There’s not a ton happening in the WSU football universe right now, but there are a few things to tend to…..
Teddy Miller is CRUSHING the Coug news right now! He ventured down to Pullman during his NCAA regional hoops assignment in Spokane, and passes on some good tidbits after speaking with coach Wulff. Among them:
1) Arthur Burns has moved to linebacker, so his running back days have come to an end. He’ll join Alex Hoffman-Ellis at weakside, as he’ll slide over from the middle. The Hoffman-Ellis move is one I totally understand. With his speed, you can envision him attacking the line of scrimmage on the non-tight end side of the field, and maybe they’ll really cut him loose off the edge this year?
Also interesting that Louis Bland will play middle linebacker again when he returns for fall camp. I’m not sure I understand that one. Bland looks and plays more like a strong safety at 5-10, 215 lbs or so, and you would think he would be a better fit on the outside, where he was so successful as a true frosh? I hope they don’t bulk him up into the 240’ish range in weight, and he plays like a slower Jason Stripling, out of position and too large for his frame in the middle where he could be engulfed by offensive guards outweighing him by 70+ pounds? As long as we see a good performance by the defensive line, maybe it won’t really matter, and he’ll be free to make plays. We’ll see!
2) Along the theme of linebacker, it appears what many thought about Sekope Kaufusi will come to fruition. He’ll play some linebacker, but also have the “hand down” and rush the passer at defensive end in some sort of hybrid type deal.
3) I think we had a pretty good feeling about this position when we looked at it a few weeks ago, but, offensive line could truly be one of the best units on the team when it’s all said and done. With some decent depth returning, some talented newcomers like the JC tackle transfers in Jacobson and Gonzales, and maybe even John Fullington in the fall, combined with coach Morton’s track record and new schemes, things are looking up along the front line. Not to read too much into practice performances, but if the early returns are positive on the offensive line, we could see things take a big step forward on offense.
4) Finally, a quick video interview from Ted, with big Travis Long and also Jeff Tuel answering some questions.
Video: Washington State QB Jeff Tuel
Video: Washington State’s Travis Long
Good perspectives on both sides of the ball, straight from the players. And is it me, or has Long put on some weight since last fall? Hmmm…
Moving on…..
Hey, the WSU Marketing Department has launched a WSU Football Weekends 2010 website! Cool. Nice to see they included Panda Express and Subway among the fine dining options in Pullman? 🙂 But seriously, maybe this is a positive sign of things to come with Mr. Moos in place as the AD? It started to change at the end of the Sterk era in terms of using the web, but still, a nice little step forward.
CollegeFootballNews.com has their spring preview up for the entire Pac-10. On WSU:
The early spring buzz … Neither pressure nor experience will be major concerns of the Cougars when the spring session begins. Wazzu isn’t expected to emerge from the Pac-10 cellar, even though a slew of young players have been recently employed by beleaguered head coach Paul Wulff. It’ll have plenty of familiar faces back in 2010, but whether they can execute better on either side of the ball remains a dubious proposition.
Fair enough. Although I am not sure I agree with pressure not being a major concern. The coaches will definitely feel the heat of getting this thing headed in the right direction, NOW. Maybe not wins/losses, but is there any doubt they have pressure to show improvement in year three? Absolutely.
That’s it for now. Enjoy your Tuesday, and GO COUGS!
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