Glass salmon art work in WSU Terrell Library, Pullman

An installation of glass salmon art work by Lummi Nation glass artist Dan Friday will be commemorated Jan. 30, 2020, in the Washington State University Terrell Library atrium, Pullman. 

More info here... 

https://news.wsu.edu/2020/01/28/glass-salmon-installation-reception-set-jan-30-terrell-library

This editorial cartoon appears on opinion page of the Jan 16, 2020, edition of the Whitman County (Colfax) Gazette.

This editorial cartoon appears on opinion page of the Jan 16, 2020, edition of the Whitman County (Colfax) Gazette.

WSU Cheez-It Bowl 2019 & Phoenix Dec 2019 slideshow

Presented by News for CougGroup ….

WSU HAS A NEW HEAD FOOTBALL COACH: Nick Rolovich (KXLY Spokane story/photo 1/14/2020)

WSU HAS A NEW HEAD FOOTBALL COACH

Story/photo from KXLY Spokane, 1/14/2020

Meet Nick Rolovich, the new head coach in charge of Cougar football. He recently completed his fourth season as head coach at University of Hawai'i, where he led the Rainbow Warriors to three bowl games. Not only that, Rolovich helped make program history for the seventh time when the Warriors had their first back-to-back winning season in years.

Learn more:

https://www.kxly.com/washington-state-officially-announces-rolovich-as-new-head-football-coach

Former WSC football coach 'Lone Star' Dietz in 1920

Wed., Jan. 8, 2020 Spokane, Wash., Spokesman-Review


PHOTO (Spokane Daily Chronicle newspaper clipping) CUTLINE: The sentencing was the culmination of a long-running courtroom saga, spiced by sensational testimony. (Spokane Daily Chronicle archives)


By Jim Kershner,  jimkershner@comcast.net


William Henry “Lone Star” Dietz, a former Washington State College football coach, pled guilty to draft evasion and was sentenced to one month in Spokane County Jail, the Spokane Daily Chronicle reported.


This was the culmination of a long-running courtroom saga, spiced by sensational testimony. The woman he considered his mother claimed she was not his mother and Dietz was the illegitimate child of her husband. The woman he considered a sister denied any kinship with him. Serious questions were raised about whether the famous Native American football coach was actually Native American.


The first trial resorted in a hung jury. Dietz had now avoided a new trial by pleading guilty to the charge of falsifying his draft questionnaire for the purpose of evading service.

On his questionnaire, he claimed he was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation, but the government produced evidence indicating he was born in Wisconsin. He also claimed he was already engaged in an “essential war enterprise” by producing motion pictures, but no such pictures had been made.


Dietz played football alongside Jim Thorpe at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and later went on to become the coach of Washington State team in Pullman for three years. He became a local celebrity after leading the team to victory in the 1916 Rose Bowl. Fans marched through Pullman wearing Indian costumes in his honor.


He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame posthumously, in 2012.

Alcohol sales at Beasley Coliseum enliven gameday experience for Washington State basketball fans

By Theo Lawson, Spokane S-R 1/3/2020

PULLMAN – In more ways than one, Washington State fans are promised a more refreshing experience at home basketball games this season.

WS Coach Kyle Smith and his defensive philosophies have already made the Cougars more competitive on the court and earlier this week, WSU’s athletic administration introduced another amenity that should enliven the gameday experience for alumni, students and casual fans who gather at Beasley Coliseum over the next few months.

On Thursday, as WSU opened Pac-12 Conference play against USC, the school debuted the “Cougar Den” – a beer/wine garden situated behind sections 18-20 on the concourse of Beasley Coliseum. 

The fenced off area will serve fans up to one hour before basketball games and close 10 minutes into the second half of men’s games and at the end of the third quarter of women’s games.

 “This is really about amenities,” athletic director Pat Chun said Thursday. “We are in competition with HDTV and convenience at home, so we need to think of ways we can get all of our consumers, all of our patrons, all of our fans to come to Washington State events and having enhanced amenities is a piece of it.”

