Happy Tuesday Cougs, and finally, the Cougs have a game this week. I don’t know about you, but that might have been the longest bye week since, well, ever? Maybe it’s because of the SD State loss still lingering, or that we are all still trying to figure out what kind of football team we have here after three games? Maybe it’s because we are on the cusp of nine straight Pac-12 games, and the anticipation is building now that the “preseason” is over? Whatever the case may be, thank GOD we’ve got a football game to get ready for this Saturday!
And if you haven’t heard by now, YES, the game is actually on “the Tele”, but it’s pretty obscure. It’s on Comcast Fox Sports Pacific, so you may or may not be able to see it live when it kicks off at 12:30. However it does look like you’ll be able to see it on Root Sports late on Saturday night, 11 PM, per the link? So either way you will probably be able to catch it, whether it’s live or delayed.
There are a few things to get caught up on, so let’s proceed….
Grippi’s practice report from Sunday afternoon was promising, as a lot of injured players have returned to the field of play. No, Jeff Tuel wasn’t in pads, but he was throwing again. And guys like Rickey Galvin, Andrew Roxas, Casey Locker and Sekope Kaufusi were all suited up and back at practice at various times (although Roxas didn’t do much). And Grippi followed up to say that Anthony Laurenzi was back at practice as well, and that Casey Locker’s infection was caused by a bee sting in Pullman (owwww!).
If you have been to a game this year, wow, the bees are bad or what!? In our tailgate lot they had those bee catching things set up all over the place for the Idaho State game, and they were filled with bees. We were constantly dealing with them all over the tailgate spread as well. Hey, didn’t Einstein say that once the bees are gone, man will surely follow? I think we’ll be sticking around a while, and we’re good with the bee population, thanks.
So, how tough is the rebuilding job in Colorado? Probably not nearly as bad as the situation Wulff inherited back in ’08, but still, the Buffs have some challenges. As the article Grippi found in the Boulder Daily Camera suggests, however, the Cougs look like they’ve turned some sort of corner. And Marshall Lobbestael certainly believes in what’s happening right now:
“It’s obvious we have a ton of talent,” said Marshall Lobbestael, who has played well since stepping in for Tuel under center. “At the skill positions we have some extremely explosive players. I’ve done my best to fill in since we lost our starting quarterback. It has been a good start, but we haven’t proven anything yet.”
It’s always interesting to look at how another conference newspaper looks at your own team. The saying is that sometimes to get the clearest picture, you need to get further away from the situation. I know most of you obsess over all things Coug, checking blogs and message boards and whatever the hell else is out there on a regular basis, and you can rattle off names of players, recruits, scores from the past. But sometimes it’s a really good thing to get a read from somewhere down the road to see what’s really going on. And it’s a good thing to see a publication that knows very little about WSU compared to the rest of us can say something good, about turning a corner!
Either that, or maybe I’m just so worn out from reading all the “COUGS ARE AWFUL!” articles from the last three years that I’ll just glob on to anything remotely positive!?!
Finally, the Jeff Tuel countdown. I was looking at the schedule last night, and started to think about how difficult it looks in the last half of the season, how important it would be for bowl hopes to get a win in the next couple of games. But do you realize how much closer we are to actually having Jeff Tuel back under center?? The great news is that Tuel is throwing at practice, albeit not in full pads in scrimmage situations or anything, but still, he’s out there. And while there is still a lot of speculation as to when he’ll return, it was rather public information back a week or so ago that Tuel’s x-ray was clearly a sign of progress and that the healing was going as good as they could have hoped. You start to do the math, and take it in the 3-4 week timeframe after that last x-ray from mid-September? That could be the UCLA game on 10/8. Or possibly the 4-week prognosis, which would be the Stanford game in Pullman on 10/15. A few weeks ago, 10/8 or 10/15 seemed a LONG ways away…..but now? THAT’S LIKE 1.5 to 2.5 weeks away! That’s nothing! Would it be great to see him back for UCLA?? ABSOLUTELY. But for as much pressure that there is on the coaches to win football games and get to postseason play, and as anxious Tuel might be to want to get out there ASAP, you better believe they are going to be extremely careful for when we see #10 back under center. I would bet we’ll see him back on the 15th vs. those hated Trees from Palo Alto…..but if that’s worst-case, I’LL TAKE THAT RIGHT NOW!
All for now. Enjoy your Tuesday, and GO COUGS!
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