FOOTBALL:
Robert
Lewis was part of Leach's inaugural WSU class in 2012. Helped by a recent tweak
of NCAA policy, he's still reeling in passes for Cougars
By DALE GRUMMERT of the Lewiston Tribune
Aug 7, 2018
By the
time he's through, Robert Lewis will have gone though two Senior Day ceremonies
and two Pro Days. He'll have been included in two letter-of-intent
announcements from the same school. He'll have grayshirted, redshirted and
spent three full seasons watching and waiting.
What a
singular college football career.
The
ever-elusive, ever-reliable Washington State slotback is again taking part in
preseason workouts at Sacajawea Junior High in Lewiston this week, marking the
seventh consecutive season he has been an official or unofficial member of the
Cougar program.
Nobody on
the WSU roster knows this Sac routine better. Quite possibly, no other Cougar
knows Pullman better.
"You've
been around so long, you kind of know the secret spots, the hangouts,"
said Lewis, a cat-quick and deceptively tough senior from Los Angeles who has
made 117 receptions and scored six touchdowns for the Cougars. "It's
definitely been a journey. So yeah, I've been around."
How is a
seven-year career in college football even possible? The NCAA, of course,
requires athletes to squeeze four years of eligibility into a five-year window.
For
various reasons, though, Lewis has exploited every opportunity to extend his
stay in Pullman. The most recent example became possible just last spring, when
the NCAA loosened its conditions for granting a sixth year of eligibility. Just
in time for Robert Lewis.
Under the
old policy, an athlete generally needed to prove that he'd suffered two season-ending
injuries or issues, by a certain juncture of the season. That's the route that
WSU linebacker Peyton Pelluer took to secure a sixth year in January. With this
new policy, one season-ending incident is sufficient, as long as it occurs
before the season gets underway and as long as the player had redshirted his
first year, for whatever reason.
Lewis did
redshirt in his first year of eligibility, staying more or less healthy during
that season and beyond. But a year ago, running a pass route during a scrimmage
two weeks before the season opener, he adjusted to a slightly errant pass,
snagged a foot on the Martin Stadium turf and twisted his right knee.
Torn ACL.
That's the classic season-ending injury,and for the next several months Lewis
and everyone else believed his college career was done. He hobbled through
Senior Day ceremony in November and, still somewhat still ailing, tried
fruitlessly to impress scouts on Pro Day.
Then the
NCAA tweaked its policy, and Lewis became one of the first to invoke it to
apply for a sixth year.
"I
didn't find out until late April," he said. "I just had to pass two
classes. It was a shocker to me. I didn't think the (application) would go
through. But I'm happy it did."
Thus
extends a career that began when Lewis joined Mike Leach's first WSU recruiting
class, in 2012, along with several players who have long since finished and
gone - Gabe Marks, Jeremiah Allison, Robert Barber.
Unlike
several of them, the slender Lewis wasn't truly ready for college football.
Generously described at 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds, he prudently grayshirted,
meaning he delayed enrollment nearly a year in order to bulk up. That's why he
was mentioned in WSU's announcement of signees for for two straight years.
These
days, life is simpler for Lewis. But a funny thing happened while he was
sidelined last year, staying close to the program and working with young
slotbacks like Renard Bell and Jamire Calvin.
The
youngsters started taking on Robert Lewis characteristics. Bell and Calvin, for
example, combined for 73 catches and six touchdowns last year. At preseason
camp the past few days, Lewis has had to scrap for every opportunity to make a
catch.
It's
almost like he's a freshman again.
COOPER
JOINS THE PARTY - Leach again foregrounded two of his several quarterbacks in
Monday's practice, and this time one of them was heralded newcomer Camm Cooper.
But the
true freshman still isn't playing as efficiently as the other top candidates to
replace the graduated Luke Falk.
"I
thought he had a really good offseason, as far as lifting and getting in shape,
stuff like that," Leach said. "Over time, he'll operate quicker than
he does now."
Cooper
said his tempo has improved since spring workouts but acknowledged the
difficulty of adjusting from high school to Pac-12 ball.
"Just
the speed of the defense, everybody breaking on balls a lot faster," he
said. "Everybody's bigger, stronger - just getting used to that is
huge."
He
alternated with junior Trey Tinsley, who has now been one of the favored two
QB's in three of the four workouts. Senior transfer Gardner Minshew and junior
Anthony Gordon have been highlighted for two sessions each.
