aug. 10.
Initiation
rites have been a prominent theme in recent months for the Cougars, who have
qualified for three straight bowl games but now face a big rebuilding task,
assimilating six new assistant coaches while looking to replace several
starters on both offense and defense.
The
process now continues with the arrival of Minshew, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound
quarterback who'll try to spend his final year of college eligibility filling
the void left by the Pac-12 career leader in passing yardage, Luke Falk. He's
got plenty of rivals for the job, but none with FBS playing experience.
Minshew's
biggest challenge will be quickly learning Leach's Air Raid offense, a year
after running a more conventional system while passing for 2,140 yards at East
Carolina. He's essentially replacing Tyler Hilinski, the well-established Falk
understudy who committed suicide in January. Minshew didn't arrive in Pullman
in time for spring drills, so today will mark his on-field Cougar practice
debut.
Even
Leach, entering his 17th year as a head coach, isn't sure how difficult that
challenge will be. For one thing, the graduate-transfer rule that's allowing
Minshew to switch schools and play immediately is only a few years old.
"I
haven't had a ton of experience with that," Leach said. "But picking
a quarterback is easy from the standpoint of, regardless of how good they are,
you figure out who your best one is. In the end the most important thing is:
Who moves the offense the best? Who elevates the play of the guys around him?
"He's
a smart guy," Leach said of Minshew. "In high school (in Mississippi)
he played in a system somewhat similar to ours, and he had some training in
that direction prior to being here, to the point where he can recite plays and
reads. So we'll see."
When it
comes to the recitation of plays and reads, the early advantage goes to junior
QB's Trey Tinsley and Anthony Gordon, both junior-college transfers who've been
on campus since 2016. Tinsley, a walk-on, played with surprising confidence in
spring drills and probably tops the depth chart at the moment. Running third is
heralded true freshman Camm Cooper, who enrolled in January but still seemed to
be learning key aspects of the offense in the spring.
"Tinsley
did a great job," Leach said of spring workouts. "Anthony Gordon did
a really good job. Arguably the biggest eventual talent of the four is Camm
Cooper. I do feel good about the four guys, so we're going to have to sort it
out."
Leach will
likely determine a top two as quickly as possible and give them the vast
majority of first-team reps. He prefers to identify a starter about 10 days
before the season opener, but he won't necessarily announce his choice to the
media or even the players. It will be probably be obvious by the distribution
of reps.
The
Cougars open at 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 1 at Wyoming
……………..
Observations
& notes from day one of Washington State preseason football camp
UPDATED:
Fri., Aug. 3, 2018, 10:49 p.m.
By Theo
Lawson
Spokesman
Review
PULLMAN –
Under blue skies, Washington State opened preseason training camp Friday in
Pullman with a practice that lasted just shy of three hours. The Cougars now
make their annual trek to Lewiston, where they’ll spend six days working out at
Sacajawea Junior High, before returning to the Palouse on Aug. 10.
Here are
some observations and highlights from day one of WSU camp at Martin
Stadium/Rogers field.
Observations
and notes
– First,
the QBs … Graduate transfer Gardner Minshew and redshirt junior Trey Tinsley
each got a series during the “team period” that essentially amounts to a mini
scrimmage near the end of every practice. Both moved the offense well,
completing 60-70 percent of their passes without making any blatant errors. “I
thought both of them looked pretty good in team, in particular,” Mike Leach
said.
– Minshew
and Tinsley also ran the 1-on-1 period, in which a single receiver lines up
against a single defensive back, while Anthony Gordon and Cammon Cooper
operated a drill with the running backs on the opposite end of the field. Mike
Leach said
– Abraham
Lucas, the Cougars’ projected starter at right tackle, is listed at 320 pounds
on the new roster, meaning he’s gained 60 pounds since arriving on campus last
year and is up 40 pounds from what he was listed at in the spring.
– Leach
said Lucas was also in considerably better shape, but noted that redshirt
sophomore Christian Haangana perhaps had the best summer in the weight room of
the offensive linemen. “He looks like a different guy,” Leach said, “so most
notable is probably him.”