The Cougar Den’s first customer was Jason Janosky, a Kennewick resident and 2001 WSU graduate who’s held football season tickets for a decade but decided to spend more time at Beasley Coliseum this winter when the Cougars hired Smith and announced they’d be retiring Klay Thompson’s jersey.

“Definitely I think I’ll get some more buddies that’ll come up specifically for this (Cougar Den),” Janosky said. “I think this Saturday for the UCLA game.”

Janosky was already sipping on a Citrus Mistress IPA, produced by Eugene’s Hop Valley Brewing Co., as a long line formed behind the concession booth just minutes after the Cougar Den opened. Patrons can purchase Citrus Mistress, Coors Light, Coors Banquet or Smith & Forge Cider for the not-outrageous price of $7, while Blue Moon is even less at $6. Two wine varieties, Townsend Pinot Gris and Townsend Red Blend, are available for $7.

“Frequently, when we come to the (Hollingbery) Fieldhouse, we have two or three (beverages) before we go to football,” said Leanne Ellis, who commuted from Ellensburg on Thursday with her husband Ray, also a 1980 WSU grad. “This is great, there’s a little growing pains. I don’t think they anticipated the attendance. And it needs to be a little bit bigger and include more tables, but they’ll get there.”

Cougar Den attendees also have access to three food items not available anywhere else at Beasley Coliseum. Frito pie, poutine and bangers & mash, provided by Fork in the Road – the catering arm of Pullman’s South Fork Public House – can be purchased for $8 each.

“When we went to the Arizona State-WSU game down there in Tempe,” Ray Ellis said, “they serve beer at the stadium there.”

Leanne added: “It was a little magical.”

At least six other Pac-12 basketball venues serve beer and wine in some fashion – the University of Washington most recently adding alcohol sales at Alaska Airlines Arena last October. 

Chun said a committee of WSU marketing/fundraising specialists surveyed the Pacific Northwest, attending a basketball game at Gonzaga, a Portland Trail Blazers game at the Moda Center and a Portland Timbers MLS game to “benchmark” against other colleges and professional teams in the region. 

“We made a decision that we need to figure out how to make basketball a revenue source,” Chun said. “There’s two pieces, one is the performance piece of the team, which obviously that has been addressed. The other thing is, we recognize we can’t put out a consistent basketball schedule relative to TV times anymore, so we need to be able to have some amenities here that let people know, hey if I come to a Washington State basketball game, we’re going to work hard on the basketball court but all the things I could have at home may be more fun because we’re going to also work to get more students out.”

Janosky pointed out that on-site alcohol sales will prompt fans to spend money at Beasley Coliseum, rather than at a bar or restaurant in Pullman prior to arriving at the arena. 

His wife being a USC fan, Janosky had planned to attend Thursday’s game regardless, “but once I knew there was beer, I was like, ‘Heck yes.’”

He’s also encouraged with what Smith’s Cougars are doing on the court, noting “Just our style of play, it’s going to take them awhile to jell, but I like where they’re going.”

For now, fans must consume beverages within the confines of the Cougar Den – similar to the Fieldhouse and Cougville areas at WSU football games – although Chun indicated the school may eventually explore options that would allow customers to take containers to their seat.

“We’re going to try to stay nimble enough where as our consumer needs change, as our consumers wants are identified,” he said, “that we have all the data, that we have the team, that we have all the amenities we need that hopefully get a few more people to come out.”

News for CougGroup 1/1/2020

Washington State Opens 2020 with a Road Trip to No. 4-5 Stanford

From WSU Sports Info 1/1/2020

STANFORD, Calif. – The Washington State University women's basketball team opens 2020 this Friday, Jan. 3, seeking its first Pac-12 Conference win of the season with a trip to No. 4/5 Stanford. Tip-off from Maples Pavilion is set for 7 p.m. PT on the Pac-12 Network Bay Area.

