First, Grippi’s recap is chalk FULL of info. The tone was mostly positive, but, there were some down moments to chew on. The offense appeared to be inconsistent at times, though the rawness of the cool temps and strong winds might have played at least a part in the passing game (but, uh, yeah, you’ve been to Pullman during football season, you know that it can get windy and chilly!). They did get the ball in the endzone, but, as Grippi points out, the #1 offense had to do it mostly vs. the #2 defense.
And, the other downer is that health isn’t looking all that great right now. Per Grippi:
On the defensive side, linebacker Mike Ledgerwood and linemen Jordan Pu’u Robinson and Justin Mann were out with concussions, linebacker Jarred Walker with a sore knee and cornerback Terrance Hayward with a sore shoulder, the same one that bothered him last year. On offense, linemen Steven Ayers and Tim Hodgdon had concussions, Zack Williams a shoulder sprain and Carl Winston a sprained big toe.
Should also add in that Marcus Richmond was on crutches after practice, with what Grippi describes as a possible MCL injury to his right knee. His return this spring will be questionable.
Moving on, not that stats in a scrimmage are all that and more, but if you are curious, here’s the numbers from the official WSU website:
STATISTICS
RUSHING: Chantz Staden 15/68 (TD), Marcus Richmond 6/61, Leon Brooks 11/20.
PASSING: Jeff Tuel 7/13/84/1TD/1INT; Marshall Lobbestael 5/10/67/1/1
RECEIVING: Gino Simone 3/63 (TD); Skylar Stormo 3/37 (TD); Esa Johnwell 1/22; Daniel Blackledge 1/14; Jared Karstetter 1/7; Marcus Richmond 1/5; Leon Brooks 1/3; Chantz Staden 1/0.
Something else pretty cool to take from the official site is actual video from the scrimmage yesterday. Here is the video:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XL2kSqPJOs&w=425&h=344]I don’t know about you, but it looks to me that they had some good energy and were pretty fired up to play some football!
Cougfan’s latest has a good look at the day, with some info on how well the defensive line has been playing thus far. Anthony Laurenzi and Brandon Rankin were the starting tackles, and they reportedly created some good pressure on passing plays. But it’s not all good news for the D-front. Included in the story is the news on Toby Turpin’s dismissal, with a quote from coach Wulff:
“It’s the consequences that happen to you when you don’t do the right thing, I guess,” said Wulff. “..It’s really an unfortunate situation for any student, whether you’re a student athlete or a student. These things happen, they review these things. There are students that get dismissed for a variety of reasons all the time on campus, and being a student athlete it’s obviously very unfortunate for him and us.”
Disappointing, yes. Surprising, no. Even though he reported for the beginning of spring ball, the rumors and that sort of thing was pretty clear that he faced a tough road in order to get back in good standing. So here we are. The loss of Turpin will open the door for the young pups inside, like Laurenzi, Spitz, and Clayton. But the biggest deal is that Brandon Rankin as a defensive tackle is something we all should get used to. Without Turpin, doesn’t this clinch the idea that Rankin is now a very permanent member of the defensive interior?!
Also from Cougfan, a message board poster gave a long recap of the scrimmage. Some good nuggets in there that you might not get from your mainstream media recaps (thanks to Portland Coug last night for posting it in comments).
Finally, embedded in Grippi’s recap towards the bottom is a story on Bill Moos and how he ended up where he is today. I think we will always have to wonder what would have happened had WSU made the call in ’94 and hired Moos away from Montana. Ah well. It doesn’t really matter now. All that matters is Moos is finally “home”, and we can all be assured he will give everything he has towards this job.
Here’s a video feature from the Spokesman on Moos:
Anyway, as an aside to the pure stats and all that, can we take too much out of the first scrimmage after only five full practices of spring ball? I mean yeah, the team had some issues throwing the ball on a ridiculously windy day just one+ week into the spring. Personally I don’t think the passing struggles are too much of a concern. It’s early, and the offense is almost always behind the defense in terms of timing and rhythm. That’s pretty much the case almost everywhere you look around the country right now, where the defenses of many programs out there winning theearly scrimmage battles. And the offense had a couple of starters missing from the line in Steven Ayers and Zack Williams, two of the best linemen on the team. Anyway, don’t sweat it. There is a long way to go, and it will get better.
Look for Longball’s recap soon. Happy Easter to you all, and GO COUGS!
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