In any
case, the defense Monday enjoyed its brightest moments so far.
"The
biggest thing, they ran to the ball really well," Leach said. "And it
didn't seem to matter who they put in - they all ran to the ball well. I
thought they had a really good day
::::::::::::::::;
Former
Coug setter added to UI staff
Aug
7, 2018 Lewiston Trib
MOSCOW -
The University of Idaho volleyball team completed its staff Monday with the
addition of assistant coach Renee Bordelon, a Coeur d'Alene native who played t
Washington State in 2008-09.
She spent
2012 to 2014 as a volunteer assistant at Gonzaga.
The
Vandals report for fall camp today and hold their first practice Wednesday.
……………………
Fast-football
craze shows signs of fading
No-huddle
offenses made fashionable by Kelly, Rodriguez becoming less prevalent
By Ralph D. Russo, Associated Press Aug 7,
2018
The result
of the play is a first down and the offense rushes to the line of scrimmage and
sets up, linemen in their three-point stances, receivers out wide. The
quarterback directs traffic, barks out something or other, maybe claps his
hands, and then ... he stops and looks to the sideline for a play to be
signaled.
Hurry-up
offense? More like hurry-up-and-wait.
The
fast-paced, no-huddle offenses made fashionable by Chip Kelly, Rich Rodriguez
and most of the Big 12, fueling a scoring frenzy in college football for more
than a decade, are becoming less prevalent.
Last
season scoring was down in college football, a drop of about a point and a half
per game per team to 28.8, and the lowest mark since 2011 (28.3). But a deeper
look into the numbers shows that defensive coordinators don't have much to
celebrate. Offenses are still performing at a high level. They were, generally,
just operating more slowly in 2017. And there is reason to believe this is the
new normal as the allure of playing fast dissipates.
"I
think that what's happened is you have a group of us that are playing
ultra-fast and some people that tried to get into it that really don't
understand it, they're playing slower," Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy
said this spring.
FBS teams
averaged 69.9 plays per game in 2017, down from 71.6 the season before and the
fewest since 2011. Eighty-three of 129 FBS teams last season ran fewer plays
per game than in 2016. Seven teams averaged at least 80 plays per game last
year, half as many as in 2016 and the fewest since 2011. There were 31 teams
that ran fewer plays per game last season than in 2016, but saw their average
time of possession increase.
Championship
Analytics Inc., a company that provides dozens of FBS schools a weekly advanced
metrics breakdown of their upcoming game, uses drives per game to measure pace.
Responding to a request from The Associated Press, CAI's research showed drives
per game have been decreasing in FBS for the last three seasons. In 2014, FBS
games averaged 25.12 drives per game. Last season that dropped to 24.39. Points
per drive, however, have remained relatively steady. In 2014, teams averaged
2.21 points per drive. Last season, it was 2.23.
Multi-tempo
has replaced up-tempo for a lot of college offenses. Mississippi State's Joe
Moorhead, who was offensive coordinator at Penn State the last two seasons,
said his offense mostly operates at three speeds.
"We
want to run the best play possible against the look presented rather than a bad
play quickly," said Moorhead, repeating one of his go-to lines when
describing his offensive philosophy. "But at the same time have the
ability that if we're getting the right looks and calling the right plays to
play at that break-neck speed."
This is
the hurry-up-and-wait approach. By rushing to the line of scrimmage and making
no substitutions, offenses get the benefit of forcing defenses to stick with
the personel they have on the field.
"They're
getting lined up really fast so they have plenty of time left on the 40-second
clock to see what you're doing defensively," said Pittsburgh coach Pat
Narduzzi, a former defensive coordinator. "They all want perfect
plays."
Mississippi
State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop said he believes offenses are looking for
more than just formations.
"I
think the game has changed from going as fast as you can to lining up as fast
as you can and trying to steal the defense's signals," Shoop said. "I
think that's what you see a lot of teams doing nowadays. Trying to get the
defensive coordinator, the defensive signal caller's signals, and get into the
right play in that respect."
Offensive
coaches will tell you that signal stealing can go both ways, and other
defensive adjustments have pushed them to throttle back.
When
Oregon's offense was humming under Kelly, defenses struggled to simply get
lined up. The Ducks would run the same basic running play three straight times
against defensive linemen who barely had time to get into a stance.
The speed
alone killed.
"I
think defensive coaches have adjusted how they practice," Troy coach Neal
Brown said. "Some people use two scout teams and run multiple plays in a
row. Even non-tempo teams play with tempo during the spring and fall camp to
help the defense practice."