WASHINGTON STATE women basketball  (7-6, 0-1)

at No. 4/5 Stanford (11-1, 0-0) | Friday, Jan. 3 | 7 p.m. | Maples Pavilion

  Live Stats | WSUCougars.com

  Watch | Pac-12 Network Bay Area

  Listen | WSU IMG Radio Network (Steve Grubbs)

  Game Notes | WSUCougars.com (PDF)

THE STARTING FIVE

-> Friday's matchup at Stanford kicks off a three-game road trip for Washington State. After the game against the Cardinal, WSU heads to Berkley, California for a matchup against the Golden Bears on Jan. 5, then ends the trip with a Jan. 11 meeting against Washington in Seattle.

-> The Cougars enter Friday's matchup not only looking for their first Pac-12 win of the season, but also their first-ever victory against Stanford. Washington State is 0-65 all-time against the Cardinal, in a series that dates back to 1983.

-> Washington State has been hitting shots with high efficiency in 2019-20. The Cougs rank 58th in NCAA Division I in field goal percentage (44.1%), 64th in 3-point percentage (34.3%) and 74th in free throw percentage (72.8%).

-> Redshirt senior Borislava Hristova enters Friday's contest against the Cardinal needing just 29 points to break Jeanne Eggart's (1977-82) program record of 1,967 points. The forward is averaging 18.5 points per game this season. Her season high on the year came in a 27-point performance against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 4.

-> Friday's game will mark the first contest for the Cougs in a new decade. Washington State closed out 2010-2019 with a 125-194 overall record and made three WNIT postseason tournaments. WSU made the Final Four of the 2017 WNIT, where they picked up three road wins before falling at Georgia Tech in the semifinals.

LAST TIME OUT

The Cougars dropped a 65-56 decision against rival Washington last Sunday, Dec. 29, to open Pac-12 Conference play. Washington State was outscored 14-2 at the free throw line, as the Cougs only maded six attempts from the charity stripe.

Senior Chanelle Molina led the way for Washington State with 15 points, while redshirt junior Jovana Subasic contributed 12 points off the bench. Sophomore Ula Motuga (11 points) and redshirt senior Borislava Hristova (10 points) rounded out a quartet of double-digit scorers for the Cougs.

#BOBIBUCKETS LEADING THE WAY

Redshirt senior Borislava Hristova is putting on a cap to a remarkable career as a Cougar this season. The forward currently ranks first in the Pac-12 in total points (240), field goals made (100) and field goals attempted (219). She ranks inside the top-10 nationally in field goals made (4th) and field goals attempted (6th).

#BobiBuckets is currently riding a seven-game double-digit scoring streaks, which has helped her to an 18.5 points per game average this season. Her scoring average is the third-highest in the Pac-12, and puts her at 38th nationally.

TAKING ON THE BEST

Friday's contest against No. 4/5 Stanford will mark the fifth time this season the Cougars will face a top-25 opponent. Washington State is currently 0-4 against teams in the top 25, which includes losses to No. 2 Baylor (89-66), No. 5 South Carolina (68-53), No. 17/22 Indiana (78-44) and No. 17/18 Gonzaga (76-53).

WSU still has games against No. 2 Oregon (March 1), No. 3 Oregon State (Feb. 28), No. 10 UCLA (Jan. 26 & Feb. 21) and No. 18 Arizona (Jan. 17 & Feb. 16) this season.

HIGH MILEAGE PERFORMANCES

Seniors Chanelle Molina and Borislava Hristova rank first and second in the Pac-12 in minutes played this season. Molina leads the conference with 453:27 minutes played, while Hristova's 443:12 is second-highest. Molina's 34.9 minutes played per game is also the high-mark in the Pac-12 this season, while Hristova's 34.1 minutes played per game ranks right behind her teammate.

FINDING HER STROKE

Sophomore Ula Motuga has improved her offensive game of late, as the Logan, Australia native has averaged 8.0 points per game over her last four contests. Motuga is coming off back-to-back season-high 11-point performances against Miami and Washington.

FIRE POWER OFF THE BENCH

Redshirt junior Jovana Subasic has got her 2019-20 season started with an offensive tear, as the Sabac, Serbia native is averaging a team-best 10.1 points per game off the bench. The forward comes into Friday's game on a six-game double-digit scoring streak, which includes a career-high 19-point performance against UC Irvine on Dec. 15.

