Washington State Preview
by John Berkowitz on Aug 4, 2009 8:00 AM PDT
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PrintIt takes a special coach to win in Pullman. Paul Wulff, after only a single season, has Coug supporters wondering if he was the right choice. After a 2-11 first campaign, Wulff is staring 0-12 in the face as we start 2009. Wulff was hired to bring stability and a fresh breath of air to the WSU program; however, the former Eastern head coach has had a string of disciplinary issues and plenty of attrition as players have been dismissed from the roster.
The offense, last in the Pac-10 total yards in 2008, has potential. With Coach Wulff introducing the no-huddle offense in 2009, senior quarterback Kevin Lopina is going to have be a much stronger presence this fall. Redshirt sophomore Marshall Lobbestael, overcoming a tumultuous off-season which included an arrest for public intoxication outside the Pulllman police station, isn't much of an option. The Cougs could use a blue chip QB in their 2010 recruiting class in the worst way.
At wide receiver, Jeshua Anderson is back and capable of making plays, but the Cougars don't have much overall talent at any of the receiving positions. Jared Karstetter and Kevin Norell will fill out the wings, with senior Michael Willis having left the squad.
The ground game features three capable backs in Dwight Tardy, Marcus Richmond, and Logwone Mitz. Cal transfer (and former Washington recruit) James Montgomery is eligible for the first time and should see plenty of action. Finally, Ivory Randle also returns from injury, adding depth to the rotation.
Like their Husky cousins, the Cougs are in need of some big improvement up front on the offensive line. Led by senior center Kenny Alfred, one of the country's best at his position, Wazzu has a strong anchor in the middle. Steve Ayers, Micah Hannum, BJ Guerra, and junior college transfer Zack Williams fill out the rest of the line, leaving many questions for the upcoming campaign regarding depth and overall quality.
The Washington State defense gave up an amazing 443.38 yards and allowed 570 points in 2008, more than any school in Division I history! Heading into 2009, unbelievably they may be even worse. The defensive line is highly suspect, with senior defensive end Kevin Kooyman as possibly the only player on the roster possessing the size and ability to consistently make plays. Junior end Jesse Feagin returns from a season away to flank Kooyman on the opposite side. Junior tackle Toby Turpin is the veteran on the defensive line, having played in 16 games and starting four in 2008. Joining Turpin at tackle is junior Bernard Wolfgramm, who is recovering from persistent back problems.
Undoubtedly, sophomore linebacker Louis Bland is the star of the defense. He started final nine games, finishing with 55 tackles, nine tackles for loss, and two sacks. Senior Andy Mattingly has returned to linebacker, taking better advantage of his size and speed, suiting him much better than as a defensive end. Sophomore Alex Hoffman-Ellis earned a starting postion this spring, with junior Myron Beck providing depth off the bench.
The Cougar defensive back situation is scary, with several prominent players having faced recent criminal situations. Romeo Pellum and Tyrone Justin are currently facing felony burglary charges, Tyree Toomer and LeAndre Daniels facing discipline over bike theft, Devin Giles dismissed for violations of team rules, and safety Xavier Hicks arrested for driving with a suspended license, on top of after other run-ins with the law (including putting rubbing alcohol in another player's contact lens case). Pellum, Justin, and Giles are off the team, while the other cases are pending.
Junior Brandon Jones, a Cal transfer who prepped at Seattle's O'Dea High School, will man one of the corner positions, with redshirt freshman Daniel Simmons the only other player with any experience to fill the opposite side. Junior safety Chima Nwachukwu is a stud with a solid future ahead of him; however, who he lines up with depends on who stays on the team or not. Hicks and Toomer are very good safeties but it remains to be seen what their availability will be.
Consensus
Washington State is at the bottom of the BCS barrel right now. If you thought things were worse at Washington last season, you would be mistaken. The only way WSU is going to get better in the future is if they clean out their roster of criminals, establish a new culture, and recruit a bunch of new players. I don't see these guys winning a single game in 2009, and neither do many of the experts.
Paul Wulff hasn't amused anyone with the sanctions he was partly responsible for at Eastern, nor the continuous legal problems that have plagued the WSU football team. On top of that, people aren't sure he can effectively coach and gameplan at this level.
Early Prediction
This one is easy and Washington will beat the Cougars handily. Washington has far more talent, depth, stability, and coaching acumen going on right now than WSU.
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This Dawg is licking his chops
Apple Cup 2009 is gonna be themed “Payback’s a bitch” .
I hope we destroy them
make it such a rout that no PSA in Washington would even think of committing there for ast least 3 more years. Time to bury the hatchet over the stadium issue in their forehead, give Sterks a look at Unemployment Pay.
Can't wait!
(salivating right now!) Payback time!
by doubledeucedawg on Aug 4, 2009 12:49 PM PDT reply actions
i used to be a cougar fan.....
until the last game of the season but now the apple cup isn’t played then anymore.
not trying to make excuses but this program is going down.
how they could hire an imbecile like wulff and allow members of their board of regents to lobby lies to the legislature is beyond me.
if senator murray introduces the bill to not allow teaching institutions to keep monies for athletics wazzu will go to the big sky conference.
that will not be for the state as a whole and husky rivalries.
and yes payback’s are going to be a bitch……
Keep the Bragging tucked away in your pockets...
Am I alone on this one too? I am not going to get too excited for Washington State. Granted this is the in-state rivalry game, but this game has become WAY to competitive lately, and we’ve failed to win the last two contests.
Currrently we don’t have any room to brag, boast, or predict a victory. WSU was suppose to be the worst EVER BCS college football team in the history of the BCS. Excuse me, but we lost to that team with that label. We finished 0-12 not the dam cougs!