Players
who can fill multiple positions are now the norm for defenses, allowing
coordinators to change formations without changing personnel - because defense
can only substitute if the offense does. Every coach is looking for versatile
players like Minkah Fitzpatrick and Jabrill Peppers, first-round NFL draft
picks the last two years, who can comfortably move from cornerback to safety to
linebacker to edge pass rusher.
Defensive
coaches as getting their plays in faster, using one- or two-word calls, and
building automatic checks into those calls for when the offense changes
formations at the line.
Defenses
are also better at gamesmanship. Sure, teams will still fake injuries to get a
rest for winded defenders, but there are less shady ways to tap the brakes,
too.
If the
offense makes a substitution, even if it is one receiver for another and the
personnel grouping remains the same, defenses often counter with an automatic
sub of a lineman, preferably one far away from his sideline.
"The
defense is not responsible for sprinting onto the field," Shoop said.
"I know the last couple years, where we just substituted a random
defensive tackle or defensive end into the game just to slow the pace of play
down. And in addition we've actually worked on and coached that player on the
pace that we want him to run on the field."
Another
factor could be playing a part in the slowdown. NCAA coordinator of officials
Steve Shaw said there was a point of emphasis nationally last season to have
officials be more consistent in spotting the ball and, after a clock stoppage
on an out-of-bounds play, winding the clock. The idea was to be more conscious
of game management, making sure officials and yard-markers on the sideline were
set, before letting the offense snap. Shaw said the goal was more consistency
across the country in how that mechanic was performed.
"Did
that shave a second off here or there or not?" Shaw said. "Hard to
tell."
For what
it's worth, Shaw said he was not besieged by complaints from coaches about
officials slowing their offenses, so that's a good sign.
Where does
this go from here?
Keep an
eye on Kelly's new team, UCLA, for clues. Kelly has never been one to tip his
hand, but if one of the up-tempo pioneers decides to ease off the gas, that'd
be a strong sign that the fast-football craze is officially over.
……………………
WSU
football
Observations
and notes from day five of Washington State preseason football camp
Tue., Aug.
7, 2018, 7:46 p.m.
Spokesman-Review
By Theo
Lawson
A layer of
smoke from nearby wildfires filtered into the Lewiston on Tuesday as the
Cougars took the Sacjawea Junior High field for day No. 5 of preseason camp.
The daily observations and notes are below.
Observations
and notes
– This was
the first time in full pads for the Cougars this fall – and it felt like it.
The speed of play went up a few notches, as did the intensity. A few smaller
scuffles broke out through the course of the practice and there was some
post-play pushing and shoving betwen Keith Harrington and a few members of the
defense when they stopped the running back on the final play of the team
period.
– In the
avoid/make-or-miss drill usually conducted after the team period, receiver
Dezmon Patmon plowed over freshman defensive back Tyrese Ross and offered a few
words while Ross was on the ground.
– All of
that led up to the final altercation. Senior corner Darrien Molton took a swing
at freshman receiver Kassidy Woods after a duel in make-or-miss. Woods hit back
and teammates rushed in from either side to join the scrum. After about a
minute, the sides broke and the practice ended.
– Mike
Leach is generally OK with the skirmishes throughout practice – they happen
everywhere in the country during this stage of August – as long as they don’t
waste time. In a team huddle afterward, he called Tuesday’s session “a very
competitive practice.”
– For the
first time this camp, Leach repped three quarterbacks, instead of two. He said
he’d decided to go that route the night before and would probably do the same
on Wednesday. Anthony Gordon, Trey Tinsley and Gardner Minshew were the QBs of
choice Tuesday, taking turns in the skeleton drill and team period.
– It was
pointed out to me that Tinsley had been repped more than the other three
(Cammon Cooper being the third) to this point. Indeed, although it’s probably
not worth reading into. But, since we’re there already, Tinsley’s been
highlighted four of the days, Gordon and Minshew in three and Cooper in just
one. (More on the QBs in the section below)
– It seems
like the Cougars are fully committed to a traditional style of punting this
year, rather than flipping back and forth between the traditional punter and
the rugby punter. Oscar Draguicevich and Oliver Graybar appear to be the two
choices for not, but it’s unclear if one has the advantage over the other.