CLOSING IN ON 100 WINS FOR COACH E

Head coach Kamie Ethridge needs just one win to collect her 100th career victory as an NCAA Division I head coach.

SCOUTING THE CARDINAL

Stanford opens up Pac-12 play against the Cougars this Friday. The Cardinal enter play at 11-1 overall and are ranked No. 4 in the USA Today WBCA Coaches Poll, while they check-in at No. 5 in the Associated Press Poll. Stanford was recently the No. 1-ranked team in NCAA Division I, before they suffered a 69-65 defeat at Texas on Dec. 22.

The Cardinal feature a high-octane offense that averages 79.2 points per game, while shooting 46% from the field. Lexie Hull paces a trio of double-digit scorers at 14.4 points per game. The Spokane, Washington native also leads Stanford on the glass with a 6.0 rebounds per game clip.

Defensively, Stanford has limited teams to 58.2 points per game, as opponents are shooting just 32.1% from the field against them. The Cardinals are forcing 14.1 points per game and 8.2 steals per contest.

FOLLOW THE COUGS

Get all the info, photos, and videos a true Coug Fan could want by following the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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WSU MEN BASKETBALL … Begins Pac-12 Play Thursday

From WSU Sports Info

WASHINGTON STATE (9-4, 0-0)

vs USC (11-2, 0-0) | Thr., Jan. 2 | 7:30 p.m.

  Live Stats | Statbroadcast.com

  Watch | Pac-12 Network (Greg Heister & Eldridge Recasner)

  Listen | WSU IMG Radio Network (Matt Chazanow & Craig Ehlo)

OPENING FIVE

> The Cougs have won six-straight tying the longest winning streak since a 14-0 start to the 2007-08 season. WSU finished December a perfect 6-0 and non-conference play 9-4.

> WSU closes out a 7-game homestand with two against the LA schools as Pac-12 play begins. First up is 11-2 USC Thursday night. The Trojans have won 6-straight in the series.

> CJ Elleby, named to the Julius Erving and Wooden Award watch lists, ranks 3rd in the Pac-12 in scoring at 20.1 ppg and has scored in double-figures in all 13 games on the year including 9 20+ pt games.

> Jeff Pollard is in the midst of a career year scoring 10.2 ppg. He has gone for double-figures in eight games including four-straight. Isaac Bonton is scoring at a 13.0 ppg clip and has back-to-back double-digit games.

> Noah Williams has come on in the Cougs winning-streak with an impressive +61 showing. The freshman went for 8 pts, 3 rbds, 2 blks, 2 stls to lead WSU past UAPB last week.

GAME INFORMATION - VS USC

With non-conference play behind them the Cougs head into the fray of the Pac-12 Conference as the push for the conference title begins. First up for WSU are the LA Schools with USC and UCLA coming to town to finish off the Cougs five-game true home stand. The Trojans and three-time player of the week, Onyeka Okongwu, kick things off Thursday at Beasley. USC is 11-2 on the year led by the freshman big mans 17.7 ppg and 9.0 rpg. Last season the Trojans took the lone matchup in Pullman 93-84 and have won the last six contest in a series they control 75-48.

LAST TIME OUT

Washington State 65 - Ark.-Pine Bluff 50 | Dec. 29, 2019 | Pullman, WA

Noah Williams' defensive performance in the second half helped lead Washington State on a 17-5 run and to a 65-60 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sunday night. The freshman had eight points, one of his two blocks and two steals after halftime. CJ Elleby had 22 points, his ninth game this season scoring at least 20, and also had seven rebounds and two assists. Isaac Bonton chipped in 16 points, five rebounds and three assists and Jeff Pollard added 11 points.

A PERFECT DECEMBER

The Cougs finished December a perfect 6-0 to close out non-conference play 9-4. The perfect month was the first since starting 2017-18 with a 6-0 record in November. The last time WSU was perfect in December was in 2007-08 with a 5-0 mark as part of a perfect 14-0 start.