– Rookie
defensive backs Tyrese Ross and Halid Djibril both had strong debuts on Friday,
each making a few notable plays. It appears Ross will play safety – a position
in desperate need of depth – while Djibril, who chose WSU over USC and Oregon
State, will play nickel. Senior starting nickel Hunter Dale praised both after
practice. On Ross: “He’s a phenomenal guy, he’s asking questions, so he’s not
just going out there and not knowing what’s going on. … Even after he makes a
play, he comes up to me and asks ‘What could have I done better?’ ” On Djibril:
“He’s learning on the run, on the fly, and he’s doing a great job at that.”
– Jersey
number changes … It’ll take some time to get adjusted to seeing someone not
named Luke Falk wearing No. 4. The former WSU QB racked up 14,481 passing yards
in four years wearing that jersey, but now it belongs to wide receiver Renard
Bell, who gave up his old No. 81 to freshman wideout Brandon Gray. Elsewhere in
number changes, outside receiver Easop Winston Jr. is now wearing Tavares
Martin Jr.’s No. 8. Winston’s No. 85 now belongs to JC transfer WR Calvin
Jackson.
– WSU has
clamped down on its rules regarding video footage at practice and, in line with
what other schools in the Pac-12 have done, has prohibited reporters from
filming drills involving both the offense and the defense (skeleton, O-line vs.
D-line, 1-on-1, 11-on-11, etc).
– The
Cougars were padless on day one, but will strap on shoulder pads Saturday, then
be in full pads by Monday.
Highlights
– Winston
had easily the best highlight reel of any Cougar on opening day. The receiver’s
most impressive grab was a one-hander that he plucked out of the air – about
shin high – while holding off a defender near the right sideline, and running
the rest of the way for a touchdown.
– The
junior outside receiver hauled in another one-handed catch – more of a basket
grab – on a 15-yard toss from Tinsley in the back left corner of the end zone.
– Senior
inside receiver Kyle Sweet broke free for a pair of touchdowns during team
period – one from each quarterback.
– Freshman
running back Max Borghi escaped for a 30-yard touchdown during the second
series of the team period. It can be tough to judge the the running backs
without pads/contact, but Borghi was untouched and would’ve scored nonehtless.
– Ross, a
freshman safety, was outstanding all practice and made an impressive play to
break up an end zone attempt from Tinsley. Ross deflected the ball into their
air and nearly came back down with it, but defensive teammates still
bull-rushed the rookie to celebrate as soon as the play was dead.
– Jalen
Thompson intercepted Tinsley during the 1-on-1 period, tugging his receiver
away before making a play on the ball in the end zone.
– Calvin
Jackson Jr. corralled a pass with one hand over his right shoulder for a
touchdown during 1-on-1. Jackson, the Independence Community College transfer
who was featured on the last season of “Last Chance U,” drew a funny reaction
from a nearby assistant, who shouted “Chill out, Netflix!” after the play was
over.
Keeping up
with the QBs
Gardner
Minshew: Day 1 couldn’t have gone much better for the East Carolina transfer.
Minshew wasn’t perfect during the 11-on-11 period, but completed 75 percent of
his passes and moved the offense with good tempo and confidence. A few of
Minshew’s passes fell short of their target, including one that went almost
directly into the turf after leaving the QB’s hands. But the Mississippi native
played with poise and authority, and certainly didn’t look the part of someone
going through his first practice with a new team.
Trey
Tinsley: Tinsley would probably love to have the first play of his series back.
The redshirt junior overshot Renard Bell on a deep route that likely would’ve
gone for an 80-yard touchdown. Tinsley’s completion percentage was slightly
lower than Minshew’s, and he threw incomplete on three straight attempts at one
point, including a shovel pass. But he responded by completing his next three
passes, including a perfect toss to Winston in the back corner of the end zone.
Anthony
Gordon: There wasn’t much to note. Gordon didn’t partake in 1-on-1 drills and
didn’t get a series during the team period, but expect him to take a few more
snaps in Lewiston.
Cammon
Cooper: Ditto.
Quotable
“It smells
terrible. It’s hot. The dorms aren’t that awesome. The practice field isn’t
great. But just having your teammates around and everything – the chemistry.