– The
Cougars haven’t gone away from their starting five offensive linemen, but a
good number of linemen are getting work during the team period. When starting
center Fred Mauigoa isn’t in, it’s typically been redshirt freshman Brian
Greene. Christian Haangana, who Leach said had the most productive offseason in
the weight room of any O-linemen, played a bunch of snaps at right guard today.
–
Defensive linemen Nnamdi Oguayo and Derek Moore didn’t attend Tuesday’s
practice. Oguayo missed Monday’s practice, too, and Moore left that same
workout early. Of the D-linemen, Leach said “They’re great.”
– Wide
receiver Kyle Sweet was a non-participant Tuesday. Running back Max Borghi and
Nickel Kedron Williams both wore yellow no-contact jerseys again. Defensive
lineman LaMonte McDougle did not participate in full.
– The
Cougars now have just one more day of full-pads work in Lewiston. They’re
scheduled to hold a “varsity short” practice on Thursday ahead of Friday’s
scrimmage, which I’ve been led to believe will start sometime after 7:30 p.m.
at Martin Stadium.
Keeping up
with the QBs
Anthony
Gordon: I wasn’t able to track Gordon’s team period series in its entirety, but
the redshirt junior was 7-for-8 while I was watching. Although, the first play
of his series I saw was a Will Rodgers sack and the first pass attempt was an
interception. Freshman nickel Patrick Nunn cut in front of Gordon’s intended
target, Renard Bell, and came up an underthrown pass before taking it the other
way. Gordon bounced back well, though, and he floated his next pass over the
top of the defense and into the outstretched arms of Tay Martin for a 35-yard
touchdown. He hit his next four passes and found Jamire Calvin for an 8-yard
touchdown before firing to Brandon Arconado for a 5-yard TD on the very next
play.
Trey
Tinsley: The first pass of Tinsley’s series was a 65-plus yard touchdown to
Easop Winston that required the QB to fit his pass between safety Deion
Singleton and cornerback Armani Marsh. Two plays later, Tinsley squeezed a
throw between Hicks and Dillon Sherman for a 15 or so yard gain to Jamire
Calvin. Then the redshirt junior unleashed an absolute missile down the left
sideline to Tay Martin, who got a step on William Overstreet and pulled the
ball in for a 50-yard touchdown. Tinsley proceeded to complete his next two
passes before finally cooling down – and really cooling down. He threw
incomplete on his next five, arguably six passes – Martin may have barely
slipped his toe into the back of the end zone on the sixth – and threw over the
WR’s head on three of those. After the 6-of-6 start, Tinsley finished 6-of-12,
or 7-of-12, if we’re counting the pass to Martin as a completion.
Gardner
Minshew: Minshew was up and down, hot and cold – however you want to put it –
just like the other two. After being “sacked” by Misi Aiolupotea-Pea on his
first play, he responded with five straight completions. Minshew also threw his
first interception of fall camp, though the ball bounced off Bell’s palms
before falling to Hicks. On the the third to last play of his series, Minshew
did well to gather a botched snap from his center and dash ahead into the end
zone. Who knows if it would’ve ended that way in a real game, but the QB showed
decisiveness if nothing else. Minshew finished the series completing 8-of-11
passes.
Cammon
Cooper: After getting some work Monday, Cooper was the only QB who didn’t rep
in the skeleton/team periods Tuesday.
Quotable
“I’m
actually playing all across the board right now. I’ve lined up at nose
(tackle), I’ve lined up at D-tackle, I’ve lined up at D-end, I stood up at Rush
(linebacker) a couple times. I’m just trying to give my team whatever we need
to win and I’m going to play whatever they need to play. I’m a football player
at the end of the day, if they tell me to play safety, I’m going to go out there
and play safety.” – Will Rodgers on his defensive versatility.
……………..
How will
Washington State use the NCAA’s new redshirt rule? Four-star QB Cammon Cooper
could be part of the plan
UPDATED:
Tue., Aug. 7, 2018, 5:48 p.m.
Spokesman-Review)
By Theo
Lawson
LEWISTON –
There may just be one subdivision of college football players who weren’t so
thrilled to learn about the new NCAA rule that affords redshirts the
opportunity to play in up to four games without burning a year of eligibility.
The ones
who missed out on it by a year.
Fortunately,
Cammon Cooper is part of the other group.
The NCAA
found itself in unfamiliar territory this June when coaches, players and fans
unanimously applauded the new legislation, which seems to be advantageous for
just about everyone involved. Again, minus those players who could’ve benefited
from it a year ago.