The last time WSU won 7-straight was the start of the 2007-08 season. The 6-straight wins marks the 4th time since the 2007-08 season the Cougs have won 6-in-a-row.

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USC looks to extend winning streak vs Washington State in Pac-12 opener

Wed., Jan. 1, 2020 Associated Press

Beer, wine service begins at Beasley

WSU basketball fans attending Thursday’s Pac-12 men’s opener against USC will have more food and beverage options with the addition of the Cougar Den at Beasley Coliseum.

Located on the Beasley Coliseum concourse behind sections 18-20, the Cougar Den will sell beer and wine, along with premium concession items. All fans wishing to enter the Cougar Den must be 21 years of age or older and present a valid ID.

The Cougar Den will open 1 hour prior to tip and close 10 minutes into the second half for men’s games and at the end of the third quarter for women’s games.

USC (11-2, 0-0 Pac-12) at Washington State (9-4, 0-0)

Beasley Coliseum, Pullman; Thursday, 7:30 p.m., (Pac-12 Networks, 920-AM).

Bottom line: Southern California looks for its seventh straight win in the head-to-head series over Washington State. USC has won by an average of 14 points in its last six wins over the Cougars. WSU’s last win in the series (70-66) came on Feb. 25, 2015.

Plenty of experience: Sophomore CJ Elleby, and seniors Jeff Pollard and Jervae Robinson have collectively scored 48% of WSU’s points this season. For USC, the quartet of Onyeka Okongwu, Nick Rakocevic, Jonah Mathews and Isaiah Mobley has combined to account for 66% of all the Trojans’ scoring.

Effective Elleby: Elleby has connected on 29.3% of the 82 3-pointers he’s attempted and has gone 7 for 22 over his last five games. He’s also converted 80.9% of his foul shots this season.

Unbeaten when: The Cougars are 9-0 when holding opponents to 46.7% or worse from the field, and 0-4 when opponents shoot better than that. The Trojans are 9-0 when recording at least 10 offensive rebounds and 2-2 when they fall short of that total.

Long-range threat: USC’s Mathews has attempted 81 3-pointers and connected on 37%, and is 9 for 23 over the past three games.

Did you know?: WSU has turned the ball over on 15.5% of its possessions this season, the eighth-best rate among all Division I teams. The Cougars have turned the ball over only 11 times per game.

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COUGAR FOOTBALL

"Will Heckman, a quarterback transfer, is headed to WSU. Seattle native and Roosevelt High grad has spent time at Indiana State, New Mexico & most recently Santa Rosa JC.  Per JC stats, completed 31-of-92 passes for 554 yds, 4 TD, 5 int. Rushed for 444 yds, 7 TD." (Don’t know source of this info, sorry)

COUG FOOTBALL

The Monday After: On brand until the very end

The 2019 Cougars were remarkable in their commitment to being consistently inconsistent.

By Jeff Nusser Coug Center  Dec 31, 2019, 3:19pm PST

I’m not sure if I expected the Washington State Cougars to do something different in the Cheez-It Bowl than they’ve done all year, or be something different than what they’ve been all year, but I can’t help but be impressed by their commitment to their particular identity, even in the postseason.

 this for the 2019 Cougs: For better or worse, they were on brand all the way until the bitter end.

Friday night had it all. There were flashes of brilliance. There were moments of ineptitude. And, of course, there also was breathtakingly ineffective defense. And, like so many of their losses this season, the Cougars were really close to winning the game.

As usual, the offense was actually very good — WSU rolled up 366 yards on just 50 plays spanning eight drives; the 7.3 yards per play put it in the top half of games this season. It’s easy to look at just 21 points and conclude the offense was below its usual standards, but eight drives is at least three or four fewer opportunities to score than the Cougs usually get. They moved into the red zone on five of those eight drives. Anthony Gordon threw TD passes on three of those opportunities; a 60% conversion rate isn’t good, but it’s actually pretty average.

But, as was often the case, they either sabotaged themselves with errors or just couldn’t make the big play in a critical moment.