The ping-pong table, I do like ping-pong a lot. There will be a lot of
ping-pong going on. I beat (SID) Bobby (Alworth) a couple times. But the
chemistry of the guys is great, just having each other around instead of
everybody just going straight home after practice. You become friends with guys
you never thought you’d become friends with.” – Hunter Dale, on what he
remembers about the Lewiston trip.
:::::::::::::::
WSU
football
Grad
transfer QB Gardner Minshew delivers strong first impression on day one of
Washington State camp
UPDATED:
Fri., Aug. 3, 2018, 9:53 p.m.
By Theo
Lawson of Spokane’s Spokesman-Review
Inland
Empire
PULLMAN –
For someone who’ll spend August trying to separate himself from others and
distinguish himself in as many ways as possible, Gardner Minshew isn’t off to a
bad start.
The
graduate transfer quarterback from East Carolina reported to his first practice
at Washington State Friday afternoon, and it was unlikely he’d get through a
full interview without being probed about the bushy, brown mustache he wore to
day No. 1 of Cougars camp at Martin Stadium.
“Are you
keeping the ’stache?” Minshew was finally asked after getting a slew of
football questions.
In a thick
Southern drawl, the QB responded, “We’ll see, if camp goes well – I’ve been
getting a lot of compliments on it. And I can see how ya’ll have been looking
at it.”
Minshew’s
image might endear him to WSU fans, but it won’t get him far in the Cougars’
quarterback competition. Cougars coach Mike Leach is choosing Luke Falk’s
successor – and his fourth starting quarterback in seven years at WSU – based
on a simple set of criteria.
“Who moves
the offense the best,” said Leach, who stated Thursday on a conference call
that he hopes to have his starter named at least 10 days before the season
opener at Wyoming. “That’s the single most important skill. Make good decisions
and accurate. That’s where it starts. If they can’t do those three, they can’t
play.”
Fortunately,
Minshew’s performance was just as noteworthy as his appearance Friday. One of
four quarterbacks in the running to replace Falk, the Pac-12’s all-time leading
passer, Minshew was awarded the first series of WSU’s team period near the end
of practice and completed better than 70 percent of his throws while leading
the offense into the end zone.
He capped
the drive with a touchdown pass to Kyle Sweet before letting out a loud howl
and pumping his fist aggressively.
“When you
score, you’re supposed to be excited,” Minshew said. “It’s fun. Football’s fun.
That’s why I try to bring some juice and leadership to the practice.”
Minshew is
the most experienced quarterback on the Cougars’ roster, in that he’s the only
one who’s taken a snap at the FBS level. But he comes into the fall having
missed spring camp – a period of time that was essential for the development of
his challengers: redshirt juniors Trey Tinsley and Anthony Gordon, and true freshman
Cammon Cooper.
Minshew
doesn’t sense that he’s at a disadvantage, though.
“They
really helped me a lot coming into the summer,” Minshew said. “I got a lot of
work with the guys and it’s a credit to the quarterbacks that were already
here, really getting me up to speed. The receivers helped, and then we have a
great coaching staff that really has me pretty ready, I feel like.”
It may not
necessarily be indicative of who has a leg up in the QB race, but Minshew and
Tinsley were the only signal-callers who got looks during the 11-on-11 period.
Those two also led the 1-on-1/wide receiver vs. defensive back drills, while
Gordon and Cooper spent time working with the running backs on the other end of
the field.
Leach, who
hopes to narrow the race down to two contenders “as quickly as we can,” said he
plans to rep Gordon and Cooper in the coming days.
“We’ll
check some guys out, we’ll look at some stuff,” Leach said. “It’s not going to
be an extended deal, but we’ll take a look and see where everyone’s at.”
Minshew
drew a positive review from his head coach after one day of practice.
“I do
think he plays with a lot of energy,” Leach said, “and I do think it rubbed off
on the O-line, things like that.”
WSU nickel
Hunter Dale, who lives with Minshew and offensive lineman Andre Dillard, echoed
Leach’s thoughts.
“I think
he’s doing great, especially from the summer when we did 7-on-7,” Dale said.
“He wasn’t taking a back seat to anybody. He was taking authority. He’s a great
leader, too.”
The
Cougars move their preseason camp to Lewiston’s Sacajawea Junior High for the
next six days before returning to Pullman on Friday.