As
Washington State fans began to line up the scenarios, it’s no surprise their
thoughts immediately turned to the highly acclaimed quarterback from Lehi,
Utah, who Mike Leach had signed almost six months earlier.
Rest
assured, they weren’t the only ones juiced about the possibilities.
“That was
huge,” said Cooper, who enrolled in January and participated in spring drills
with the Cougars. “Knowing that if that does happen, knowing I could just
always be ready to go in any four games throughout the season. Knowing I could
go in and help the team out when I need to.”
Of course,
Cooper didn’t come to Pullman with the expectation of playing in just a third
of WSU’s games this season. The Cougars’ quarterback competition was wide open,
Cooper was the highest-ranked passer Leach had signed in five years, and if his
intentions weren’t already clear, the 6-foot-4 southpaw fast-tracked his senior
year of high school just so he could move to Pullman in January and spend five
more months living and breathing the Air Raid offense.
“I could
not have imagined being here right now if I showed up, like, two months ago,”
Cooper said Monday, on the heels of the Cougars’ fourth fall practice. “It was
big, being there for spring ball and getting to know the guys and the offense
and everything.”
But
despite his head start and lofty ceiling – “maybe the biggest eventual talent
of the (QB) group,” Leach said of his freshman last Thursday – Cooper still
appears to be on the outside looking in when it comes to the Cougars’ QB race.
The reality is that he’s up against a pair of redshirt juniors, Trey Tinsley
and Anthony Gordon, who’ve spent two years with Leach’s playbook and a graduate
transfer, Gardner Minshew, who’s already completed 293 passes at the FBS level.
Leach is
highlighting two quarterbacks per practice this fall. It’s the most efficient
way to squeeze the most reps out of his passers, while still evaluating all
four at the same time. Tinsley’s been featured in three practices, while Gordon
and Minshew have each been featured twice. Cooper didn’t get his first turn
until Monday.
But even
if the freshman can’t rise to the top of the depth chart before Sept. 1,
there’s still a silver lining – one that didn’t exist for players in his
position last year. In the inaugural year of the NCAA’s new redshirt rule,
Cooper could be one of the guinea pigs.
“Well,
we’ll see. We’ll see what happens,” Leach said. “I think it’s a good rule. I’ve
always thought the better way to do it was just five years of eligibility, but
nevertheless, I think this is a good approach. It’s headed in the right
direction.”
Injury, of
course, would be one reason to pull Cooper off the bench during his redshirt
year.
Another
reason? Nine of WSU’s 13 games in 2017 were decided by at least 21 points, and
five were decided by 28 or more. Even if he isn’t deciding the outcome, Cooper
could benefit from getting acclimated with Martin Stadium on game day, or any
number of Pac-12 venues that could host him as the Cougars’ starter in the
years to come.
Oh, and if
Cooper does ever find himself in a position to attack the school passing
records set by the Cougars’ previous Utah-born quarterback, a four-game head
start wouldn’t do any harm. Granted, that’s still a distant thought for a
rookie still plugging through his first camp as an Air Raid QB.
Cooper’s
first day in the skeleton/11-on-11 rotation came with mixed results. The
freshman was critical of himself – “I feel like it could’ve gone better, that’s
for sure,” Cooper said – but also gleaned a few positives from the day.
“I felt
like I was getting the plays in,” he said. “My tempo was a lot faster.”
Cooper
said he was pleasantly surprised by the warmth the other quarterbacks showed
him since he arrived in January. He didn’t expect hostility, per se, but he
also didn’t anticipate that his fellow passers would be eager to bring the
highlytouted freshman up to speed, in fear it would help him to close the gap.
“I had a
way different expectation of how it’d be when I showed up, but they’ve been
great with helping me get everything down,” Cooper said. “… I felt like they’d
kind of shoo me away, but it was total opposite, so that’s good.”
They just
might have to share the field with him – if only for four games.
…………………
WSU
football
Five
position battles to watch during Washington State preseason camp
UPDATED:
Mon., Aug. 6, 2018, 1:52 p.m.
in
Pullman, Wash. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)
By Theo
Lawson
Spokesman
Review
LEWISTON –
Three days of preseason training camp will hardly ever give you enough insight
to fill out a complete depth chart, but it is ample time to discover what
positions on a given team are the most hotly contested.
As is the
case every year, Washington State coaches will have some tough decisions to
make over the next 25 days before printing their own depth chat prior to the
season opener at Wyoming. Beginning with the most obvious one, we take a look
at five position battles that could cause a few restless nights for Mike Leach
and his staff in the coming weeks.