If Max Borghi* scores on a pair of 4th down runs inside the Air Force Falcons’ 5-yard line instead of getting stuffed, the Cougs probably win the game, despite the defense’s impotence. Heck, if the team doesn’t blow a blocking assignment that leads to a Gordon fumble — the only drive in the first half that didn’t cover 70 or more yards — there’s a decent chance they put up TDs on all three of their final first half drives and take a lead into the locker room. Who knows what happens from there?

*Interesting note: Borghi actually touched the ball inside the 10 five different times. One of those was a catch in the back of the end zone; the other four times — one swing pass, three rushes — he didn’t get across the goal line.

And for as poorly as the defense played overall ... they were in position to get the ball back to the offense with four minutes to tie or win the game. All they needed was a 4th down stop from the 3-yard line. And, for once, they even played the triple option perfectly! They completely mucked up the middle, causing the QB to pull the dive. Jahad Woods has the QB, George Hicks III has the pitch man, and as you’ll see in a second, Tyrese Ross does a masterful job shedding the block. Now it’s just a matter of making a tackle:

But then Hicks hesitates ever so slightly on his assignment and takes an angle that’s just a smidge too aggressive. And Ross is just a 10th of a second late in the race to the pylon. And — somehow — a service academy running back is able to turn this into a TD:

Alas, all of those critical failures did happen. And they did lose, again, just as they had six other times this season.

The game was an amazingly perfect microcosm of how you have a team that’s ranked 25th by SP+, 30th by ESPN’s FPI and 38th by FEI while finishing with a losing record. Each of those systems look at the underlying performances to try and judge the true strength of a team; they pay no mind to the sequencing of ill-timed turnovers or penalties. As the 30ish best team, you’d probably expect at least a couple of more wins, maybe even a few — most everyone around them in these rankings finished the regular season with a winning record.

But these guys had an incredible knack for killing their chances to win. Maybe it was just the randomness of luck; that’s certainly what the objective ranking systems would say. Maybe they just lacked a little something psychologically that you can’t measure, but is actually there.

Whatever it was, it shouldn’t have been any kind of surprise that the Cheez-It Bowl played out as it did. Which is why I finished the game torn on just how bummed out to be by the loss. On the one hand, losing sucks, especially for the players. That wasn’t a team that was sleepwalking, or approaching the game with the arrogance that sometimes dooms Power 5 teams against the G5 opponents. As in 2013, it stinks that there’s going to be a losing record here every time I navigate to the page.

On the other hand ... bowl game. I get as worked up as anyone while it’s going on, but in the end, the result is meaningless. It’s a weird one-off exhibition in which nothing is normal. There’s no such thing as bowl momentum, no predictive power in a bowl loss going forward, so there’s no point at all in dwelling on large-scale implications.

Still, it’s worth peeking ahead to 2020.

I’m legitimately concerned that next season is when the bowl streak finally ends. The offense is likely to be breaking in an inexperienced quarterback in one way or another (either Cammon Cooper or Gunner Cruz or a grad transfer with no Air Raid experience) while trying to replace a pair of linemen (Robert Valencia and stalwart center Fred Mauigoa) and three receivers, including the team’s two best (Brandon Arconado and Easop Winston Jr.).

On the whole, the offense probably will be fine, because it always is under Mike Leach. But it’s also entirely reasonable to expect at least a modest step back. And a modest step back there will likely need to be combined with a modest step forward by the defense if we’re going to reach six wins again — something I figure will be a harder task next season than it was this one.

WSU isn’t getting three freebies in the non-conference next fall: Traveling to Utah State to open the season is no gimme, particularly with an inexperienced QB, and the Houston team that comes to Pullman is going to be improved after Dana Holgorsen adds reinforcements to redshirting seniors such as D’Eriq King. Maybe we get some help in conference games — perhaps the Pac-12 isn’t any better on the whole than it was this season, and maybe the sequencing of games will be less brutal; at the very least, we know the Cougs will get five conference home games. But even so, any slip up in the non-conference will mean needing to go 4-5 in the league to qualify for the postseason again.