Now everybody knows that we had better talent then WSU, but we sure as hell didn’t play like it. We need to get back to winning the Apple Cup 7 out of 10 contests per decade. I’m sick of us putting so much emphasis on beating the NW schools. Back in the day beating WSU, Oregon, and Oregon State were almost a given each season. Now we are lucky to win one of the three during any given season. I want to get back to when USC, Ucla, and Arizona State were the BIG games on the league slate.
I’m going to go against the grain on this game. I’m not going to offer a prediction. The last two seasons we should’ve sent them to the cleaners and both times fell short. The only explanation of what I’ve seen lately is that WSU sees the Apple Cup more as a big game then we do. They play like it is a bowl game w/ very little talent, while we Nonchalantly go about our bussiness and lose like we haven’t got a pulse.
This game should be in the W column for us every season and it isn’t happening and it stinks!
Give WSU some credit, supposively the worst BCS football team ever, yet manage to find a way to win- Ohh … BROTHER!
All I saw was purple
Last play of the year... .
That long pass that WSU completed at the end of the game pretty much summed up the 2008 season and Willingham’s tenure.
by John Berkowitz on Aug 4, 2009 4:13 PM PDT up reply actions
Agreed
Team quit way before Apple Cup. I hope our athletic administration learned a valuable lesson in allowing the coach to finish the season. What it the hell were they thinking?
Once the announcement was made that Ty was fired, the coaching staff lost any and all credibility. If you allow a coach to finish the season then dammit keep it hush-hush until the end of the season. But if you make the announcement during the season, you ask for a resignation and offer a heafty buyout. We went 0-12 for that very reason.
Woodward should’ve said “Ty I hear you and all, but you’ve got to go so that these kids have a chance to win a game this year”.
If you’re going to fire then fire. Wanting to do the right thing or proper thing isn’t filling the stadium nor is it bringing in needed donations. But until we start beating the cougs on a consistent level, then I got to say that we are no better then litl’ brother.
All I saw was purple
I don’t think there was a lesson to learn. If you are going to fire a guy like Ty there is a rule book to follow.
by John Berkowitz on Aug 4, 2009 8:01 PM PDT up reply actions
Hahaha.
Not only is there a rule book, but Willingham had a southern dandy gate keeper protecting him.
2008 was written off the day that Turner proclaimed Willingham still had a job. I think Emmert knew it, and he’s counting on fans having a short memory once the team starts winning again. And, we will.
I'm with you on this one, Crazi
I wish the Cougars well, but they’re on their own.
We’ve got our own agenda, starting with LSU. One game at a time (tired cliche, I know), and in the end, the Apple Cup should be an interesting contest only because of the intrastate emotions involved. It otherwise is supposed to only be the culmination of a successful season for the Huskies.
BTW, I hate the idea of playing Cal after the Apple Cup.
The Cougs
They “get my blood a boilin’!” If you guys had to live in coug country you’d feel the same way! I’m going to bide my time but I CAN’T WAIT for the Apple Cup!
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
In the interest of accuracy ...
John said he’d fix this a couple of days ago, but he may not have had time:
Marshall Lobbestael IS an option at QB - he’s listed as “or” with Kevin Lopina as the 1st stringer. It’s going to be a legit competition starting Sunday, and most of us think Lobbestael is going to win it if his knee is in good shape. If he doesn’t win it in camp, it’s a virtual certainty he’ll be a starter at some point in the year. Pellum and Giles are both gone.
The running back who may or may not return from injury is Chris Ivory, not Ivory Randle. (We’re all betting on the “doesn’t return” side.)
Here’s the situation with the DBs, which I know is hard to sort out if you haven’t followed it closely:
-
- Justin is NOT. In fact, Justin is likely to start at one of the corners, after charges against him were dropped. (The prosecutor said there wasn’t enough evidence to convict, and Justin also is cooperating with authorities. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but whatever. He’s going to play.) Also, the charges against Tyree Toomer and LeAndre Daniels were dropped. (This one was a genuine misunderstanding
-- they had taken some bikes that had been abandoned.) There will be no lingering repurcussions with Xavier Hicks — Wulff said the suspended license was the result of an oversight thanks to a ticket failing to be forwarded to a new address. Hicks WILL be a starter at safety; there is no question about his availability. (His judgment, however …)
-
Sorry, don't know what was up with the weird strike thrus
John said he’d fix this a couple of days ago, but he may not have had time:
Marshall Lobbestael IS an option at QB - he’s listed as "or" with Kevin Lopina as the 1st stringer. It’s going to be a legit competition starting Sunday, and most of us think Lobbestael is going to win it if his knee is in good shape. If he doesn’t win it in camp, it’s a virtual certainty he’ll be a starter at some point in the year.
The running back who may or may not return from injury is Chris Ivory, not Ivory Randle. (We’re all betting on the "doesn’t return" side.)
Here’s the situation with the DBs, which I know is hard to sort out if you haven’t followed it closely:
- Pellum and Giles are both gone.
- Justin is NOT. In fact, Justin is likely to start at one of the corners, after charges against him were dropped. (The prosecutor said there wasn’t enough evidence to convict, and Justin also is cooperating with authorities. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but whatever. He’s going to play.)
- Also, the charges against Tyree Toomer and LeAndre Daniels were dropped. (This one was a genuine misunderstanding – they had taken some bikes that had been abandoned.)
- There will be no lingering repurcussions with Xavier Hicks — Wulff said the suspended license was the result of an oversight thanks to a ticket failing to be forwarded to a new address. Hicks WILL be a starter at safety; there is no question about his availability. (His judgment, however …)
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