Tim’s Fall Camp Thoughts

Happy Monday, Cougs! Two weeks from today I’ll be able to write my first post about a real game (surely a beatdown of Idaho State) and even better about a trip to Pullman. For now, though, we continue to win our way through Fall Camp. I haven’t had the good fortune of seeing a practice in person, but compiling information from the tea leaves, Cougfan, Vince Grippi, our very own Longball and well…that’s it, I’ve been able to put together my impressions of where things stand….

Since I’m extremely adept at making the most obvious observations possible, I’ll start by saying that what has me most excited is Jeff Tuel. Expert analysis you can’t find everywhere, folks! Even though my insight isn’t exactly cutting edge, there is no getting around the fact that Tuel is the most important player we’ve got and by all accounts he’s been phenomenal. For starters, dude is huge now. He may not be 40 like Mike Gundy, but Jeff Tuel is a man! Given his skills running the ball, there is no way around the fact that he’ll take some shots so hopefully the added bulk will keep him healthy. As if the pictures weren’t enough, the words describing Tuel have been even better. Not a report has gone by that has indicated he’s struggled. This camp has been a steady stream of quotes about leadership, good reads and excellent throws. We couldn’t ask for more.

Right behind Tuel is the continued development of his co-favorite target Marquess Wilson. Not since the summer of “The Ghost” when Jerome Harrison emerged as virtually untouchable has the Cougar defense had so much trouble containing one of their own.

The good news here is that it doesn’t come across as a knock on the secondary as much as Marquess being just that good. I had some deep down, nagging concerns about a sophomore slump. Not anymore.

Next on the good-news-o-meter, camp has been relatively injury free. That’s all I’ll say. Please Lord of the Jinx, do not punish me for what I’ve done.

In my camp preview, I mentioned that I was looking for CJ Mizell to take over starting duties at the MIK based on a renewed dedication and that I wanted to see continuity on the O-Line. Check aaaaaaand check. I should have also mentioned I wanted a million bucks, but I didn’t know the power I had.

I think I’ve pretty clearly outed myself as an unabashed optimist at this point and there hasn’t been a ton of reason to change my tune, but I will say it hasn’t been 100% puppy dogs and ice cream from my perspective. As with any camp, the performances on defense come across as hit and miss. I’d like to see them have some truly dominant periods somewhere along the line. Specifically, I’d like to have some reason to feel that there have been serious improvements made across the defensive line. Ian Knight and Lenard Williams are newcomers that look the part, as are Toni Pole and the out-of-nowhere Chas Sampson. It seems as though depth is less worrisome, but I’m not getting the sense that it’s translating into production yet.

There also have been some inconsistencies in the kicking game that figure to keep Coach Ungerer busy this week. Andrew Furney has gotten over a brief slump, but more kicks have been blocked than what seems normal. If the Cougs are going to up the win total this year, it’ll probably be in close games so perfection (or close to it) in the kicking game will be key.

I look forward to how the next two weeks unfold (hopefully to include Rahmel Dockery and Alex Mitchell, given the benevolence of the all powerful Clearinghouse). More importantly, I can’t wait until a week from Saturday to have boots on the ground in Pullman, ready to watch the march to a bowl game begin.

GO COUGS!