Can the defense step up? I suppose it depends on the new defensive coordinator, but seeing “Power 5” defenders get beaten to the corner and also trucked and dragged on dives by service academy running backs didn’t exactly inspire a ton of confidence that the young players simply need a little more seasoning and better game plans. And I don’t hold out hope for immediate contributions from a meaningful infusion of talent with the handful of scholarships that remain in the 2020 class — that’s not the kind of recruit WSU can typically attract, especially this late in the game.

Hopefully the new defensive coordinator is able to exceed my expectations and somehow achieve marginal improvement. The 2020 postseason probably rides on it.

What We Liked: One last ride with Gordo and Arco

I’m well aware that the offense only scored 21 points, and that we never really got the fireworks we were promised. But that was largely a function of a defense that gave up an astounding 43 minutes of possession to the Falcons, limiting the offense to just eight drives.

I also know there are some fans who always will expect more from the quarterback, but Gordon did just about everything he could on those eight drives: 351 yards on just 42 attempts for 8.4 yards per pass (above his season average) with three touchdowns (all in the red zone, I might add) and zero interceptions. Fumble notwithstanding, his performance was everything I’ve come to love about him, and I’m glad I got to see him sling it around one more time, because he was so special this year.

It also was awesome to see Arconado finish like that. Outside of Gordon, there was nobody more important to this offense than him, and it’s an absolute joke that he didn’t even make all-Pac-12 honorable mention. He was WSU’s best receiver, full stop, and him going off for 167 yards on 11 catches was exactly what he deserved.

Much like Gordon will probably never get the respect he deserves for this season, I feel like Arconado’s year will suffer the same fate. He finished the year with 1,109 yards — 8th all time in a single season at WSU. And it wasn’t just a function of volume: He didn’t lead the team in catches (that was Winston) and he had the highest per-catch average of anyone on the team — from the inside receiver position. AND HE MISSED TWO FULL GAMES AND MOST OF ANOTHER ONE.

The only Air Raid receivers at WSU to put up more yards in a single season were Vince Mayle and Gabe Marks — both outside receivers. River Cracraft, the gold standard for the Y position, never had more than 771 yards.

Maybe with time, people will properly appreciate how awesome this duo was.

Who Impressed: Lamonte McDougle

I just got done saying there’s little predictive value in a bowl game, so let me go right ahead and contradict myself immediately by getting excited about Lamonte McDougle’s junior season after watching him wreck Air Force.

We’ve been waiting for this kind of performance out of McDougle all season, and for whatever reason, it didn’t show up until the final game. I don’t know why that is. Perhaps it was a function of opportunity (he played more snaps in this game than any other); perhaps it was a function of assignment (maybe for this game against this offense they just wanted him to be as disruptive as possible); perhaps it was a function of competition (he was definitely the biggest dude on the field against AFA’s diminutive line).

Whatever it was, it sure was encouraging to see, particularly in a game where there wasn’t a lot to be encouraged by on that side of the ball. Here’s to hoping the next defensive coordinator figures out how to use him effectively, because the talent is undeniable.

What Needs Work: Defensive game planning

When it comes to football analysis, I make no secret of the fact that Xs and Os are not my strength. I’ve learned a few things over the years from Jesse Cassino and Brian Anderson, but it’ll never be my strength — particularly in real time as a game is unfolding. So it was that, as I was lamenting the seeming physical deficiencies of the defense in the Cheez-It Bowl, this was happening:

As Brian Floyd said, if you want to know how to defend an option attack, talk to high school coaches. They were clearly unimpressed with Roc Bellantoni’s game plan for this one for actual reasons that went beyond my analysis of “man we can’t stop them at all.”

Which seems like as good a reason as any to say that while I appreciate Bellantoni’s contribution this season after Claeys quit on the program, under no circumstances should he be a candidate for the permanent gig. In fact, I’d go so far as to say the season was such a mess, the new defensive coordinator should be given the autonomy to turn over as much of the defensive staff as he wants. Really, the only person who sticks out to me as an exceptionally strong candidate for holdover is Darcel McBath; outside of that, I think a fresh start with fresh voices is absolutely warranted.