The Paul Wulff era at Washington State University brought a lot of laughs to a lot of people. Not many of these people were in Pullman. After a four-year tenure that saw the Cougars win just 9 of their 49 games, Wulff was let go and Mike Leach, the somewhat controversial and always entertaining coach formerly at Texas Tech starts a new period in Cougar football, hopefully one that brings them back to the top of the Pac-12 Conference.
Leading the offense is senior Jeff Tuel, looking to rebound after an injury shortened his 2011 campaign to just three games. He is penciled in as the starting quarterback after his sophomore season in which he threw for 2,780 yards with a 133 quarterback rating. Sophomore Connor Halliday will compete with Tuel for the starting job.
Sophomore Ricky Galvin and senior Carl Winston lead the rushing attack, though the running area was not Leach’s weapon of choice at Texas Tech. Galvin might change this plan up, with his 602 rushing yards and five touchdowns last season.
Leach’s offense loves to throw the ball, and who would not want to throw to Marquess Wilson? The sophomore sensation was ranked as one of the top receivers in the Pac-12, if not the nation. He had 82 catches last season for almost 1,400 yards, even with Tuel going down with injury. The problem is that his other partners in crime, Jared Karstetter and Isiah Barton, are gone. Sophomore Bobby Ratliff will have to pick up the slack.
On defense, senior Travis Long will be the rock that holds the line. Graduations, plus expulsions from linebackers Sekope Kaufasi and C.J. Mizell, have created a young defense that will need to improve on last year’s dreadful 31.9 point allowed per game. Juniors Deone Buchanan and Tyree Toomer roam the middle of the secondary and will be forced to carry a larger role this season.
Overall, the Cougars youth means that they may not see a great deal of improvement this year, but experience builds champions, and the Cougars talent means that the future looks bright.
Projected Record: 4-8, 10th place in Pac-12.
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