Saturday Flag-Spotting

While we tune into ESPN Gameday, one thing seemed to be missing.  You know what I’m talking about.  Here, Ol’ Crimson-Crimson…..here, Whitey-Whitey……umm, where are you?…..THERE YOU ARE Ol’ CRIMSON!  Right in between Desmond Howard and Chris Fowler.  See it? NOT on a flag pole but being held up by someone.  It’s easy to miss based on all the signs in the crowd, but yes Coug fans, breathe a sigh of relief.  Ol’ Crimson IS THERE.   The tradition rolls on, for yet another week.  Thanks to Will and Stephanie Walker for the screen capture.  Anyway, lots to get to on a Cougar Gameday Saturday. 

First of all, wow, what a week of news.  I can’t remember a week like this.  The horrible Hawaii loss followed by a lot of tough questions regarding the Wulff regime; QB news with Marshall and Tuel;  a player leaving the program in Jeshua Anderson; an urging from Jim Sterk to donors to believe in Wulff and we are digging in, staying the course, etc; strong indications that WSU and Oregon are approaching an agreement on playing in Qwest Field; and finally, Martin Stadium phase III public campaign about to launch.  It has been confirmed on a few levels that Graham Construction & Management has put phase III out there for subcontractors to bid again among the various construction firms, with a projected start of March of 2010, completion prior to the start of the 2011 season.  News, news, and more news!  Did we leave anything out?  Oh yeah, there’s a football game today as well.  Who knew?

Speaking of ESPN Gameday, great story on Colorado’s Sal Aunese, the Buffs QB who passed away while at Colorado.  Cool to see Aunese’s son at LSU, TC Aunese.  Also a little ironic that LSU’s first game this year was at UW, the location of the first game Colorado played after Aunese passed away.  It’s a great feature though, so hopefully you had a chance to catch it.  Sunday’s Outside the Lines has more on the story tomorrow.

Anyone catch the overly-hyped up Nick Montana – Jake Heaps showdown last night?  Of course, the Seattle media has made the entire thing all about UW, and why not, given the UW ties to both players.  And the predictable spin?  Nick Montana is better.  But did either guy move the needle much last night?  Statistically they weren’t all that good, both of them made some mistakes and such.  And Heaps was said to be battling the flu, which probably contributed to the SIX turnovers he committed (3 fumbles, 3 int’s).  Montana looked accurate, but maybe it was the angle on TV, but I didn’t see a rocket arm, did you? 

I know both guys were highly coveted, and both are regarded as big “gets” for UW and BYU.  I don’t want to poop on their party, but the performance by both guys didn’t exactly scream future Heisman winner, know what I mean?  Then again, it’s hard to just judge what you see on a hyped game on ESPNU.  You have to take the full body of work in before you can draw any conclusions.  Look at Jeff Tuel’s highlight video for example. 

Tuel looks fantastic, doesn’t he?  Strong arm, wonderful touch on the deep ball, really good feet, etc.  But, what about the whole body of work?  Much has been made this week about BCS offers, or lack thereof, for many current Cougar upperclassmen and/or players Wulff inherited when he took over.  But did you know Jeff Tuel’s only official BCS offer was from WSU?  Fresno State and Nevada gave him offers, and he was at least recruited by Oregon, Arizona and even Florida popped up on the radar screen late.  But no other BCS offers.  Yes, there were extenuating circumstances there, in that Tuel didn’t even play until his senior year due to being behind Cal QB Beau Sweeney.  But you watch that highlight tape, and he sure looks like a big-time prospect to me!  So maybe the whole thing of “BCS offers” isn’t that big of a deal after all?

I can tell you this though – after watching that highlight video yet again, I’m pretty excited to see what he can do in Pullman!  It’s hard to deny the kid has some pretty impressive tools to work with, and given some time to develop and mature, AND surround him with some talent and speed, you can see why he’s generating some buzz.   

Finally, about that USC – UW upset prediction.  Please understand that neither Longball or myself WANT this to happen.  And more than likely, USC is going to win this thing going away today, but sometimes you just get a weird gut feeling?  I think that’s all it is.  It’s a very rainy morning in Seattle today, so who knows what that will do to the game.  I don’t think the weather will have a huge negative on USC like some people might think?  Sure, they are a lot of warm weather SoCal boys, but the rain isn’t such a big deal, really.  USC is going to base their attack on the run anyway, rain or shine.  UW has a newer field surface, so it’s not like the field will be overly slick or a muddy mess.  And it’s even different in today’s game with the refs constantly rotating in new balls between plays, so, the QB’s get a dry one to work with, not a waterlogged ball that feels as heavy as a bowling ball.  

That’s it for now.  We’ll be back later with a post during the game, so feel free to drop by and comment.  ENJOY YOUR SATURDAY, and GO COUGS!