Quarterback
Who’s
competing: Gardner Minshew, Trey Tinsley, Anthony Gordon
The
breakdown: Don’t fret, Cougar fans, Leach won’t flip a coin to determine who
his fourth starting quarterback at WSU will be. He might just hold a
rock-paper-scissors tournament though. Not only is it unclear which QB will
lead the first offensive series a month from now in Laramie, it still remains
to be seen which ones will make the cut when Leach shaves the competition down
to two. All three have been sharp to this point, moving the offense efficiently
and without much error – none of them have thrown an interception during the
11-on-11 period. Leach has channeled the QB reps to two players each of the
three days – Minshew and Tinsley Friday, Tinsley and Gordon Saturday, Gordon
and Minshew Sunday – but it could still be another week before he finally whittles
this thing down to two.
Our guess:
Sorry, come back next week.
Will
linebacker
Who’s
competing: Jahad Woods, Dillon Sherman
The
breakdown: From the outside looking in, it may come as a surprise that Sherman
is in the mix here. Woods was a 10-game starter as a redshirt freshman in 2017,
an SB Nation All-Pac-12 Freshman Team choice and the player who sealed WSU’s
biggest win of the year when he strip-sacked Sam Darnold in the closing moments
against USC. But Sherman, who also made 13 appearances as a redshirt freshman –
albeit none of them in a starting role – has spent equal time with the top
defensive unit in fall camp. At 6-2, 225 pounds, Sherman’s mesasurables give
him at least one advantage over Woods, who stands a couple inches shorter. But Woods
has speed on his side, and slightly more experience.
Our guess:
Woods is the player starting next to “Mike” linebacker Peyton Pelluer come week
one and Sherman sees the field plenty as his top backup.
“Z”
receiver
Who’s
competing: Dezmon Patmon, Easop Winston, Calvin Jackson Jr.
The
breakdown: Leach plays eight receivers, so technically these three are actually
vying for two spots, not just one. Perhaps there’s room for all three, however,
with their varying skill sets. Patmon, at 6-4, is the easiest to identify in a
crowd and therefore the best suited to win a jump ball in traffic. It wouldn’t
be surprising to see the San Diego native go from zero touchdowns through his
first two seasons with the Cougars, to seven or eight in his third. Patmon’s wingspan
allows him to get his paw on many of the balls Winston won’t, but Winston’s
strength is his innate ability to catch anything and everything within arm’s
reach. At 5-10, 170 lbs., Jackson has the appearance of an inside receiver but
he’s looked plenty comfortable on the outside through four days. And he’s the
quickest of these three, which could make him WSU’s top deep threat on the
right side of the field.
Our guess:
Patmon and Winston clamp down the rotation spots, but Jackson gets his shot at
some point.
Nose
tackle
Who’s
competing: Taylor Comfort, Pono Lolohea
The
breakdown: Daniel Ekuale’s impact went well beyond his numbers last season and
it wouldn’t be hard to argue the current Cleveland Brown left the biggest void
on defense next to Hercules Mata’afa. In April, defensive line coach Jeff
Phelps stated his confidence in Comfort starting between defensive end Nnamdi
Oguayo and defensive tackle Nick Begg. The former walk-on enters his fifth year
with the Cougars, but will have a chance to truly contribute on defense for the
first time. His knowledge and experience give him an edge over Lolohea, but the
junior from Maui is three inches taller, 15 pounds heavier and was a coveted JC
recruit who held offers from four other Pac-12 programs. Lolohea still needs to
adjust to the speed of play and refine his technique, but the raw ability is
already there.
Our guess:
Comfort holds onto the job for now, but Lolohea rotates in plenty when the
season starts.
Kicker
Who’s
competing: Jack Crane, Ryan Henderson, Blake Mazza
The
breakdown: Erik Powell was the most valuable Cougar at times last year and
without his suddenly accurate right foot, WSU wouldn’t have taken down the
Trojans or beat Oregon by such a big margin. Crane was scary accurate during
spring ball, making every one of his field goals in the three scrimmages
leading up to the spring game when he finally missed – albeit just once.
Henderson boasts a strong leg and Mazza, who transferred to Arkansas, was once
rated a five-star recruit according to kicking guru Chris Sailer.
Our guess:
Crane emerges as the Cougars’ new placekicker and Powell’s heir apparent, but
Henderson handles the kickoff duties.
#
